6 Year Old Bed-wetting

I went throught the same thing with my daughter. My mother-in-law told me to be patient and that she would grow out of it. Apparently, she had the same problem as a child.

I don't know if this is related, but my daughter also had several UTI's from the time she was born until she was about 3.

We tried everything to stop the bed-wetting. Except those alarms. I couldn't bring myself to do that. I didn't let her have liquids after a certain time. I would wake her up twice during the night to go to the restroom. Nothing worked. It was very difficult to be patient when this went on for so long. She finally out grew Pull-ups and Goodnights. We had to move to the adult size. She started using the Poise pads.

She couldn't go to sleep-overs and I had to go to Girl Scout camp with her just to make sure she wasn't "found out." She learned how to use the washing maching and began doing her own sheets. And I was buying a new plastic mattress cover about once a month because they would absorb the smell. I was so tired from getting up all night and so frustrated for her until one day it just stopped!

She was 9 1/2. It has been about a year now and she hasn't had a single accident!

Good luck, and remember that no matter how frustated you get she is probably more so.

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M.,
I can truely say "I know how you feel". My son is 9 years old and went through the same phase. I tried everything. I took him to the doctor, I tried to reason with him, I would even do things such as rewarding him each night he didn't wet the bed, but it still continued on most nights. I was frustrated because nothing that I did seemed to do worked. Fortunately, he now has grown out of it. It just takes a little patience and in time your daughter will outgrow this. By the way, my son stopped when he was 8.

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I have an 8 yr old son who still wets the bed. I find that the goodnites boxer shorts work better with their selfesteem than the pull ups do.....and yes it is still normal, but it is actually normal up into their teen years, well beyond 7. There is alot of research that you can do, but your doctor will not prescribe any medicines unless it is life threating. I know that it gets frustrating but it is just one of those things that they have to grow out of. My sons condition is a combination of deep sleep and lack of those sensors that wake you up in the nite to let you know you have to go. Wish there was more I could help you with, but my doctor and a urologist told me that there is little medically that can be done, its just up to your child to start waking up.

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hi M... i see you have already had many very helpful responses, but i just wntd to add that my almost 11 yr old daughter still goes through the bed wetting. its hard for her to deal w. she is embarrassed and worries about when it will ever end. i have been very patient because i too was an 11 yr old "pee baby" as i was nicknamed by my meanie sisters. :) she will grow out of it when her little body is ready. although very frustrating, its very normal i suppose since it seems that we are obviously not alone. :) that is comforting isnt it? :) good luck, and stay patient

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Hi M.,

This is embarrasing to admit, but I used to wet my bed until I was 7 years old. My neighbor told my mom to make me wash my sheets and undies by hand every time I did it. Well I washed them for a week and then problem was fixed. The Doctor had told my Mom that I was just lazy to get out of bed so it was easier for me to wet it. Well, having to do my laundry by hand took my laziness away. Give it a try and hopefully it works for your daughter as well.

Good Luck!
Y. G

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Patience Mom! My son did the same until about that age. He used to wake up in tears because he was embarresed because he had wet the bed - which would then get me awake.
I'm an advocate of teaching kids to handle their own issues - So, I assurred him that i was not mad at him and then taught him what to do to handle the situation himself. If he awoke and the bed was wet - I advised him to remove the sheets and take them to the laundry room. Then I made sure the replacement sheets, as well as his sleeping bag, were where he could easily find them. I gave him the choice to grab whichever he preferred to get him through the remainder of the night if he wet the bed. This gave him a sense of control and a feeling that it was no big deal if he wet the bed. Many mornings I would find the wet sheets on the laundry room floor - but I had never heard him wake up because he had taken care of the situation himself. So - i never said anything more to him about it after that. Then one day I realized that it had not happened in a long time - it finally just stopped.

Remember- we moms sometimes worry a lot more than we need to. Good Luck!

About Me - a 53 yr old working mom of two now grown kids. I have been married 31 yrs. I have seen it all! Been there, done that - got LOTS of t-shirts! :-)

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Hi M.--My oldest son had the same problem. As of age 5, he was still bed-wetting, and we took him to a urologist who put him on Detrol for a brief period to allow his bladder to stretch and hold more urine. It didn't really help though, and he continued to wet the bed. The pediatrician told us we would just have to wait it out, so we did. Around age 7 he stopped wetting the bed. The only thing I would suggest, other than time (I know it's frustrating), is to purchase a waterproof pad from Leaps & Bounds (can't remember what it's called) that goes over the fitted sheet and can just be popped off the bed and thrown in the wash without having to change all of the sheets. That's what we did, and it made getting through this much easier. Good luck to you.

