5 1/2 Year Old with Night Time Potty Training Issues

The best you can do is reassure him that it's okay. His body is growing and it will eventually get there.

My daughter and I have a deal. She goes 7 straight nights with a dry pull up, she can try a night with out (if she has not chugged her daily water needs after 4:00, like usual. She won't drink at school and waits until we are home, most days at 6:30.).Anyway, that's the deal. I bought a really great matress cover and Mancini on Saratoga and Lawrance/Quito. The child's mattress does not get wet! I've taught her how to change her sheets. I have two mattress covers. I put one on the bed, then a sheet, then a mattress cover, then a sheet. (I did this for the crib too, just in case she peed out of her diaper...fast change= back to sleep quickly) I taughter her how to take off the sheet and cover and put them in the laundry.She had 7 dry nights, and was able to sleep with out pull-up. Then had a wet one. Back to 7 dry nights.

Tell him about my daughter. She's 7 and there is nothing physically wrong. She has a small bladder, doesn't like to go to the bathroom when she goes to bed (need to start bed time routines earlier), and sound sleeper. She's totally okay with it (maybe too okay). He'll get there when his body is ready for him to get there.

Stephanie

I wouldn't have him "hold it" during the day - that's never a healthy practice. Success stories I've heard basically involve protecting the bed, then letting the kid go diaper free and experience an accident. Often, they are so disgusted with the experience of going on themselves, their clothes and the bed, and laying in it, that this resolves the problem.

This problem is much more common than you may think. Please check out www.nobedwetting.com You will be amazed! L.

Hi A. -

The best advice is to make sure your son knows that this is NORMAL and that it's okay. If he has any negative feelings about this, it will make the situation worse, and will do some pretty serious damage to him emotionally.

Make sure you are working with a really good pediatrician who is sympathetic to your plight, make sure your son has NOTHING to drink after 6 pm or so, and know that he will learn to wake up and go in the middle of the night soon enough.

hang in there!

J.

some childern wet the bed until age 12 . have you seen those speical night time paints they advertise maybe that would be ok for your son . I would let him go to the bathroom any time during the day that he needs to it can be very uncomfortable to hold your urine when you have to go and can cause urinary tract infections. as he grows his bladder maybe able to hold more.well I wish you good luck.S.

My 4 year old wanted undies too, after years of wearing big boy pullups (he outgrew the toddler sizes early). My mother in law said what she did when my husband was a kid was to make him go to the bathroom right before bed. Then, she would just wake him up and make him try again right before she went to bed (usually an hour or three later). That tended to empty his bladder of everything so he could stay dry until morning. I've been doing it with my son and it has worked great. Good luck!

I have a 6 (on friday!) yr old that still has accidents. She can got days wthout wetting but then one night she wet 3 times! She is a very deep sleeper and usually wakes herself up around 1 or 2 am and goes potty (and gets in my bed!) but we hav found that taking her potty around 10:30 pm helps a lot, and usually she wont wet. It is a pain as she doesnt really wake up, but we get her out f bed and help her walk to the bathroom and help her pull her pants down and put her on the potty, then we can usually hand her a wipe ot TP and she will wipe (in her sleep) and then pull her pants up and she will "walk" back to her bed.

Good luck!

You are not alone and I keep telling myself, this too will pass!

You may want to have him checked for sleep aphnea. My daughters pediatricaian recommended that for me when my daughter had problems. Does your child snore? Deep sleep and snoring are symptoms. The doctor told me they will sleep so deeply they won't wake up to go potty. If not that is there anything upseting him emotionally?

i come from a family w/weak bladders i'm not sure if you have tried cutting liguids off after 6p.m & of course potting before bed we had to wake my cousin up at night intill she was well into her teens. & she couldn't drink anything after 6'o'clock or she forsure would wet thru the night. slumber parties were out of the question if i didn't go w/her to wake her at night. i feel your sons frustration & sure he is a bit embarassed. good-luck. lots of empathy & compassion helps as well. T. Koback mother of 3 boys 25,22, & 2

I have the same situation, only thing is my son is 10. I have tried everything: waking him up at night, nothing to drink after 7pm, medication, had his blood/liver checked. Only thing I haven't tried is the alarm, those things are so expensive that we can't afford a new one. (would you be interested in selling yours?)
He says he just can't fill when he has to go to the bathroom, I'm hoping it's not going to be a medical/surgery problem.
Please let me know if anything works on your son, I'll try anything.

