Advice on Potty Training During the Night.

I wouldn't worry about him still wearing pull-ups at night. My 8 year old daughter still wears them for nighttime accidents. We talked to her doctor about it and she explained that it's not an uncommon problem. We just need to give her time for her bladder to "grow up". In fact, her doctor was a bed wetter. I myself had the same problem until I was 12 years old. My advice would be to wait it out.

N.,

I have the same problem with my daughter. She goes all day fine & can even take a nap without having an accident. I have tried not letting her drink 1hr. before bedtime & waking her up in the middle of the night to go potty but I too cannot fine anything that works. I asked the doctor & she told me that Destiny would grow out of it. If you don't mind can you share any advice that you get. Thanks M..

Hi N., I am a mother in Northern Michigan and have learned that boys and night time sleep wets is very common. Boys develop much later than girls, in this ages and stages..... Very common, just watch his drinking in the evening, try to taper that off a bit and that will help. Yet on hot hot summer days kinda hard to do that, keep him hydrated well during the day, and taper off the liquids at night. It will all work out, just be very patient and someday this will disappear. Patience will be the key to this one. Best of luck to you........take care,

J.

My grandson is going on ten and still wets the bed at night. We have tried pills, sprays, buzzers and none of them have helped. His father wet the bed until fifth grade and his mother wet the bed until 4th grade.

We are reading a book called "Dry All Night" I think it is helping. He has more dry nights than wet right now. I just assure him that is it nothing to be ashame of and we know that he is not doing it because he is lazy. The problem is that he sleeps so sound, he doesn't realize that his bladder is full. The book is very helpful.

I also have a 5 year old who still wears pull ups to bed...I have talked to his doctor and he said don't push it. He said that as a child grows sometimes their bladder doesn't grow as fast. When you are sleeping and your bladder gets full it sends a signal to your brain that wakes you up and because his bladder hasn't grown with him, he isn't getting the brain signal. I know its not just him being lazy because I have had him fall asleep on me and be in a deep sleep and pee. In time the bladder will grow and they will stop wetting the bed. His doctor said it could take a while or it could be overnite there is no timeline. I hope this helps!!

Hi N.! My son is 10 years old and still wets the bed at night. We have talked with the pediatrician and she says that one of her sons wet the bed until he was 16! We have tried no drinks before bed, using the bathroom before bed, waking him 2 times a night to go to the bathroom, alarms and even medication. Nothing works! We saw a urologist and he said that my son is healthy and has a not yet fully developed bladder and is a deep sleeper. He perscribed a different medication...it did not work. I had the same problem when I was a child, but back then they stretched your bladder....they don't do that anymore. So, I guess we just have to be patient. He won't go to sleepovers because he is embarrassed....it is really disappointing to him!

Sounds like he may have an immature bladder. I would take him to your pediatrician for an exam.

We ran into the same potty training road block with my son. It may sound crazy and really inconvenient but it was the only thing that worked for us. In the beginning I would wake him up before I went to bed (which was a few hours after him) and my husband would wake him up when he got up for work (which was/is an hour and 1/2 before he gets up). Fortunately, after the first few days he learned to go right back to sleep. The great thing is that after a while-maybe 2 or 3 months or so-his body got on that schedule and he began to wake himself up and go. He wanders right back into his room and goes back to sleep. Of course, all of this is assuming you're sure your son isn't suffering from a disorder called enuresis. In case you aren't familiar with it-it is a pretty common condition suffered by girls and boys alike. These kids have a malfunction of sorts in there sleep patterns that prevents them from waking up when the urge hits. They sleep very deeply. So deeply that the treatment usually requires an alarm clock set at regular intervals. Discovering this during my research was where the idea came from to try it with our son. Although the treatment would be similar, you would probably want to take your son to his pediatrician (if you havn't already, that is) for specific treatments. Anyway, I hope this helps you.....sorry if I've overwhelmed you.

Good luck. :o}
K.-Justin and Evan's mom

N.,
I posted about this really recently. You can read all 29 of the responses to that post for more information too. My son is almost 8 and still is wet every night. Ihave cut out liquids hours before bedtime, tried the alarm in his pull up, tried getting him up several times a night, tried letting him sleep without a pull up, set an alarm for HIM to hear and wake up to go...nothing has worked. My answer is that he is a very SOUND sleeper and he isn't ready yet. I'd love to have him be done with the Good Nights as well, but if I have tried everything but meds and he is still wet, then he is still wet. I'll give it another year and talk to the Dr again. Until then in my case I am going to not worry about it.

Blessings.
M.

My brother had the same problem. We had to quit giving him caffeine and made sure he didn't drink diet pop ar any kind of diet drinks. He was 14 or 15 though when he stoped. He also was on medicine for a while but was real exspensive so we tried the other things and they seemed to work.

