9 Yo Still Wetting Bed

Hi L.. I recently met a mother whose 9-year-old son was wetting his bed. It turned out to be a rare symptom of diabetes. Please have your son checked for diabetes immediately.

my 9 yr old is doing the same thing.. we tried the medications but it didn't work so we are still just giving it time. My ped also said that hormones can screw it all up ( my daughter did start puberty early) so if your son did too, then that could be a problem.. don't stress over it and look into meds if you haven't already, but time is the only thing that works

Get another medical opinion, a new doctor, or see a pediatric urologist. Your son DOES TOO have a problem! My son had it too - it's called nocturnal enuresis, which means peeing at night. There is a simple medication that can be taken, no side effects, etc. We did everything you are doing, and even invested in one of those alarms that go off when wetness is detected. Nothing worked. My son went on the meds around age 6 I think, he went off at 9, the problem came back, and he went back on. The pediatrician and the pedi urologist said there was no reason he couldn't stay on them until he was 20. He never had a side effect, except good ones - we all got sleep and did a lot less laundry, AND he could spend the night with friends if he wanted to. We sent one pill in an unlabeled bottle, and told him to tell the other kids it was for allergies. We told the other parent to be sure he took the pill before bed. Easy easy. He even went to sleep-away camp for 5 years. No problems. He took himself off the pills around age 12 or so, with no recurrence. It all has to do with the rate at which the child develops the "bladder-brain" connection - when a full bladder sends the signal to the brain to wake up. There is nothing you can do behaviorally to train his body to do this. It takes time. He's doing well in other areas, he's happy, he has a big yard - why not give him some sleep and some peace of mind! I can't remember the name of the medication now - my son is now 19 - but I can find out if you can't get your son's doctor to take you seriously.

Actually, more common than you think. I know of two people who had this issue and both were boys. One told me the doctor said is bladder was not growing at the same rate as his body. the other was pretty severe and, at one point, they put some kind of buzzer in his underpants that was suppose to wake him when he started getting wet. it worked about 1/2 of the time. He then had to start taking medicine at night that helped. In both cases, the boys are young teenagers and they have both outgrown this issue. I know they both used the "big boy" disposal underwear. He will outgrow but if it continues, I would bring him back to the doctor. Good luck~

Hi L.
Where your son goes for long periods of time without an accident it sounds to me like it might be stress. Even though he says he's fine and nothing bothers him his body is telling otherwise. Sometimes we hide stress that we don't recognize conciously but our physical body does. Maybe he has something going on at school or it could be the move. Try talking to his teacher to see if they have seen anything that might be causing him stress or anxiety. Another thought is it might be a growth spurt causing him to sleep more deeply. If you record his height and weight go back and check when he was around 6-7 y/o and see if he took a tremendous jump in growth. Kids tend to be a bit more sleepy when they are in a growth spurt.

You mentioned just buying a new home with a yard to play in. Your son is probably exhausted and sleeping very soundly so he can't wake himself up to go to the bathroom during the night.
Maybe you can try some quiet playtime like sandbox, model building, puzzles, & reading from 7pm untill bedtime (about 9pm?) That should help your son wind down from his busy day and maybe he'll sleep like he did before.
its worth a try

Hi L.,

I have a 6 year old that has an accident probably once a month. I've found that it usually happens when he is overtired or stressed out about something (like when he has a long visit with his dad). Could you keep a journal of the times he's had an accident...things that happened that day, or things he may be anticipating? Maybe then you could find a common thread. Just a thought. Good luck!
C.

Hi. There are some very simple behavioral approaches to bed-wetting and I would try those first. Find a behavioral therapist - I know one in Lexington. His last name is Azerrad. If there's nothing organically wrong then using behavior therapy should work. Good luck! PS: my son wet his bed but "grew out of it" by the time he was 5. If he had continued I would definitely have gone with a behavioral approach.

am a mother of 3 kids and my first daughter and my son were potty trained by 15 months and it worked out ok. until l left them for a couple of years to go persue my studies in another country. my son who is now 10 yrs then started to wet his bed and it did stop. but i brought them to this country a few months ago and the bed wetting started and its now everyday. but what we do now is he doesn't drink anything 2-3 hrs before bedtime and he will go to the bathroom at least 2 times before bed time. then one of us has to wake him up around 2pm which tends to be the time he wets his bed and again at 5 or 6 pm. now that school is out he will be in bed until 9 pm, but it seams to be working out and of late we just realised he is starting to wake himself up once in a while.which is good.

Maybe you can try and see if you can wake him up the most crucial time you think he wets the bed and again before early morning, they tend to like to pee early in the morning.Or it might be the Stress of moving to a new place he might not know that because he is haveing so much fun in the big yard but the mind tells it differently. well Good luck, but it should stop soon hopefully.

I have a friend who's son is 7 and the same thing happens. Could it be anxiety? My friends son has ADHD and goes through a lot of anxiety and this is a result of it. Does he got o summer camp? Is he having some problems socially? It can be very frustrating as a parent to see this all the time but how does he react when it happens?

Could he havea bladder control problem? If this is happening occasionally after he wakes as well - and I hate to say this - but can you make a doctor appt for him to possibly find a medication that could help him? I have found that when you have what the doctors consider a minor issue - they tend to brush you off. But remember - you are his only advocate - maybe you need to really PUSh your doctor into seeing this issue for what it is. Its not common (as far as I know) for a 9 yo to wet the bed without some sort of reasoning behind it.

Good luck, I hope you get some excellent advice and this problem goes away for your sons sake (and yours).