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http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bed-wetting/DS00611
Bed-wetting, also known as nighttime incontinence or nocturnal enuresis, isn't a sign of toilet training gone bad. It's often just a developmental stage.

Children who've never been dry at night are considered to have primary enuresis. Children who begin to wet the bed after at least six months of dry nights are considered to have secondary enuresis.

Generally, bed-wetting before age 6 or 7 isn't cause for concern. At this age, nighttime bladder control simply may not be established.

If bed-wetting continues, treat the problem with patience and understanding. Bladder training, moisture alarms or medication may help

Limiting fluids before bedtime and double voiding — urinating at the beginning of the bedtime routine and then again just before falling asleep — may help.

You may want to encourage your child to delay daytime urination as well. If the bladder isn't completely full, the urge to urinate may fade within a few minutes. With practice, this simple "stretching exercise" may help your child's bladder hold more urine at night.

Moisture alarms
These small, battery-operated devices — available without a prescription at most pharmacies — connect to a moisture-sensitive pad on your child's pajamas or bedding. When the pad senses wetness, the alarm goes off. Ideally, the moisture alarm sounds just as your child begins to urinate — in time to help your child wake, stop the urine stream and get to the toilet. If your child is a heavy sleeper, another person may need to listen for the alarm.

If you try a moisture alarm, give it plenty of time. It often takes two weeks to see any type of response and up to 12 weeks to enjoy dry nights. Moisture alarms are highly effective, and they may provide a better long-term solution than medication does.

What ever you do I would avoid any type of medication, the risks outway the benefits.

Blessings,

P.S. My son is 10 and we are still dealing with this, I buy him Depends, he's starting to wet them less and less, the doctor suggesting the alarm system and I may try that if things don't progress.

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have you asked her pedi to do a urin analysis to make sure she doesn't have a bladder infection? seems like that would be one of the first things her doctor would do. i would rule out a bladder problem before trying anything else.

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Your pedi sounds like she needs to grow up and find another career. If I were you I'd get a second opionion maybe its some kind of kidney infection, it happens. and besides something is really going on with your daughter that she can't control please I'd get a second opionion that sounds serious.

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Please don't fret M.. I know from experience how frustrating this can be, however this too shall pass! She most likely will grow out of this but I don't think it's wise to put a time limit on it. Kids grow out of this at different ages. This problem is a lot more common than many people think because it's embarrassing, especially for the children. My advice would be to keep buying the pull-ups and explain to her that they would not make a product like that if there weren't a lot of other kids with the same problem. That will assure her that she is not alone. God bless!

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maybe she is scared to go to the restroom at night by herself or maybe she is just beeing lazy. Its alot of reason why your daughter is still wetting the bed. Have you tried getting her up in the middle of the night or making go before she goes to bed. You could also try a night light so she want be afraid, put one in her room, the hallway and the restroom. Does she have a bladder promblem, did you ask the pedi about that? In due time it will work out and when she gets older you all can share a laugh.

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Hi,

What I have heard works best and without side effects is the underwear alarm. You can order online or via your doc's office. It sounds nutty, but it really works. The inhaled meds work too but not as well, and sometimes require bloodwork. Some kids neurodevelopmentally are behind the average,but eventually they catch up. Limiting water at bedtime is also key. And of course, do not allow caffeinated beverages.

Waking up the child in the middle of the night is often traumatic for both mom and child, esp if the child is a very sound sleeper. You could try it, but if there is a lot of whining and tears, it may not be worth it.

Hope this helps.

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Hi M.,

Have you had your child tested for any kind of Kidney problem, etc.? My friend had an ultrasound done on her daughter as she was wetting at night up until age 8!! Come to find out she did not have an issue and she did stop going at night but I would check out every possibility.

I have a 5 year old who just until recently wore Pull-ups to bed. She was totally fine during the day. What I did to try to get her out of it was we put her on the potty right before we went to bed (around 10:30-11:00pm) and she would stay dry for the rest of the night. She now can go through the night without an accident. We did the nightime potty thing for about a month or a little more. It was tiring but it was better than dealing with a wet bed and buying Pull-ups forever.

Good luck!

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It could be a psychological problem. I was abused by my father and I wet the bed until my mother divorced him when I was seven. I quit wetting the bed when he moved out. She remarried another abusive man and I started wetting the bed as soon as the abuse started and didn't stop until she divorced him when I was 11. My psychiatrist felt that I slept so deeply to escape.

I AM NOT IN ANY WAY suggesting that there is abuse in your household but there could be things that are bothering your child that they need help dealing with.