No sugary drinks after dinner. Make him go potty before bed wearing unerwear, then when you finally retire for the night (for us it's about 11:00 or 12:00) get him up and take him to the potty. Most of the time they are half asleep when you do this but it establishes a pattern and they will soon wake up on their own to go at night. At first he would sometimes already be wet when we woke him but this worked after a few nights with my son at age 3 1/2 and with my daughter at 3 and I'm currently training my youngest. Be encouraged ... this too shall pass.

Hi N.,

My 5 year old still wears pull-ups to bed too. We do make sure she goes potty before bed and sometimes she wakes up dry, but sometimes she doesn't. We give high fives when she wakes up dry, but I never act angry if she is wet. I know what she's going through.

I too was a bed wetter-until I was 6. My problem was physiological and I had to have a medical procedure to fix it. However, I think I also had a problem with just being a deep sleeper because I never felt the urge to go at night and would wake up wet. My mom was pretty understanding, but my stepfather at the time was not, so I felt a lot of shame and anxiety about it and most certainly would not have been doing it if I had any control over it. No kid wants to sleep in a puddle of their own pee!

My theory is that with small children, 2 and 3 year olds who are learning to be potty trained, waking them up to go and some of the other tricks may work because they are learning to listen to their bodies. I think once a child is a little older and they are still having the problem 9 times out of 10 there is another issue and these methods don't work. Waking them up in the middle of the night is just disrupting your sleep and theirs, so you might as well just stick with the pull-ups until they grow out of it and let everyone have a good night sleep and save on some laundry detergent.

I have a step-sister who wet the bed until she was almost 14. They tried everything, including the alarm that woke her up when she was wetting... which she slept right through. Finally, a urologist subscribed her a medication that worked. She is 18 now and hasn't taken the medication for a few years. Talk to your doctor, but I think most of them will say that 5 is still young and they may just tell you to wait it out a little longer. A lot of kids will just grow out of it with no intervention. There must be some little part of the brain that takes longer to develop in some of us... but it eventually does. I haven't wet the bed in years! ;-)

Good luck!
A.

Hello N.,

Unfortunately I dont think there is a simple solution. My son wore a pull up until he was 8!!!! I hated changing sheets several times a week and thought that 8 was too old to still be wetting but my pediatrician told me that there is a certain "trigger" in a boy that tells them when they need to get up and go,...your son has obviously not hit that point yet. It's ok though,...it will come. Another option if you are really worried would be to have him checked out. His bladder could also be under developed and not able to hold as much at his age. Good luck!

Hi N.,
An answer that you probably won't get from anyone else is that it may be a nutritional issue. If that's a direction you have not investigated I'd be happy to give you more information.

My advice is to use a waterproof mattress pad, and have him wear regular underwear to bed. If he has an accident, have him help you change the sheets.

Of course, some children have medical problems that contribute to this problem. Your son is only 5, though. He may just need a little extra incentive to stay dry. Being uncomfortably wet in the middle of the night and having to change his bedsheets may do the trick. If not, talk to your doctor about potential physiological conditions that may be at play.

In the meantime, the next time you're changing sheets in the wee hours, please know that we moms are pulling for you!

No drinks 2 hours prior to bedtime and make sure he goes potty right before bed. Also if you have to for a while wake him right before you go to bed and make him go again.

Hi N.,
Our pediatrician said that night time bedwetting is hereditary on the dad's side. If dad was a late trainer then child will probably be also. He said that just to decrease fluid intake after 6pm. Good luck!

My daughter is also 5, starting Kindergarten, and wears pull ups. I have talked to her ped about it many times. Due to her numerous bed-wetting genes (I wet the bed, her father did, my sister did, my mother did, her father's mother did), they are not concerned about it yet. They don't worry about it until she is 7 they said. We have tried cutting liquids, waking up to go potty, going potty last thing before bed, first thing in the morning, everthing. Nothing has worked. In addition, I used to babysit a 4 year old that was diabetic. That child's ped told her parents to absolutely NOT cut the liquids. If she is thirsty, let her drink. That has always stuck in my mind, since my daughter's father is borderline diabetic and I swear my daughter has some blood-sugar problems (severe attitude when she hasn't eaten properly).

So...talk to your son's ped about it. It may be something he can't control yet, his bladder may not be developed enough, or he may have inherited the bed-wetting gene.

N.,
His bed wetting may be coming from another problem. Could be physical, emotional or something else. My best advice is
1. stop using the pull-ups
2. no drinks after a certain time of the night
3. using the bathroom before bed/waking him up to use the bath room in the middle of the night
4. checking with your doctor...did his father have a hard time with potty training when he was a child-that my have something to do with it
5. let him wake up in wet sheets a few times, I know this is time consuming having to clean him and his bed but this is the technique I used with my 3 year old son and it worked took about a month or two but it worked for me. I am sure you will find a solution that will work, just don't stop trying.
R.