Hi A., I've got almost 6 yr old twin boys and it's rare that either one is dry at night also. We just use the Good Nights 'diapers' for nighttime and they're ok with it--they really don't see an issue with it. I know that their time will come and someday they'll be dry at night.

I am going to mention it to their ped at their next appt, but I know their bladders just need to mature.

Good luck!

You have many wonderful suggestions! If you have any old crib liners try that instead of the disposables bed liners. I've also done the liner, sheet, liner, sheet system on the bed. It's great when you are half awake. I've tried waking my daughter up in the middle of the night, but she is so sleepy, she climbs back into bed. When we are able to get her to the potty, we have to help her with her clothes, wipe, and getting dressed. She also moans and groans the entire time. Hopefully your son is easier in the middle of the night if you choose to wake him up!

Good luck!

Hi,

I do the same thing as Jen S. I wake up my son at around 12:30am to g to the bathroom and he stays dry until 6:45am.

Good luck,

M.

Hi A.!

This is normal, for boys especially. You have received some great examples and wonderful advice.

My only piece of advice is to be careful on how you make him feel about it. He is already sensitive to it, and knows that he is "not a baby" so why should he be treated like one at night.

We are talking about something he will outgrow soon enough.

I used to have ALOT of thing on my son's bed. Mattress, matress pad, mattress cover THEN the first sheet. Then a towel/crib matress pad then another sheet.

I could "peel off" the problem then wash it without as much work. However, if I woke myself up in the middle of the night to get my son to go potty, then it really helped eliminate some of the work.

Once they have the sense of accomplishment, then they begin to TRY harder and suddenly start to wake up because they are more aware.

It takes alot of time and dedication on mommy's part, but his self-confidence is worth help getting through this tought & embarrassing time in his life.

Good luck, A.!

~N. :o)

What if you got him up to potty when you are going to bed, and then if you get up at night, take him too.
W.

You have received some great advice. Make sure on the days that he does not go potty in the bed that you really praise him for those days. Maybe make a reward chart and just keep it in his room. The reward can be educational too ie. new book of his choice or recreation outside etc. I started waking my son up at 12midnight to go potty whether he needed to go or not and that seemed to work. Also, no drinks after 8pm. Good luck, this too will pass.

My seven year old grandson is having the same problem. His brother four is fine. There are pads you can buy at the drug store that cost about $15.oo located at the adult diapers section to protect your bedding in case of an accident.

Maybe if you tell him stories of other children you get answers about he will not feel alone.

Tell him it is a site of loving moms with questions about their little super heros.

D.

My son is only 4 1/2 but we don't put pull ups on him. He so wants to be a big boy. We make he go potty before he goes to sleep and then get him up again between 11:30 and 12. Most of the time this keeps him from having an accident. We also have a pad on top of the sheet. That way if he does have an accident we just need to remove the pad and add a new blanket. He has older siblings and would be very upset if we make he wear pull ups. I know that he will out grow it and want to make it as easy as possible for him.

Let him where is underware at night....put plastic on his mattress...when he wet's and wakes up upset, have him change himself, maybe even take a shower, I did this with my son...and the hassle of changing and showering in the middle of the night motivated him to stop it....though it is hard on Mom in the middle of the night, it may help.....

my 5 1/2 year old has night accidents. i've chosen to skip the nighttime underwear since she really hates them (makes her feel like a baby) and instead visited the hospital supply store and bought a couple of their adult bed pads ($7 or so a piece). I lay them on top of the sheet. In most cases, it completely protects the bedding (if you use the larger size). In addition to making the potty the last stop before bedtime, I also get up 1 time during the night (1pm seems to be the magic hour for us) and take her again. This seems to do the trick most of the time. Every child develops at a different rate. This too shall pass :)

~ S.

My son is nine and still wets the bed at night. It's not his fault, he either sleeps to deep or his bladder is too tiny. He also hated the night pants as we called them. Around the age of 6 we talked to the doctor (for about the 5th time) and he finally suggested DDAVP nasal spray, now it didn't always work for us, but sometimes it did, every child is different. Then we tried something from the healthfood store (which might be better for you since he is only 5) called Hyland's Bedwetting tablets, they melt under the tongue. Those worked but again not all the time. Recently our new doctor told us they have come out with several new medicines for bedwetting. He is currently on Ditropan 5mg (this is a pill he has so swallow, but it is very small and he doesn't seem to have a problem with it). It works! This is the best result we've had with any kind of treatment. I would talk to your doctor and see what ages you can start trying some of these medicines. The Hylands you can try at any time, they can be used by 5 yr. olds. Good luck!