8 Year Old Wetting Bed

I have a 7 year old daughter who also continues to wet the bed - we have tried alarms; we have tried limiting fluids; we have tried letting her sleep in the wet bed hoping she'll wake up; we have tried waking her up every 1-2 hours all night long - NOTHING has worked. So, now we have her in pull ups every night - and some nights she wakes up dry and some nights she doesn't - but at least HER embarassment; and HER nerves about it are somewhat eased. My pediatrician said that its actually very common - around 1 out of 3 kids have this problem until around age 10. The research the pediatrician and i have done together also shows that being a heavy sleeper is a LARGE contributing factor. All of this being said we have started taking her to a psychologist for another reason (she was having separation anxiety) and there is some major studies that show that bed wetting may be more of a psychological problem than a medical one - so that is something that we are going to be working on with her psychologist - so you may even want to look into that option.

Also -before you purchase the alarms - go to their website - b/c you can listen to the loudness of an actual alaram - and they are no louder than an alarm clock - so if your child can sleep through a fire whistle or alarm clock they probbaly won't work.

Als0- there are TWO different medications that they can be put on that will "train" the body/bladder - however the one is actually an antidepressant and they don't prescribe it to families that have siblings younger than 5 b/c it can be fatal for those ages - but there is another one - and i can't recall its name - you may want to ask about that - it didn't work for us - but they are thinking of trying it again when she turns 8 -

hope this helps - email me if you want to talk: ____@____.com

S. w

My best friend has this same problem with her 8 year old. He is very tiny and underdeveloped for his age. She actually wears pull ups on him which they have in larger sizes. This problem is more common than you might think. I know her doctor suggested using an alarm that goes into the pullup and when he starts to pee and alarm goes off. Ask your doctor about that.

Also, if you don't feel you are getting the answers you need from your pediatrician, find another one or a specialist in this fiueld.

have ypu tried an alalrm? They are available thru the Sears catalogue. You can also talk to your doctor about DDAVP, it comes ini both a nasal spray and a pill form and is effective in stopping bedwetting. It sounds like you already limit fluid intake. Do you wake him to go to the bathroom, too?

My son is 10, and still wets nearly every night. He wears "Goodnites"...they come in sizes up to 125lb. It can be hereditary....his grandfather wet the bed regularly until 17 years old, his father (my husband) until he was 14. Sometimes they are just 'deep sleepers'. It's good to have the doctor check him out for underlying causes, but if it turns out to be something he'll grow out of, don't make a big deal of it, and let him 'own' it (put the goodnites in a drawer in his room, his responsibility, etc). You can also get a plastic mattress "bag" at Walmart for about $6.00...the whole mattress goes inside and zips up. Those are a lifesaver.

Good luck!

Sounds psychological to me. Especially with the throwing up. My 7 year old can psych himself into throwing up with amazing accuracy. I joke he should be an actor some day.

He also had problems with bed wetting when we was 5. We put him back in diapers (they make big boy pull ups) until he would be able to get through the night without peeing the bed.

This worked really well.

Here are some things to consider. I have a 9 year old boy. He has had ADHD & Aspergers (whether that's got anything to do with it, not sure)-he'd wet the bed nontheless. First I'd use what I call "pee pee mats" (I still do), so I don't have to change the bed so much anymore. They are just cotton-lined rubber mats on his bed, directly under him, over the fitted sheet. As he got older he has not wet the bed so much, but we still use the pee pee mats. So it may just be a bladder size thing, where it hasn't grown enough yet. Even though he's a twin, one of them may be more developed in some ways than another, who knows. The throwing up part may be an unrelated issue. But that's how I've dealt with the peeing the bed thing. Sure, there are times when I have to wash everything, but it's not as often now. Actually, I've used the cotton-lined mats since he was a baby, in case of any spit-ups in his crib, too. We got them at Babies R Us. Hope some of this helps. Have you been using overnite pull-ups too?
We did and after so many dry nights we stopped. We still use the pee pee mats though.

