Bed Wetting - Washington,DC

I have an 11 year old who had the same problem. We used a bed alarm with him and it worked quickly and very effectively. Basically there is a sensor that attaches to his underwear and an alarm that he wears near his ear. When the sensor senses urine, the alarm goes off. This teaches him to wake to the sensation of needing to urinate. Honestly, within one week, my son was fully trained. I would highly recommend it over any medications.

Has he been checked for urinary tract infection? This can cause the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and cause bed wetting in the middle of the night.

Also, even if he has been checked for urinary tract infections is he using any bubble making product in his bath? When I was a kid I was allergic to Mr. Bubbles and it and it caused bed wetting.

Hope it helps!

S.,
Chiropractic can actually help with this issue. I refer to a great chiropractor in Bethesda that specializes in pediatrics. She has helped several children with this issue.
Please feel free to contact me if you want her info.
Good luck,
L. M

Our daughter finally stopped wetting her bed at 8 1/2. I tried everything except drugs! The waking-her-up-before-I-went-to-bed and in the middle of the night did NOT work. It didnt' teach HER to wake up herself. We finally went with the underwear alarm and it worked within 3 weeks. Worth the 50 bucks!

My son also wet the bed till he was 8....some kids just do that. I know how frustrating it is!! We got through it by 1.) putting a plastic cover on his bed to ease clean up 2.) no drinks 2 hours before bedtime and 3.) waking him up 2 hours after he went to sleep to use the bathroom again one more time. The last step really helped in emptying his bladder. When kids go to sleep their bodies relax and it makes peeing easier...so having him wake up after sleeping helps get the last urine out and it really stopped the peeing...we did this for about 2 or 3 weeks and he stopped wetting the bed. Good luck!!

Hi.
You don't say what kind of things you've tried... so I'll just mention a few that I've heard others do...
1. wake the child up once or twice during the night to use the bathroom, like every 3 hours.
2. place a small toilet or pail next to his bed so that when he needs to go he can without having to run to the bathroom.

He will grow out of it.
Good luck.
M.

If you also didn't stop bedwetting until 8, then try not to worry about it. My children were both slower than most people's standards, and I let those opinions stress me out. Try not to let this become a problem for you. You said you've tried everything, and I guess you mean no drinks after 7 pm., ensuring he empties bladder before getting in bed and making sure he does not have a bladder infection. Meanwhile, before your next doctor visit, read about enuresis at: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/par...

If we let our son eat gluten he wets a lot more and seems to leak during the day almost like he has a hard time getting to the bathroom in time. but if we keep him on a gluten free diet he is almost dry at night. If you try this do it at least two weeks to get it all out of him and read all labels.

My son didn't stop wetting the bed until he was 8 or 9 yrs. old. He's a very deep sleeper and could sleep for 10 to 12 hours. I learned to not give him liquids an hour before bedtime, that way anything he drank had time to go through his system by his last bathroom visit before bed. I also told him that if he had a dream with water in it, to try and wake himself up and go to the bathroom because usually this was his subconcious trying to tell him he needed to go. I used to check on him late in the night to ask him if he needed to go and after awhile it wasn't necessary. It helps to make them aware of how their body feels when the bladder is full so that they will know the signs. Good luck.

Hi S.! To make you feel a little better, I have a 7 1/2 year old and she still wets the bed too. The doctor told me that we make a hormone that condenses our urine at night, enabling us to hold it all night. Some kids just don't produce this hormone until age 9 or older. I guess this is what they mean when they say they'll grow out of it. Once I heard this I felt better. We've tried everything (and my daughter REALLY wants this to stop too) but now I feel like it'll happen when it's time. Also, I wet the bed until about age 8 too :)

Until he grows out of it, you may want to try Goodnights. They are padded underwear.

Good luck.

-S.

My son is seven almost eight and is still wetting the bed. It is very frustating. I read a book called Getting to Dry. It was very imformative. We are now trying the medication suggested and it seems to be helping. He's had only 2 wet nights in 2 weeks. Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Try a bedwetting alarm. It clips to the underwear and it sounds an alarm when it gets wet, waking the child up. I found that it worked with my daughter.

As far as I've heard (from the dr's) this is quite normal as you said. My son is only 3 but when I asked about him wetting the bed at night, they say that this can take place until about 7 or 8 as a regular thing. Also, my dr mentioned that a lot of times it does run in the family. I would think that may be the case here. No worries, he won't be going into high school wetting the bed!

This may require some research of your own, as I am not sure of the science behind it. However, my grandmother, who experiences bladder irritation and frequent urination, told me that she read an article in her local newspaper about the benefits of pumpkin seed oil when it comes to bladder health. She reports that since she has begun taking some of this daily, she has had no irritation and no longer wakes up during the night to urinate. I have not researched this myself, as I have not had the need, but I do like natural remedies, so the tidbit stuck in my memory.

Best wishes.

My brother didn't stop till he was 13years old. The only thing that worked for him was limiting him to not having anything to drink after 6pm. He normally went to sleep around 9pm. BUT...and I emphasize the but, I had to wake up at least once over night to make him use the bathroom. It seemed he would have dreams that he was already in the bathroom and would not get up, thus wetting the bed. Nevertheless, it wasn't too long before he was able to wake himself up and go without me waking him. I would usually wake him about an hour before we would normally get up, or whenever I had to get up and go. I hope it works for you!

my husband and i just bought a house an used empie. we could not be happier. we got carpet and hardwood and it looks and feels great.

Have you tried waking him up in the middle of the night to take him to the bathroom?? Maybe even have to do this multiple times a night.

They also make pads that you put under a sheet that make a noise when the pad gets wet. It wakes the child up so they know they've wet the bed and I guess their subconscious works on not letting it happen. I've heard they are about $25. 30 years ago it only took my brother about a week to stop using this method. I'd guess he was about 5. Good luck!

Hi S.,

I'm sorry for what you and your son are going through. I have a 14 year old daughter who did not stop wetting the bed until she was 11, she actually had a smaller bladder than normal, she was also a very deep sleeper so she couldn't wake herself up to use the bathroom. The doctors also told me that she will grow out of it, but they also prescribed her a nasal spray that is given to diabetics and she took it before she went to sleep, so you might want to talk to your doc about that. It worked very good. I can't remember the name of it sorry. You can also try to wake him up at least once a night to use the bathroom, we also had to do that with her. Hopefully my advice helps!

have you tried limiting his liquid intake after 6pm,

also when you go to bed get him up to go to the toilet

also talk to him about the day is there stuff that he is worried about.
what is your home life like.

sometimes when there problems in the home it will affect children in different ways.

We had the same problem in our family. It seem to affect those who were more sound sleepers. I think because they fall into such a deep sleep they don't wake up in time to make it to the bathroom.

The best thing I tried for my son was to make sure he didn't have anything to drink after 7pm and only had water to drink at dinner. Water passes through the system faster so they are usually able to pass most of it before going to bed resulting in less for the bladder to hold until morning.

I seem to remember this as being successful almost right away and within a couple of weeks had made a tremendous difference. My son is now 18 and pretty much continues this practice. I've noticed that he still seems to choose water with his dinner and doesn't drink much after that although when he does it doesn't seem to bother him.

Best of luck!
D.

I saw this prior and I could not remember what I used for my cousin. My cousin was staying with me a couple years back. She was a 11 at that time. She still would wet the bed. I tried something from Native Remedies and it worked great. I could not remember what I used, but I have been organizing all my papers and found the packing slip. I think it was this product: http://www.nativeremedies.com/products/be-dry-child-adult... but i have to look back on the packing slip to see the name of the product.