Bedwetting with Almost 6 Year Old - HELP!

Hi C.,
My children were all bedwetters and so was my brother and my husband when he was little too. THey are very sound sleepers. Go to this site for some really good info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_wetter
It is really quite common so do not sress over it too much ok.
V.

Hi C.
My son is going through this right now. He doesn't wet the bed every night. But he seems to have his weeks when he does. I am not to worried about it because from what I hear from other moms, it very common.

This is a very common problem. Probably you or his Dad had a similar problem; it often had genetic factors in its genesis.
Tell your son that is not his fault and you had the same problem (if you did) and he'll grow out of it. If your son wasn't bothered by it I would suggest waiting for his bladder/nervous system to mature and not worry about it. But since he is worried, schedule an appointment with the doc to be sure there is no physical cause, then ask him about a bee& pad system to help him learn to arouse himself from sleep when he first begins to urinate. Good luck.

Do not panic. My son who is now 23 had the same problem. Keep reasuring him that it's ok and you love him greatly. I did try everything. 1st I had him checked by the doc. who I think gave me some med's to try and did for awhile but every med has a side affect. Better to let nature take it's course. I used the pull up diapers at night so we could all sleep. He did'nt like it at first but it just became the norm, till his body started the preteen change and that is when it stopped. This is very common in boy's do not get discouraged. My son is very healthy and a PGA Pro now. So keep positive and let him know he is not alone.
If you need to talk email me at ____@____.com
Been there M.

We had the same problem with our 5 year old. He started wetting the bed while I was pregnant with my third child so we figured it was problem the change in family dynamic. But we did speak to our pediatrician about it. She did do a urine test to check kidney function stating that could sometimes be a cause of bedwetting, (his came out fine) but she also stated it is very common especially with boys for bedwetting to occur even up to the teen years. I would call your dr just to err on the side of caution but it's probably nothing to worry about and he will outgrown it sooner or later.

P.S. I just thought I would add that when my son's bedwetting first started, while I was pregnant, he would get really upset about it and I explained it was ok that everyone has wet the bed or wet their pants at some point & that even mommy (me) wets her pants sometimes. (Oh the joys of pregnancy Ü) That seemed to help he deal with it and since he has stopped stressing out over the bedwetting it has actually become less frequent.

Hi C.!

I am so sorry that your little one is having grief over this. That's the last things you would want.

When my son wet the bed at this age, I was told not to worry too much about it. Some children's bladder develope/grow/mature later than others, so it's difficult for someone like your son to "hold it" prpbably at all. I was told that it would stop on it's own. And it did.

I have never tried them, but they now make "boxer-type" huggies overnighter's. They are supposed to work pretty well. I would've tried them to help with the clean up. My son really didn't want to wear pull-ups (for obvious reasons).

Simply make sure you have a GREAT mattress cover/pad, and that you do not make too many signs of frustration when changing the your son's bed. I know it's hard, but he really cannot help it and you don't want to make it worse by letting him know how frustrated you are.

It will all be over soon. The more love and support you give, the quicker it will be over :o)

~N.-

Hi C.,

Although I don't really have any great suggestions for you, I did want to let you know that this is not uncommon. We had the exact same story with our son....he was potty tranined with no problem and then around 6 started wetting his bed. My closest friend had and actually still has a child with the same issue. We all went to the doctor and in all honesty none of their suggestions worked. They just added more stress to an already stressful situations. The doctors can give you a pill for special situations such as a sleep-over or travel, but it should not be used for any lenght of time. In reality patience and time are the only things we found that work...eventually you son will grow and his bladder with him and this WILL fade out. Don't worry too much and tell your son that many, many, many kids go through this and all of them grow out of it.
(by the way my son was 8 when the bedwetting stopped, my friends son is nine and it still occurs occasionally)
Hope thigs get better
-N.

