Calling All Parents of Bed Wetters.

Updated on May 27, 2014
D.D. asks from Goodyear, AZ
18 answers

For parents of bed wetters how long did your child wet the bed?
My child did not start wetting bed until he was in 1st grade. We have had him talk to a psychologists. The doctor said we have a very well mannered young man, and he did not see any psychological issues at all. We have seen a urologist and everything looked normal for him. The only thing his dad and I came up with is the fact that he is a heavy sleeper, and he has not trained his brain to wake up.
My son does not go stay at friends homes, or have them stay with us because of this. He plays soccer, football, and track. He is an active young man. I just feel bad for this 6 foot tall 13 yr old for still wetting the bed. Anyone have any suggestions for him??

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So What Happened?

I took your advise mama's on a chiropractor! I also happen to be friends with a chiropractor from high school who lives in a different state. So I would bounce Ideas off of him too. ITs been three plus weeks of dry nights. Thank you SO MUCH for offering your help on this issue. We have gone to so many medical doctors with no success. my son is THRILLED!! <3 (love)To you mama's

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G.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

we found that caffeine in iced tea was the culprit with my 12 year old...he is 23 now but as soon as we switched to decaf iced tea he was fine. Good Luck. M.

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B.F.

answers from Atlanta on

I stopped at about 9 yrs old. My husband had a brother that slept so heavy they could move him and walk him around and he never knew it, he was a bed wetter until age 14. I have an 11 yr old still having issues with bed wetting and an 8 yr old my 7 yr old once in a while wets the bed like when he's sick. Otherwise my 7 yr old has been trained well since age 4.

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T.C.

answers from Colorado Springs on

Chiropractor. This often solves the problem right away.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

My sister wet the bed for a long time.When my sister was 10 or so they started looking into things more seriously. My mother had tried everything. Waking her up, alarms and contraptions. They saw doctors, no one had any suggestions other that "she'll grow out of it". Finally a doctor noticed a hormonal imbalance in her kidneys. It's the hormone that helps produce the amount of urine...I think. They gave my sister a medication to regulate the hormone and the problem stopped almost immediately.

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T.J.

answers from Seattle on

My sister and three other kids I've known stopped wetting the bed after 1-6 visits to the chiropractor! The spinal cord houses your nervous system, which controls all bodily function. When a vertebrae is misaligned or subluxated, it interferes with that nerve root's function. Remove the blockage and restore function. It can be that simple, worth a try!

1 mom found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

My sister wet the bed until she was 12. She was a VERY deep sleeper.

I don't know what happened to make her stop wetting the bed. I know it was h*** o* her. I'll have to call her today when she gets out of work to find out more and I'll PM you.

My GFs 10 year old son is a bed wetter. He too is a VERY deep sleeper and we use Pull Ups on him (he spent the night last night) and we've used Depends on him as well. he is VERY embarrassed by this. Like your son is VERY active....not sure what to tell you.

Talk to the pediatrician and see if there is a therapist or something - I don't know! to help him!!!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Try a chiropractor! It worked wonders for my daughter!!!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.W.

answers from San Francisco on

We are a home of bed wetters. Our oldest is 11 1/2 and stopped around 7 months ago. Our 8 and 4 year olds wet every night...no matter what we try to do. Our doctors over the years were not concerned...they said if they are still wetting the bed by 12 then they would consider medication. But our son stopped on his own...yay.

The doctors have said it is part hereditary(my hubby and I were bed wetters) part deep sleeping, part size of body in proportion to bladder. OUr kids are very tall for their ages. Sooo the odds are stacked against them. Your boy is a tall 13 year old!! That will be to his advantage throughout life...but not in the bedwetting department...sorry.

We use pull ups at night. We limit drinking after dinner. We have them go potty a couple times before bed then right before bedtime.

For me...I would rather have deep sleepers and pull ups to light sleepers and dry. It is a phase that I know they will grow out of. We don't make it a big issue and they are very confident in knowing it is ok. They even tell their friends that they wet the bed and have to wear pull ups. I tried telling them to stop doing that but heck..they feel no shame. When they sleepover somewhere they take a pull up, baby wipes in a ziploc baggie and a large bag to put the wet pullup into then discreetly throw it in an outside garbage.

It is easy to feel ok about it when you are young but not when you are 13. Maybe try looking into the medication. It stimulates the hormone production that triggers the brain to tell the bladder it is full and wake you up...something like that. Talk to the urologist. OUr doctor said he wouldn't worry about it till age 12 or if it was hindering quality of life or was affecting our child emotionally. SOunds like your son fits all of those.

