Almost 6 Year Old Still Wetting Bed

My husband, his brother, and his father all three wet the bed until they were in high school. My husband said that he had a plastic sheet on his bed, and his mom taught him how to wash his bedding for when he wet the bed. He said he was washing his bedding all the time (from when he was really young). (I believe that they tried the alarm with my husband's brother, and I don't think it worked for him. He'd sleep through it.)

My husband said he would sleep through the bed wetting every time, and it was really frustrating. He also said that he was about 15 or 16 years old before he had it under control. He said, "It was a maturity thing, I think."

I don't know what he did if he stayed over at someone's house. Now, I know that they have overnight diapers that look like underwear, so at least this generation has that going on, which is nice.

I'm about to have a baby boy in early September, and I highly expect to have the same problem. We'll be investing in plastic sheets and have two sets of sheets on hand for his bed when he's sleeping on his own. :P

I've always heard that it is a common problem, especially among boys. My brother in law wet the bed until he was 11 or 12. They tried the alarm for him, but it never woke him up. My MIL said the pediatrition told her that there is a hormone that has to develop in order for them to feel the urge and get up at night, and in boys (especially) it takes longer fo the hormone to develop. I would just use plastic sheets on top of the mattress, and I've heard that goodnights brand has a "diaper" pull up type thing that looks like regular boxers. My younger brothers also had this problem (now 11 and 15) and still somtimes do. For sleepovers or something like that they put a clean "diaper" in their pillowcase for bedtime and they would throw it away in the morning, and I think a few times even brought it home in a plastic bag in the morning to throw it away. Just don't make him feel bad, because that can lead to other problems (ie: hiding wet things (sheets, diapers, pjs, etc) under the bed).

I see that the bedwetting alarm did not work for a couple of the previous posters, but it worked great for my son. We started using it just before he turned 7, he was asking when he would learn to stay dry at night, so I thought it was time to address it more aggressively. He went from soaking his Good-Nites every night to dry in 4-6 weeks. I was impressed with how quickly it worked for him. It did interrupt my sleep a bit at the beginning because even the alarm would not really wake him so when I heard it I would have to get up and take him to the bathroom. But that didn't last long and was well worth it. He has had maybe 2 accidents in the past few months, but is otherwise a happy and dry boy. I got mine new from ebay for about $70, it may be worth a try.

Well your not alone. I have 5 children and I must say my almost 14 yr old still does it at times as well as my younger 4 children. My oldest never did it, however, she is a light sleeper. The other four are heavy sleepers and have trouble waking up. My 13 yr old did have the alarm device and it didn't work. Cost me couple hundred dollars and was a waste in my opinion. Unfortunately, my brother and I both wet the bed as kids and while I stopped early in childhood, he didn't. Our doctor said they would grow out of it. Its frustrating because my children have wet the bed, and moved to our LR and wet on my sofa. I have begged and pleaded with them to stop that because guess what my furniture has been ruined so many times I lost count. I tell them I am not angry with them for doing it but I am when they move and have another accident on my sofa or elsewhere. I make them clean up after themselves. We can go weeks without anything and then go a week with every night and when I have more than one doing it its horrible!! I am waiting to see how the summer goes and have been considering getting them into a specialist to see if there are bigger issues at hand. Could be a bladder issue and not even know it.

Good luck!

Do you have a night light in your bathroom and down the hall for easy access to the bathroom? In addition to the "no drink rule", are you monitoring his other food intake in the evening? Is there any stress in the household or any changes in his life that may make him more nervous? Or does he get nightmares?

Have you tried any "alarm" devices that alert a child that there is moisture? I know my friend and I talked about this and she said that when her brother was young, he had such a device - only needed it a couple times.

Have you discussed this with a pediatrician to rule out any medical condition that may be causing these accidents, since this has been going on for a while? Has he been tested for anything?

Good luck.

Hi M., I am soo happy to see your question on here...My son is the same age and has the same exact problem! Dont worry about it, I rarely hear that this happens with girls, My nephew had the same problem and quickly grew out of it. I read that one of the mom's that responded to your question said that her childs pediatrcian was going to prescribe meds, And I agree with her, I would NOT give any child medication for something thats normal....I would just keep up with what your doing and he will probably grow out of it. Good Luck,,,And rember your not the only one going through something like this.