Hi C., My son was still wetting at night until he was 6. I highly recommend the book Dry All Night. I just bought it for a friend of mine who has a 7-1/2 year old daughter still wetting the bed. One part of the book is for the parent but the rest of the book is a story full of pictures for the child to read. You can read it to your son if he is not old enough to read alone yet. It explains how you have to train your brain to sound the fire alarm bells in your head to wake up when you have a full bladder and uses many kid friendly metaphors to teach body control. I think overall, kids will stop wetting when they are ready, but I do believe this book helped my son to teach himself to be more aware of and control his bladder at night. We did also wake him each night for a few months to help him learn a pattern of waking to use the toilet. Now he sleeps through the night and rarely uses the toilet before morning.

I agree with everyone else's comments as well. Have many great waterproof mattress pads around at all times and stay positive. He will be Dry All Night someday...hopefully not too long from now!!

Good luck :-)

Hi. We have been through this at our house. My son is 9 so I'll give you some ideas that you can try. First we went to the doctor and they tested his urine for an infection and there was no infection. So then they prescribed DDAVP nasal spray, this worked some of the time but we did not get great results, but that doesn't mean you won't. Then we went to the health food store and tried the Hyland's homeopathic Bed Wetting tablets, they disolve under the tongue, those worked better than the nasal spray but again still not as much as we wanted it to work. Then we switched doctors because of insurance reasons and I asked the new doctor and he said that there were a number of new medicines we could try, so he prescribed Ditropan 5 mg, we get the generic and it is a very small pill that he has to swallow. It works 98% of the time. Now a couple of other things I have discovered over the last 5 yrs. No caffeine at evening/night, caffeine makes him wet the bed no matter what. Also if he gets cold in the middle of the night because his older brother turns on the ceiling fan, he will wet the bed. I found that to be a common complaint among parents whose kids wet the bed. I hope this helps. He feels much better about it now and we found something that works. 6 was the age at which they would try and help us do something about it, up until he turned 6 they said it was just his age. And the Ditropan would probably work 100% of the time if I didn't give in and let him have a soda now and then at dinner on the weekends. Good luck! Hang in there.

Your story is identical to ours. We talked to the doctor about it, and he said that 1 in 4 kids this age still have this issue. It is probably "immature bladder". Our son wears a Godnights pull up to bed. It works. The doctor said if it's still an issue by 7, we'll talk again. If it continues they have medication you can try, but he said that generally they don't start that until age 10.

My daughter is 7 1/2 and still has enough accidents that I keep her in pull up. Now, she has accidents because she is stubborn and refuses to go the bathroom before bed. When she goes, she's dry.

Let me say, this only started around 7. Until then, it didn't matter if she went or not. She's grown some, so I think there is more room in that little body for all her parts.

It matters to her now, so she's going to the bathroom. We have noticed on days she drinks most of her fluid after school, she wets. When she drinks the water and milk I send with her, she is dry that night. Otherwise, she's pounding fluid from 4-6, which her body has to process and betime is at 7:30 (early rise time for long drive to school-40 min.).

Try pushing fluids early in day and slowing down after school and stopping at 6. With a good pee session before bed.

My little one went 6 nights in a row dry. Then wet. Our deal is 7 straight dry and no Pull-ups. She has to do her part to make that happen. She's making a big effort this week to do what we've asked...lots of fluids before 4, limited liquid til dinner, nothing after dinner, potty right before bed.

Good luck,
S

Hi C....

My youngest son (who turns 21 this year) wet the bed until he as 13-14...it was tough on all of us...I never made a big deal about it...all tests came back normal...so it was night time pull ups...depends were not really available then and thank goodness he was thin hipped...he has a friend who still the last time we saw him (@18) was still having issues...I would still check with his doctor...make sure its not a real medical issue...and love him through all the bedding changes and morning showers...

My heart to yours,
T.

it is possible he has a magnesium deficiency.

Reduce dairy (because calcium competes with magnesium) and have him take fulvic acid. I think you will see improvement. Use vanilla flavored protien milkshakes, Like "carb solutions" which has no vit d added, for adding to breakfast oatmeal ( no fortified cereals).

There is a large possibility that reducing or eliminating enriched products like cereals, breads, and flour products containing added vit D will help a lot with this as well. vit d hypervitaminosis can create many symptoms.

This can be maintained by diet. Do not medicate. I know, I had a bedwetter until he was 7 yrs old. He could go months without wetting and then wet for a week.
Diet is key.