Good luck. My heart goes out to you and your son!

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T.R.

answers from Medford on

use underjams. They are pretty much invisible for sleepovers. if they leak then put a pair of underwear over them, (no the underwear don't get wet). Do this is until you use Chummie bedwetting alarm. It really works!

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A.M.

answers from Indianapolis on

My daughter is now 8 and wet the bed for years. She was getting really upset about it because she said she didn't want to wear "baby diapers" to bed (she was wearing the night pants, not diapers). We bought her an alarm from Amazon, the Malem alarm. It has 8 different alarm sounds and vibrates against their shoulder or where ever they clip it and the sensor part clips to the outside of their underwear. After 3 months of using the alarm, she is completely dry at night. I think after 1 month she was dry with a few accidents, but now it is almost 8 months later and she hasn't had an accident in a long time! My youngest brother who turned 17 this year, still has problems wetting the bed almost every night. He has laxity of ligaments that causes some of it but I am giving him the alarm to try and will see how it works. I know he is embarrassed by it, he won't go to any camping things or group sleep-overs because of it. We bought the alarm on Amazon because it was the best price but you can also check e-bay if you don't mind getting a used once one, they do clean up well. Good luck!

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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

Honestly, it's very unusual for a 13 year old even as a very heavy sleeper to continue to wet the bed but it does happen. I have a 5 year old and it's frustrating for us as parents, so I can only imagine what you're going through as well as what his thoughts are.
It could be a hormonal imbalance or even a kidney issue.
I have also heard to try an elimination diet that eliminates certain foods/chemicals in food and starting with the five "C's" caffeine, citrus, chocolate, vitamin c extra dosages and carbonated beverages; there is also an additive in bread that acts as a preservative that if eliminated can help. Huggies Goodnights website has tons of great info and you can submit questions to the panel of parents doctors, nurses and psychologists for direct answer.

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J.C.

answers from Kansas City on

i would check for a possible kidney infection. I will admit I wet the bed for a while when I was a kid and was a deep sleeper.. my mom took me to the doctor and discussed it with him.. and he did some tests and found a kidney infection.. once that cleared I stopped =) Good luck I know how rough it can be for both parents & kids

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

My younger sister wet the bed until she was 16. The DAY she started her period, she stopped wetting the bed, so my best guess would be that it has something to do with hormones...

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C.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

I have three kids. Only my oldest still wets the bed he is 11 1/2yrs. Sometimes its three times a week sometimes its only once a month. He had an operation on his spine as an infant he was born with a birth defect. The dr told us this might be a problem. We were also told he could grow out of it. I never make a big deal about it. He obviously doesnt want this to be happening.
We just started a medicine which he takes occasionally. If he is attending a sleepover . If you want the name of the med send me a message.

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Look at his diet. He could have a food allergy that is causing him to wet the bed. Try taking all artificial colors and flavors out of his diet for 1-2 months. If not that try other things like dairy, wheat ect until you come up with an answer.

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J.D.

answers from Dallas on

I was beginning to think my son was the only one!! He is almost 12 and is leaving for Boy Scout camp later this month. He has to manage it and be aware of when and how much he is drinking at night. He also has to keep the constipation under control, if he is constipated he doesn't know he needs to go until the last minute. I am worried this year that it might be a problem just because of his age and it will be embarrassing if he has an accident and others kids find out, but he wants to go. I will warn the adults and remind him what he needs to do, but he wants to go. Curious to see what other suggestions you get!

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K.I.

answers from Philadelphia on

My son just turned 12 he is a twin, he wets the bed his brother does not. The bed wetting problem runs in my husbands family. I have talked to his doctor about this since he was 4 and the doctor said his body will catch up when he is ready. My son is also a heavy sleeper. I wake him up every night about three hours into his sleep or his bed would be soaked.

I know this is hard for him but try not to make a big fuss about it. My son is not happy with his bed wetting but he is not stressed out about it because we keep it very low key. One of his cousins wet the bed until he was 16 !!!

Good luck and if ypu find a solution that works for you please let me know about it ,

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J.R.

answers from Philadelphia on

Try the Malem bedwetting alarm. We used it with our daughter, a heavy sleeper, when she was eight. Took one week, and she was "cured". Worth the investment!!

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