I can't help you with the throwing up part but my nephew had the same problem with wetting the bed...no medical reason. They tried two things. First, before they would settle in for the night they would wake him up to go to the bathroom. And sometimes they would even set the alarm to wake him up to go. They thought it was better to wake up for a few seconds to get him to go than to have to change the sheets and deal with the mess. They also hoped that he would learn to wake up on his own. I'm not sure how well it worked b/c my sister then tried something else.

She started making him change the sheets when he wet the bed. She put a fresh set of sheets in his room and gave him a place to deposit the dirty ones...I think he put them right in the washer so they wouldn't smell up the house. She also used a waterproof mattress pad so it wouldn't get into the mattress. Believe it or not, when he started to have to change his own sheets, he stopped wetting the bed. Apparently, it was sheer laziness that was keeping him from getting up so when he realized that he had to get up and change sheets he changed his tune. I don't think that this was a conscious decision on his part to wet the bed but whatever it was...it worked.

They say one in every senior class still does on occasion. I know what you are going thru, my boys did for a long time. They are now 12 and 17. My 12 year old still does here and there. It can be very frustrating, too.

My almost 13year old son still has accidents.....not nearly as bad as before but he still has problems.I was told that there's part of their brains that are under developed causing them not to watch up when they have to go.He was on medication for over a year and that helped...now we have good nights for when he"thinks"he's going to have a bad night.
Normally he'll start to"wet"himself right before he gets up.But he knows if he does have an accidents he needs to get all wet clothing and sheets to the laundry room and we have stuff to spray on it(we got it from Home depot)and it takes the smell out...
But good luck and remember no child wants to still have accidents at this age but they do
J.

First give yourself and your son a little relief and buy some pull-ups for him to wear at night. Try talking to him about his dreams. Does he dream that he is going to the bathroom in his dreams? That could be part of the problem, if he is dreaming that he is going to the bathroom his body is sending the message that he has to go and he is not recognizing it in his sleep. Also try waking him up around midnight to go to the bathroom. that MIGHT help as well. Try white vinger and warm water to remove the smell (I know this works to remove the smell of cat urine so it should work for you) clean the area with soap and water then use the vinger solution. If the matteress is soaked, replace it and buy a plastic protective cover for the new one before he sleeps on it.

You mentioned he is throwing up? Does he do that when he is upset? I know one of my daughters used to throw up when ever she had a temper tantrum...made me crazy...she did stop when I changed how I dealt with her.

You have to remain as cool and calm as you can. I know it's hard and very discouraging, but you will get this all figured out sooner or later!! Good luck and best wishes!

wetting the bed runs in my family and I have lots of experience with this problem... getting upset does not help. they do not want to wet the bed... until you find out what the problem is causing the bed wetting use 'pull ups' or over nights or whatever they call them now.... I used them after years of washing the bed clothes everyday and bleaching down the matress every week... (dilute the bleach before you rub down the matress with the solution and leave all day for it to air out and put a running fan right on the mattress)
after you start using the pull up things you only have to do that once

it will save your sanity....

good luck and God Bless

Is anything upsetting him? Could it be anxiety that's making him throw up and wet the bed?

I've not dealt with a child so old wetting the bed regularly (my 9 year old daughter just did last week, but that was a shocker to me, as she hasn't done that in YEARS. My 5 year old son occassionally wets), but I have heard that it is more common in boys than girls. You may want to consider having him wear "Good Nights."

The approach I take with my kids is to make them as much responsible for the clean up as possible. This is not a punishment, but consistent with our overall philosophy that "you made a mess, you clean it up." I try as often as possible to call attention to messes that I make (accidentally spilling something or such) and say "oops, mommy made a mess, what do a I do now?" so that the kids know that cleaning up messes is something that EVERYONE in our house does, not just kids.

At 8 years old your son is old enough to take the sheets off himself and to put them, with the wet clothes, into the washing machine. He might be able to measure out detergent and get the load started--you judge for yourself on that. Once they are washed, putting them in the dryer should also be his responsibility. He then can be taught to put the sheets back on the bed if he doesn't already know how.

If you don't already have one, I'd strongly reccommend getting a water-proof mattress pad for him. If the mattress has been wetted already, I'm not sure how to get the smell out of his room short of getting a new mattress.

Good luck!