Honestly, with both my boys I just kept them in Pull-ups at night until they woke up dry on a regular basis. The dr. told us that there's nothing you can do. They're body has to be ready. Even if you wake them up, it's not "training" them. They have to do it themselves.

My oldest son (now 8) stayed in Pull-ups until age 6.

I have a 5 1/2 year old who is still in Pull-ups at night, but has been potty trained since 3. I just tell my son his body is not ready and when it is, he'll start wearing underwear. He accepts this and is fine with it. I know it's hard if your son is feeling bad about it - I don't blame him! But sounds like you're staying very positive.

Hope this helps!

Hi C., I wouldn't stress over it. My daughter is 7 years old and still has issues with bedwetting. If it bothers your son why don't you try the children's boxer shorts. My daughter wears them and they don't look so much like a pull-up. They come in blue for boys and pink for girls. My doctor said that some kids have a harder time especially when they are deep sleepers. I've tried it all - she doesn't get to drink after dinner and she goes to the bathroom before bed at night. I have several friends who have the same issues with their 7 and 8 year olds. I know it is more common in boys than girls. One thing a friend of mine does is before she or her husband go to bed they pick their 8-year old daughter up out of bed and put her on the toilet. She's practically asleep, but she goes and doesn't have a problem going back to bed. If they do this she doesn't wet her bed. If they don't it's 50/50. Good luck!
~K.

My son was in pull-ups until he was 9. One night he just stopped wetting. He hasn't had more than two wet nights in the past 7 months. He'll be 10 next month and it's a non-issue now. Get coupons at www.goodnights.com. (They'll only let you print a few. I would print and make copies).
Good luck.

C., this issue is much more common than you might think. Check out www.nobedwetting.com for more information.
L.

my 8 year old nephew and 13 year old cousin's son till have accident's at nights. For my nephew, same reason as your son, such a sound sleeper, for my 13 year old cousin's son, medical. I would take him to the Dr. and if nothing is wrong get him night pants (there are one's that look like underwear) and say nothing more about it. (I know you are not making a big deal about it, and continue not to.) If it is not medical he will eventually stop. He is just not feeling the sensation of having to go pee and when he does go he is not aware of it. Take him to the Dr. and this is a common issue with kids. Take care

Speaking from experience - its a chemical that is not released to the brain. We thought it was being a heavy sleeper too. I took my grand daughter to the doctor and he precribed a nasal spray that worked really well.

I know of several little boys that have this same problem. It is more normal than you think. Have you tried goodnights? I find they are a great solution to the problem.

This sounds a lot like my son. We tried everything except taking him to the doctor as I had never heard from anyone that this provided a great solution. He finally stopped about 6 months ago-- he will be eight next month!

Hi C., I am going through the same thing with my 5 year old. It is so hard. She is in and out of pull-ups and I try to limit water, but like you said she is a hard sleeper. I wanted you to know you are not alone and I wish you the best. I look forward to hearing your responses. Good Luck!
-R.

A couple thoughts -- I would say since he is upset about it, hold off on a doctor's visit. It will only increase his feeling of failure and frustration, especially since it's still considered normal at his age. The doctor will have options (medical, vs. alarm things) but it may be as simple as his bladder hasn't caught up with his body yet. I would suggest getting some nite time pull ups, the ones that are like underwear, and say it's just temporary until you can train his bladder. Try and make the focus on his bladder, not HIM, so that he doesn't feel so under pressure. Lastly, my son has been a bed wetter too, and I swear that the one thing that has brought the most success is when he poops (or gives a valiant effort) just before bed. I think sitting down and pushing really helps to empty him out, and he wakes up dry.
Good luck, and take heart, he is still young and may grow out of it before you know it.

Dear C.
It won't hurt to ask for a consultation with a urologist just to rule out any physical cause for this. Sometimes small bladders in children who are very sound sleepers just can't wait out the whole night.Sounds like you are doing every thing right, but your son is feeling bad about it so it is time to go on to the next step and find out more about him and perhaps the doctor may have some good recommendations.

Good luck to you all. He will grow beyond this problem, but it is hard while it is happening. One of my sons had occasional night time "accidents" until he was 8.
N.