My mother tired everything. She cut off any beverages after 6pm, made me "go" right before bed, woke me in the middle of the night and even made a poster board and put a gold star on it every time I had a dry night. Nothing helped. One thing that saved my mattress was the plastic liner that went under my sheets. All you have to do is wipe it with antibacterial cleaner and viola no urine smell. We didn't have pull ups that I'm aware of when I was a child.

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I think you should wait. Some kids' bodies aren't ready yet. It may not even be waking her up. Their nervous systems need time to mature. Some kids are wetters into their teens... and it's not because they want to be. I wouldn't put pressure on her about it. Maybe don't give her anything to drink before bed and take her to the potty as soon as she wakes.

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I understand your frustration. My son just turned 8 and is still wetting the bed every single night. He wears goodnights and his pedi says that it is very normal for kids to even continue this util they are 9. I have tried many things with no success. My daughter on the other hand just turned 5 and decided last week that she wanted to wear panties to bed and has only had a couple of accidents. I think they have to decide they are ready and their body has to be ready. Until then no matter what you try it probably won't work.

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My daughter wet the bed until she was almost 9 years old. I talked to her pedi and we did the "practice" runs before bed to work on muscle memory, we limited her liquid intake, woke her up in the middle of the night, etc....what it cme down to was that she was simply too lazy to get up and go on her own. She thought wearing Pullups was a great convenience. Around her 7th birthday, I started making her change her own sheets when she "blew out" the Pullup. I had a dry set of sheets in her room at all times so if she wet in the middle of the night she would have to get up and change her bed. I also had her start taking the soiled sheets to the wash room and washing/drying them herself. The big push came at a sleepover when she saw that all the other little girls were not wearing "diapers." When she realized how truly a smelly pain it was to do the laundry and it was embarrassing in front of her friends, she started making a concerted effort to keep herself clean and dry. I realize that I was fortunate not have a medical condition to deal with - just simply a little girl's stubborn streak. Good luck.

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IMHO it is develpmental and not behavior. you r Dr. is right she is not doing it on purpose. I have friend who has her child go to the bathroom when she gois to bed and then again when mom and dad go to bed they put their child on the toilet. Basically getting her up every few hours until she learns to feel the urge some kids just sleep through the urge to pee until they are about 9.

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Hi...I had the same problem with my daughter only much earlier. I took her to a Urinologist and he said her bladder was too small for her body and she also had a bladder infection. I'd have her checked out and see if there is a physical problem. Don't give up on her. lots of luck. L.

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I have a cousin whose daughter had a problem with wetting. After many years and the pediatrician telling her it was her being lazy she finally took her to see a pediatric urologist at a children's hospital. They then found that she really has a medical problem, it wasn't her fault. My cousin felt horrible thinking her daughter was "just lazy". It was due to a "valve" malformation, the urologist had to make sure she was old enough but ended up performing a procedure to close the valve. My cousin also had multi bladder infections, and would often not know she had to go. day or night. my Cousin set a timer day and night to have her go empty her bladder. It did not fix it entirely but it helped. After the surgery she has been fine.
So I guess I am saying if it is anough of a concern to ask other mom's then get the second opinion, then you will have the confort of knowing you did everything you can for her.

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I had the same problem with my little girl. I also asked the doctor about it, and was told that wasn't something to worry about until she was a teen. I was shocked!! Anyway, I tried a few things. For example, I stopped any liquid intake 2 hours before bed. Also, have her go before she goes to bed (which I'm sure you do already). I would also take her to the restroom right before I went to bed, which was about 1-2 hours after she had gone to bed. She is 9 now, and I can't remember the last time she wet her bed. However, I don't recommend the pull ups. I know they make things a lot easier, but I found that she just wouldn't get up to go if she had a pull up. Good luck!!!

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Wait. Patiently. Don't make an issue of it. You don't want to stress the child out. I had similar issue with a boy, and his YOUNGER brother was waking dry in the morning before he did. I came to trust that he just wasn't in control.. his body was just different. The pediatrician told me to wait, but said if i was really worried, I could go to specialists and have tests run for piece of mind ... but I didn't want to put him through unnecessary testing.

Their bodies mature at different rates, but as a wise friend told me ... they are NEVER wearing diapers when they graduate.

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My now 6 year old wet the bed several times a week until she was almost 5, then suddenly stopped. She was completely potty trained by 2 1/2, but that part of her control just didn't kick into gear for a while. I wondered if it was just because she doesn't wake up during the night. Even now, she sleep walks. She will get up and go potty, but she is asleep the whole time usually. She did seem to just grow out of the bed wetting on her own. We also used pullups until she did.

