Bed Wetting - Ashland,OR

Skip the meds, let time do it's job. My brother wet the bed until 12 yrs old, at which time he went on meds (he has other developmental delays that probably contributed to this problem) and it was corrected on the first night! He soon went off the meds and never wet the bed again - it was a hormonal imbalance that was easily and quickly corrected. I wouldn't continue if the meds aren't currently working. Give it a few more years and see what happens!

Although most kids mature to being able to hold it all night, and wake if needing to go, at between 2 and 6, for some it just comes later. My nephew is 8 and is just now getting it, even with the medication they started at 7. My cousin was 12, and they tried everything. Some bodies just mature later than others, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. As for the sleep over, I believe they make pull-ups that look like boxer shorts for older kids, maybe the other kids would not notice if he wore those?

Mary
trust your gut and if giving your son meds for this is not for you then do not do it. Sometimes it takes until a child is 12 for his insides to mature to his chronological age. Also if he is comfortable enough to wear a pull up at a slumber party then let him. He will change by himself in the bathroom for privacy anyway. Good Luck.
J.

I think that you should stop using the medication if you and your husband don't feel right about it AND since it is not working...here are some alternative suggestions when a child wets the bed - maybe it will help? good luck!

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/bed+wetting?utm_camp...

We are in the same boat over here. Recently we went out of town with another family and we were happy that their 7 year old is in Pull-ups still too. So the kids didn't have to hide it! Seriously in our case, it's more about ME hiding it than my daughter. I provide a baggie for her to put the Pull-up in afterward and have instructed her how to dispose of it discretely. She's a happy, well adjusted girl and doesn't let it bother her. I wouldn't worry about it and have a talk with him about wearing a Pull-up at the sleepover and go from there. If he is anxious about it, try the pager. If he's not anxious, try not to make a big deal out of it. It's SO common. You are doing all the right things for your little one. I haven't tried the medication, and probably would not go for that in our case, but can understand it. It's a tough situation if your child is anxious. Hugs.

Hi, I’m D. M. from the GoodNites NiteLite Panel. Mamapedia is partnering with GoodNites through September and your question is definitely relevant so I wanted to provide my advice.

I never used medication with any of my kids' wetting issues, so I can't speak about the side effects firsthand, but I've heard from friends who went that route, that the meds had little to no effect on their child's bedwetting.

It sounds like the bedwetting doesn't bother your son which is wonderful! That's a huge accomplishment there - making sure he knows it isn't his fault and it's not a big deal. Honestly, since your son seems comfortable with wearing GoodNites to slumber parties, I'd relax about his bedwetting. He'll grow out of it when the time is right for him. And in the meantime, you can get a TON of really helpful tips, useful information and articles about bedwetting on GoodNites.com.

I have a 9 year old who is still in pull-ups. I talked to my pediatrician about it. His recommendation on the drugs was to only use them immediately before a sleep over, but not as a regular drug.

He also said that things like the potty pager only work if your child can be awakened at night. It also requires the child to be able to put in the effort.

I haven't tried homeopathy. I had 4 sisters who wet the bed until their tween years. They all grew out of it naturally and haven't had any lasting problems from it. My mom wet the bed until she was 12 and also grew out of it naturally.

So my plan is to let nature run its course with my daughter unless she requests something different.

You said you trust your pediatrician, but trust yourself too. If you aren't comfortable with the drugs, stop using them. In the long run, is your son's health more important than a sleepover? (My daughter has worn pullups to sleepovers and had no trouble at all. She doesn't make a big deal of it and her friends have never made fun of her for it.)

Are you helping him by limiting liquids after 6 pm? Voiding before bed? Getting him up before you go to bed to void? My nephew had a bladder control issue and it wasn't his bladder as much as it was an exhaustion issue, he was so tired he couldn't, didn't, wouldn't recognize the 'urge' or pressure in his bladder, it didn't wake him up. If he were to take a nap in the afternoon, even for 30 minutes, this might help him not be so exhausted that he doesn't wake up to go to the bathroom.