When I was younger (much younger) I went through this same thing. My mother bought me an alarm clock and set it for the middle of the night. When the clock went off I had to get up and go to the bathroom. After about six months of that I got programmed and managed to get up and go without the alarm clock. Eventually I got out of that, it took about another year but I got out of it.

Hi L.,

My 6 yr old daughter also wets the bed and is adamant that she tries really hard to stay dry. What has been helping with the washing the bed every day has been putting "Good nights" diapers on...they are for big kids and they really prevent the bed from getting wet...that can help in the meanwhile.

Best of luck,

May (mom of 3)

If the doctors say that it isn't physical have you tried something mental. I am not saying anything is wrong with him per say but there could have been something or someone who bothered him and it really affected him. Have you tried asking him if anything has happened or someone is bothering him in school? I am not trying to alarm you but a lot of times when nothing is physically wrong with them it is usually mental. Have you moved recently, did he change schools....etc. Oh and the smell what I find that works is when you are cleaning it use white vinegar. It works wonders, it works for pets too. Good luck hope everything turns out well.

My daughter was 6 years old when she stopped wetting the bed. She still wears pull ups to bed. I guess they are her security, but they are dry when she wakes up now.
It has a lot to do with heredity. My husband and I were both bed wetters. Also, my daughter is a heavy, heavy sleeper and that has contributed to the bed wetting.
I too would get up every night and change sheets and clean up the bed until I could no longer take it. It took me a while to convince her to wear pull ups, but until I did I used a water proof pad that went on top of the sheets. That way when she did have an accident, all I had to do was remove the pad.
Good luck! He will grow out of it.

I have an 8 year old who also wets almost every night. We use the GoodNights, and they seem to work, the pullups leak almost evey time. This can be hereditary. I know my husband and his twin brother had issues until they were older (I think his brother was almost 10) and my brother wet until he was at least 9. I don't really get too concerned about it, knowing that. It is more of a hassle than anything else. My older child stopped when he was about 7 or 8, and my younger son is 5 and still does. My daughter only does when she is sick (she is 3) I also know that my 8 year old is a very sound sleeper, and that is part of it.
As for the smell, I use febreeze every so often and it seems to help, but not get rid of it completely.

Hi! I have an eight yr old daughter who used to wet the bed. My mother also had issues at night when she was a child. I would suggest goodnites? They worked for us. Plus it wasn't so time consuming to clean up. He will grow out of it I am sure. Plus the stigma of being wet won't be such an issue. HTH? S. mom of 6

It sounds like stress. Think about what could be causing him stress. If everything is find at home, it probably is something to do with school, possibly everything. If it is school, consider cyber school. It's great, you get a computer and all the stuff you need, and he wouldn't have to deal with all the problems of school. Here is a site www.k12.com. If you are in PA www.agora.org Good luck. Go easy on the little guy, life is tough enough. If you stress too much over it, it will make him more stressed out. Try to find some rubber sheets, or get a hospital bed mattress so you can wash it, until you find the root of the problem. You may never know for sure, just be patient. Sometimes kids just have underdeveloped kidneys and it takes a while. I would bet it's the stress though, and if you question him too much about it, it will make him worse too. Just ask him what he would think of going to school at home on the computer and see what he says. If he gets all excited about it, you will know he is having problems with school. I will tell you, it is the greatest thing invented. Kids can learn in peace. My son liked public school, but was coming home stressed all day. He does much better in cyber school. You should pay attention to the attitude he has after he gets home from school too. Also consider what is going on at home, and if he has any reason to be stressed from. One other thing, some people think that you have to pay for cyber school, not witha legitimate one, they pay for everything, just like any other public school. Good luck you and your son.

What a handful for you with a 14month old. Well i have heard that bedwetting is do to a small bladder or a very heavy sleeper. Try night light in the bathroom and a alarm clock in the middle of the night even though he shares his room with his twin the other will just have to get used to it. Sounds mean but it works you should try it. Alot of the gender male will not stop bedwetting till the age of 10 years. try to use hospital blue large pads for on top of his sheet they are disposable if you know anyone that works in the medical field maybe they can help you out. For the smell use something in the pet store believe it or not it will work better then something at walmart. good luck to you seriously set an alarm for about 5 hours after falling asleep .