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My granddaughter had the same problem and nothing seemed to help. Since she was such a heavy sleeper, she never knew when she had to go to the bathroom. Her twin brother did not have the same problem. This all changed when she was invited to a sleepover and her mother told her she could not go because she still wet the bed and all the other kids would tease her if they knew this. Maybe it was something psychological, but she never wet the bed again. When she went a month with no accidents, then her mother let her go on the sleepover.

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Hi M.,

Has your Pediatrician run any tests to eliminate possibility of a bladder/kidney infection? True that some kids male & female have the inability to hold it all night due to the length of the ureter-the tube from the bladder outside of the body. Don't make a big deal out of it, just put the pull ups on and praise like crazy when she has a dry night. Stop all fluids except for little sips before bed. Cut out caffeine altogether and see what happens. My own sibling had trouble until she was about 8-9 and she did outgrow it. That was before pull ups too.
Hope it helps.
S. C.

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Hi M.

My daughter was still wetting at 5 years old and her pediatrician recommended a "potty alarm". It goes inside her panties ( or pullup) at night and a sensor will alarm at the first drop of wetness. It was a lifesaver for us! The alarm only "buzzed" one night - she never wet again! She is now 7 years old and doing great. I do not know if it always works that easily, but it definatly worked for us!

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Dear M. P

I apparently had the same problem until 11 years, my mother finally took me and come to it I had a smaller bladder than usual and made me do kegal exercises to streghtened and train the bladder. I had to consciously know to hold urine for 2 minutes then slow increase 5 minutes, 10 minutes etc. I had to be able to hold it up to 30 minutes to stretch bladder and streghten it. Doctor claimed my bladder was too small and would not hold much which caused me to urinate in bed at night. Hope that helps.

G. G

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Hi my name is K.. I know you have probably tried this, I found that making sure routines are always the same are good, but what helped me with my boys was to make sure they had nothing to drink at least 20 minutes before bedtime. After a good set schedule and doing this every night, the bedwetting stopped within 2 days. I always had to make sure they went to potty every night on the way to bed wether they thought they needed to or not.

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Hi, M..

I'm in the same boat with my son who just had his 7th birthday. His pull-ups are dry much more than wet now, so I think we're making good progress. (We've tried without, but it's such a bummer for both of us to deal with the wet bed situation.)

I really think it's so developmental for a lot of kids. To me, it seems better not to make a big deal of it right now because he can't help it. I think it can be very negative to make a fuss about something they genuinely cannot help! He's usually dry in the mornings now. I take that to be developmental progress. He doesn't want to have to keep wearing pull-ups either, so the incentive is there. So many kids go through this. Make a big deal about the "dry" mornings rather than the wet ones...positve reinforcement and patience!!

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I know you got tons of posts, but this same subject came up in another post and tons of responses said "cut back on milk...don't let your child have any after lunch" Don't know why that works, but supposedly it does. Also, if there is not a kidney or bladder infection, it is likely that her bladder is just small for her age...that should take care of itself. Boys are usually more prone to this condition so keep an eye on your son's progress too when it comes time. Don't embarrass her or make her change her own sheets as some others have stated in the past...it is not her fault any more than it would be if she had chickenpox!

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my mom had us record ourselves saying over and over again that "I will not pee in the bed I will go to the restroom" That helped me and my sister plus it has helped my neice, my 2 girls and my son.

Wish you well

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My sister and I have had the same problem. Her son is 8 now and although he hasn't had any accidents in about a year he definitely was being taken to every doctor, psychiatrist and everything else because no one knew why. Turns out that when he was in "deep sleep" he was so out of it that he didn't realize he was going until it was too late. Embarassing for him and upsetting for his parents but once they relized that it wasn't laziness or a mental problem, they decided to monitor his intake of liquids before bedtime. He was not allowed to have anything to drink an hour before he went to bed and had to "try" to go to the bathroom before nighttime. It helped for the most part and then he eventually grew out of it. Apparently it's a lot more common than people think. Those "Goodnights" that are on TV. That's what we used because the pullups were not holding all the liquid. My daughter just turned 6 and still has this problem. Not ll the time but randomly like when we go somewhere else. When she spends the night at her Nanas house r something she has accidents and she doesn't even know that it happened. It's just one of those things that all you can do it be understanding and patient. It will be gone soon enough. Make sure you let her know that it's ok to have accidents and that you're going to make some bedtime routine changes to help her so it doesn't happen as often. It's embarassing for them to know that other kids don't do it. The fact is, other kids DO do it and it's ok. I hope this was helpful. Sorry that you have to go through all this. It can be very frustrating. My daughter seems to wet the bed only right after I just washed the sheets. That's the worst! LOL!

