Seeking Advice for Bed Wetting

I would say it is mostly because he is a boy. Boys take longer to fully potty train and they tend to be more busy than girls. They don't always feel when they have to go until they stop and sit down for a minute. My son is 5 and potty trained awesome (at 3.5 years), we never had accidents. Last summer came and he was wetting all the time. So frustrating!
I have a couple thoughts for you. first, do not bring attention to it, this will may make him "rebel" and go more in his pants. Also give him gentle reminders to go potty. Like I said before they don't realize they have to go until they have dribbled a little in their pants. The nap time thing, make him go before he lays down, maybe try limiting his fluids before nap. (I am shocked he is still napping. :) ) I have noticied at night with my son, if he wakes up crying I automatically take him to the bathroom. He is not fully awake but he goes everytime. My girlfriend gave me that tip and it works everytime. The other thing she did for a long time for naps and bedtime, was she would put underwear on first and then a pull-up over top. So the child would feel he wet but the sheets didn't get wet.
I hope this helps. :)
A.

My 4 year old, who was also fully potty trained, well adjusted and no other changes in her life, started to occasionally wet herself during the day. We couldn't figure out why. We began taking her to the bathroom more frequently, even when she didn't want to go. We also tried talking to her to find out why, but no real explanation except being engrossed in whatever she was doing and not wanting to stop and go to the bathroom. So we took it one day at a time and encouraged her even offering a Friday trip to Toy's R Us if she could go each day of the week without wetting herself and celebrating every single day she didn't have an accident. After about two months, we didn't have any more wetting incidents.
Who knows what the real cure was, but thank goodness we got past that one. Good luck!!

Hi C., Sometimes children sleeping are so deep in sleep, that don't feel they have to go. During the day, some children don't like to take the time, they would rather play than go to the bathroom. Try telling him to go to the bathroom, ever so often to remind him. A.

I'm a preschool teacher also, one son 17 and a wonderful husband who is also a teacher.

I agree, don't put him back in pull-ups. Just remind him every hour or so that it's potty time. Don't ask, just say that it's time to go try. Make sure he goes potty before he goes anywhere or starts a big project or something that he might be reluctant to leave later. My son is 5 in K and he had an accident at school at the beginning of the school year. He just got so wrapped up in his activity - you know they wait until the last possible second to go running to the potty and if they wait just 1 second too long, that's all it takes! Sometimes a growth spurt can cause accidents, something about the bladder has to catch up? Time will cure all. That's great that he still naps!!!!!

I had the same thing with my daughter.

Make sure he uses the bathroom on a regular basis and especially before nap time. I would then make sure he heads straight to the bathroom and goes immediatly when he awakes.(If he wakes up and lays there for a few minutes, he may be wetting then.)

Most importantly, watch. I know you said nothing has happened, but something has caused this regression. Is there a new baby in the house? Any new friends that have visited? New babysitters? You never know what has caused this and as a person who works with children, it's good to make sure we know about these changes when something like wetting starts.

Good Luck,

K.

My son is 4 1/2. He still wets at nap time, bedtime and occasionally during the day while he is awake. The pediatrician says wetting while sleeping is normal until the age of seven. The occasional accident is also normal for the 4 year-old.

At night, we use a special cloth diaper for nighttime wetters. It is different from his little sister's diapers (it's black, so he feels like the diaper is a special diaper for big boys.

The best advice I have gotten is to not worry about it too much, always have extra clothes, and just clean up the accident.

Hello C.

My best advice is to have her monitor his drinks. If he is drinking alot, he may not notice when he has to go to the bathroom, because it will often feel like he needs to go to the bathroom. Limiting his drinks will allow his bladder to retract enough so that he will definitely notice when he has to use the bathroom. Also mom should ask him and take him to the bathroom to try at least once an hour. Hope this helps!

J.
-mom of 3 boys, and soon a little girl!!

The bigger the issue is, the more opportunities there are for the child to misconstrue the subject as 'hot.'

Frankly, diapers are to reduce the amount of laundry and nothing else. If he doesn't want to wear diapers (and he will come to that all by his little self), he needs to consistently use the toilet. If he won't consistently use the toilet, well, that's what diapers are for (for people of any age, frankly).

There are no downsides to putting him into diapers and many downsides to becoming the 'official bladder minder'. If mom doesn't want this to become her job, she needs to hand it over completely -- along with the supplies necessary to keep the laundry volume down (and the upholstery clean) until he figures this out for real.

Lots of kids get distracted and don't really care. They don't, after all, do the laundry or pay the power bill. It's not their job to care, either...

As for whether or not the child has experienced any traumas -- that's not really for the mother to say. Children experience trauma over issues that often are completely overlooked by their parents as irrelevant or no big deal. It is often hard to tell from the outside, and it is usually indicated by a change in behaviour or personality.

When my son was about the same age he also had the same problem and I took him to the doctor. The doctor said that as he grows boys bladders sometimes don't grow as fast as they do for the amount of fluids that they take in. My sons doctor put him on a pill that he had to take every night and it worked. It's been to long for me to remember the name of the medicine, but I am sure if she asks the doctor they will know what I am talking about. I don't know how it helps because it was like a sugar pill of some sort, It said on the paper work that diabetics could also take it. I don't know why though. All I know is that it worked and there was no side effects.

Well im not sure that i can give you any advice but that I go threw that with my son from time to time, but best thing you can do is talk to him about it ask him why even though you won't get an answer it still makes him aware that there is a problem with it, and he might slow it down, my son is now 4 and from time to time still has an accident at night, not to often but i find him reminding me that he has to go to the bathroom before bed, which brings me to the next thing potty before bed, nap ex. even bugg him like every hour to use the bathroom when he sarts to get tired of it explain to him that if he stoped what he was doing to go pee then you wouldn't have to bug him as much. Because my son would pee during the day and night. I also used to wake him up before i would go to bed and make him pee that didn't last to long either. Just hang in there let him know you are dissapointed but be supportive as well. As far as pull ups you will be waisting your money. If you feel like somthing is nessisary then get those potty training underwear with the plastic liner, put those on him it will wake him up, and keep the mess a little more contained.

My daughter is 4 and in the past 6 months she too has had occasional accidents but more so when she is awake rather than sleeping. I have noticed that it is usually when she is playing so I think it might be an attention thing for her and she has not done it in a while.

As for me, I am 26 and had bed-wetting problems until I was in my early teens and it ran in my family, so heredity is always a possibility as well. Also, it could just be a temorary phase. I would probably resort back to asking him every couple of hours if he needs to go to the bathroom and then go from there. That way he isn't being forced into going to the bathroom but rather reminded.