Also, you might want to talk to your pediatrician, not about medication, but about a therapist, to see if this is a control issue on the part of your son. He's getting individualized attention as a result of these 'accidents' and at 7 kids are pretty much in control of their body functions. Having him help with the laundry and changing his bed linens when accidents occur will put the owness on him for his actions and this needs to happen. Willingness to wear pull-ups and a lack of embarassment sounds like he's taking a 'no big deal' attitude to this and it is a big deal. Consequences for his behaviors if there is no physical reason for this delay in potty training.

Our 8 year old is also a bed wetter...currently at camp wtih his Dad and this is where it is a problem. We do the pullups and ziploc bags and he has gotten it down pretty good changing in his sleeping bag. It's when the sleepovers started that things got tricky. This summer we elected to put him on medication. We tried it once last year prior to camp and it did not work. This other medication was different and turned out to be awful. The side effects were scary - it was a hormone....it changed our little boy and it was not good. Took him almost a week to feel back to himself. In researching the medication he was on I came across several blogs about bedwetting and possible solutions...many people, including myself, looking for a natural approach. Something interesting that came up was chiropractic adjustments. Several testimonials that it worked.....who knows. We may try it down the line but for us we will never do medication again. Good luck!

I do want to tell you that it is completely normal for this to happen with boys. Lots of boys are bedwetters..longer than most girls. It's okay. But, with mine it turned out it wasn't just bed-wetting. He was having high blood sugars at night and his body was doing everything it could to drain him of some of it..including soaking the bed in sweat and of course him wetting himself..he had almost no control for awhile. Make sure there are no blood sugar issues before moving to other meds even if they are "natural". I am not sure there really is one herbal remedy that helps with this. Good luck..wish I could be more help!

My sone is 11YO and wet the bed until age 9. He grew out of it. We have seen multiple pediatric urologist for this and other issues and none of them or our pediatrician have suggest medication. Instead we were told to limit fluids in the evening and wake him to go to the bathroom 2-3 hours after going to sleep. I wish this created a habit after just a few weeks but we did this for many years. The good news is we went from nightly wetting to less than once a month with this approach. Really as long as we remembered to wake him and walk/carry him to the bathroom, he was fine. When it came time for sleepovers, I just asked the mom to take him to the bathroom like we do. They were always understanding and willing. It worked out fine and no pull-ups needed.

What many parents do not realize is that there is a hormone that gets released when we are ready to wake and get up to go to the bathroom at night. Some people have it right away and others take several years before it kicks in. Until then, it is extremely difficult for them to wake up and go to the bathroom and they will sleep through the potty signals their brain is giving. The drugs do not help this. They only work in certain situations and the side-effects and risks of the drugs out-weigh the benefits for a child your son's age.

He is old enough to change in the bathroom and take care of his pull ups without others noticing. Send him with a wetbag or gallon size zip lock so he can discretely pack up his used pull up and bring it home so their is no tell-tale sign in the bathroom for one of the other kids to discover.

For long-term, you cannot change the hormones, but you can change the sleep cycle. It requires commitment on your part, but you can get up each night and take him to the bathroom. Do this at the same time each night. If he is already wet, back up the time by 15 minutes until you hid his dry time. Do this every night and create a habit for him (it takes 21 days to form a habit). Once his body gets used to the cycle of getting up in the middle of the night, he will learn to get up and go to the bathroom on his own.

Another thing to do is talk to him about what happens when he pees at night. Is he dreaming about getting up and going to the bathroom? If so, have him look around the bathroom and make sure it's his bathroom before he goes. If the bathroom isn't his or he is in a strange place trying to go, he needs to tell himself he is dreaming and needs to wake up. This has helped many children who think they are doing good and going to the bathroom instead of wetting the bed, when in fact it's all a dream!