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Hi M.,

You should try the bed wetting alarm.

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We have had success with Chiropractic. If there is a misalignment in the spine, the nervous system may not be able to get the message from the bladder to the brain saying, "Hey, I need to pee down here"... thus an accident occurs. It took only a couple of adjustments!!

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I had the same problem with my son. I did away with the pull-ups. They will keep wetting as long as they know they have those on. Get a couple of those waterproof pads that you can place on top of the sheets. You can find them at One Step Ahead, online, and i have also seen them at bed bath and beyond. The one at One Step Ahead I liked the best because it felt like a real sheet, and held a lot of fluid without getting on to the sheets.that way if they wet the bed you can just take the pad off and put them back to bed after a change of clothes. After feeling themselves wet the bed enough they will most likely stop it. At least that worked for me. He does not wet the bed anymore. Good luck, Leigh Cook

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Hi M.,

My daughter turned 6 in January and she has had maybe one dry night in her life. Well, we were sooooo frustrated with her. She's our second daughter so we were wondering what the heck? Is this girl just lazy or what? I'm not an advice giver or anything, but our daughter had a lot of urinary tract infections as well and eventually we found out that she had an anomally (basically an abnomality) with her whole urethra and reproductive area.

Basically it's common for little girls to sometimes have a weak bladder neck muscle. So when they sleep, it's even a little bit weaker. So if your daughter tells you that she can't feel that she needs to go potty at night, she may be right. Our daughter wakes up with a full diaper every morning.

I don't know if this helps at all. Just know you aren't alone with this problem. :)

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Hello M., from: M. W.
Date: Wed. Apr. 09, 2008

I had the same problem with my only daughter. I don't remember how old she was when she finally grew out of it, but she did finally grow out of it and she is 12 now. I had to start buying those adult accident pants, until she grew out of it, and one day she just stopped. I don't really remember if anything made her stop. Just pray for patience with her. I can tell you that scolding her and punishing her will not help, that will only make her feel bad about herself, so I would encourage you to not do that. Just be patient, she will stop, but also make sure there isn't something or someone bothering her or hurting her. If you're sure of that, just love on her.

A little about me:

I am a mother of 4. Three sons and one girl (19,16,13,12).

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OK I swear that I am not looking for the "shock" response from everyone, but I was a foster parent for teenage girls age 12-18 for 4 years and I was taught that bed wetting was one of the signs of sexual abuse. "NOW I AM NOT SAYING THAT IS YOUR DAUGHTER'S PROBLEM FOR SURE" ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY FOR YOU TO CONSIDER AND BE WEARY OF!! It is often someone that you really would not expect! My nephew went after my son! Anyway please don't completely disregard what I am telling you ,and watch out for her or maybe ask her while you are playing dolls with her if anybody should ever try to touch you there? and has anybody tried to touch you there? very discreet as not to make a big deal out of it.
And I will tell you that the same nephew wet the bed well into his teens and it was later found out that someone had abused him which is why he abused! Please be careful and just check on it. with all sincerity, S.

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My son just turned 7yrs in February and he still wets the bed most nights. He has never been trained at night, he just sleeps so heavy. His pediatrician just says it can be genetic (his daddy and his aunt both wet the bed well into Elementary)or it can just be that he is a hard sleeper. We chose to keep him in underwear at night, b/c his 4yr old brother wears underwear without a problem. I didn't want him to be embarrassed. There is an alarm you can buy that will sound off once the first drop hits his pants, the only problem is my son would doubtfully wake up to it. There is also a pill they can take at night before bed that will slow down the production of urine, but I just don't want to go there just yet. Anyways, I hope this helps. Hang in there, you are not alone and it is a fairly common problem!

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I hav a 5 year old daughter and she was not only wetting the bed and still is now, but she would have accidents throughout the day as well. I did take her to a Urologist and thye found lots of stool, even though she would have no problems with that, it was causing the Uterine wall to just open and leak pee. I do know that after fixing that we still have the issues at night and they do not go away. My Ped says All in due time. It is usually developmental in the body not mental. My 3 yr old daughter has dry night and we think she does wet the bed more out of sympathy for sis. She will probably be potty trained at night before my 5 yr old. I think about having another one and I think wow I still get up with mine. I tried doing the wake up at night thing and mine is really a sleeper and it is really straining on me to do it. I felt it just was not worth the exaustion.

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