Get a malem bedwetting monitor. It worked wonderfully for my son. It trains them to wake up when they need to go, instead of after they've already gone.

i just heard about how chiro care can help this! find a great chiropractor in your area and see if it helps!

Both my brothers wet the bed until they hit puberty...so did my one uncle on my mom's side. And so did one of my cousins on my mom's side.

At one point my mother went to the base hospital about it because it was overwhelming her changing sheets everyday and cleaning pee soaked clothes everyday...and so on. They prescribed a medicine that did the trick....it worked so well my aunt asked her doctor about it and he prescribed it for her son.

Long story short her six year old wet his pants in school and he was so embarrassed that he decided that if one pill at night kept him from wetting the bed, then the whole bottle should work better. He snuck into the kitchen while his mom was giving his baby brother a bath and he climbed the counter and on top of the fridge to get the medicine out of the cabinet. He took the whole bottle and in the middle of the night he started to scream. He ended up in the hospital in a coma for several weeks. He didn't make it. He turned seven in the hospital and died about two weeks later.

Turns out the medicine was experimental, but not a single doctor informed my mother or my aunt of that fact. The medicine built up in the body instead of being eliminated. My brothers both had high levels in their blood stream.

A lady investigated the use of experimental drugs by the military and wrote a book about it. She dedicated that book to my cousin and our family.

Some times I think it's best to just deal with certain things in life. Here is what my mother did with my brothers:

They were in bed by 7:30 everynight so nothing to drink after 5pm.

She set her alarm for two times during the night...11pm and 3am or something like that. It took a bit to figure out what times were best. She got them up both times and took them to the bathroom. She learned she had to watch them carefully because they were so groggy they would walk into the wrong room and pee on something like the piano or in the laundry basket.

She discovered that they could only drink water at dinner time (maybe milk too, but I don't remember) No sugar drinks or juice and definitely not soda with the caffiene because it acted like a diuretic and they wet everywhere. And no watermelon at dinner time.

She put plastic covers on their mattresses. She had them help with the sheets if they had an accident.

She watched them brush their teeth at night because they would drink from the faucet...sneaky guys.

I think she did a few other things but I don't remember now.

But they both had problems until they hit puberty. One quit when he was in middle school and the other quit his freshman year in high school. If she was diligent, she didn't have to clean too much.

My did and very rarely still does. He also was a very heavy sleeper. We have stopped liquids after 7:30 (we sometimes don't get dinner until 7 so earlier is not realistic). We have tried eliminating certain foods such as dairy, etc. We tried an alarm for a few weeks. It did not work for us at all. When he was 6 the doctor wasn't worried about it and we used the Good Nites for protection. One thing you could try is waking him in the middle of the night to get up and go. Also, my son does better when he gets to bed earlier or takes a nap midday or after school. We have seen a link to being really really tired and wetting the bed. Just make sure he is not feeling blamed or punished since this can become a major self esteem issue.

My oldest is almost 7, and still wets the bed. I know my ped said at his 6 year visit, that if it was still a concern in a year, we would talk about meds. Personally, I think meds are totally unnecessary, he is just a heavy sleeper. I have also heard that children tend to follow in their parents footsteps when it comes to bedwetting, and he definitely doesn't have that on his side. lol
Both my hubby and I had bed wetting problems as children. Right now, I am just VERY happy we have Goodnites for our son to use! =)
Good Luck! If you are really concerned, I would have a talk with your doctor.

Listen to your gut. My son wet the bed up until recently and my husband and I were considering spending thousands on a program. Luckily, He stepped in and my son just outgrew the bed wetting. He once in awhile wets his bed, but as quick as it happens it goes away. I firmly believe it is genetic and he/she will outgrow it. In the meantime, try whatever methods you can and see if they work, it doesn't hurt. Good luck and God bless.

Poor kid- my brother wet his bed until he was 12. Common boy problem. They make pull up for older kids now - have him wear them. Its an extra cost but it's better than him waking up all wet. Huggies makes- "goodnights" sleep underwear for older kids. for boys they come in brief and boxers.

Talk to your pediatrician. Many kids have this problem. Use the Goodnites - they work, and it will help keep your son from feeling horrible about wetting the bed. It won't last forever. His bladder needs to catch up with his body in the growing process. Use a waterproof cloth matress cover also, and it will save your sanity.