Seeking Dry Bed Mornings

I am having the same frustrations with my 3 year old daughter. I have tried to wake her up before I go to bed to take her potty one more time. I also put plastic pants over her panties. The Last thing I am doing is laying down old towels for her to sleep on so that I can wash those nightly instead of her sheets. It is definately a pain to wash sheets and remake the bed daily. J.

Some time ago I read bed wetting is caused by a lack of Magnesium or manganese.Please have patience. You can also try cranberry juice.

I have to make sure that my 3.5yo pees right before he goes to bed. The couple times I didn't, he's peed in bed and slept right through it.
Maybe that would help?
Otherwise, you could try limiting drinks for an hour before bed, or put some pullup diapers to put on him at night for a couple weeks. I'm sure he'll outgrow it soon, whatever the reason.

Same thing happened to us. My son had to go to pullups at night because I was washing sheets every day. I spoke to the doctor and she agreed that it was totally normal and nothing was causing it.

I bought some of those washable absorbent rubber backed pads (Meijer, BabiesRUs, and maybe WalMart all carry them). Then at bedtime, I put the pad on top of the sheets over the middle of the bed. If it got wet in the middle of the night, all I had to do was switch it out for a new one and maybe get a new blanket to cover my daughter with. So I didn't have to freak out or get too upset about the whole deal. Sometimes they say bed wetting is a control issue and if your reaction to it is pretty casual - it should stop on its own. Of course, make sure he goes to the bathroom right before bed, no drinks after dinner, and discuss with him that if he wakes at night and needs to go potty, he should get up and go on his own. He may just be sleeping so soundly right now that he doesn't wake in time - the pretty weather has had us all out and playing hard. Is there a nightlight in his room and the bathroom to guide his way during the middle of the night?

I have a 3 year old son. He has been potty trained for a while now, but still does not stay dry at night. I tried washing the bed everyday, but becomes a challenge to keep up with. I put my son in Good Nights. They help more than pull ups because they hold more and help prevent leakage.

I was concerned because my 7 year old daughter did not have night time accidents, once she was trained. When I took him to the doctor for his wellness visit, he said that this is very normal for children until they are six. He said that their bladders are just not developed enough to control it through the whole night until six.

The doctor said that it would gradually improve over time. I am seeing some improvement, but we still have some time to go.

Good luck and be patient.

Going on what the other poster said, I looked up medical supply places in your area.

Yoder Medical Supplies is in Hartville, OH and has a website. I looked it up and they have the bed pads. You could put one over and one under the sheet. I am sure they do shipping.

Its been awhile since I've been thru that stage, but maybe I can give a hint or two. Try cutting back on his fluids a couple of hours before he goes to bed for the night, if needed ..a sip of water before he tucks in. Also, try a game at night and throw a piece of cereal in toilet and tell him he needs to sink it or something like that, give him some incentive to empty his bladder.
Hope this helps! :+)

Hi Nicole,
I am going through the same thing. My son is now 4 and still not dry at night. I say, keep your sanity, put him back in pull ups at night, give him some time and he will learn. They all get it eventually!
S. L.

Kids do sometimes regress, so having him checked out by his pediatrician to affirm that it's not a medical issue wouldn't be a bad idea. Only because he had been dry at night for the last six months. If everything checks out, don't stress it. Buy the pull-ups or diapers and give it time - sometimes lots of time. Boys are known for taking longer for their bladders to catch up.

Cut out all fluids an hour or two before bedtime and make sure that he goes to the bathroom right before he gets in bed. Also, too much juice or tea can cause a similar issue, as I am sure anyone who has ever drank iced tea knows.

This can also be a sign of an infection, so I would consult a doctor first and foremost.

Hope this helps!

C.

We struggled with this, too. Thigns that helped a ton:

(1) No milk after suppertime. (Seemed to make them konk out too much to get up.)

(2) Take him to the bathroom 1 hr before bed and again at bedtime...he can sit until he goes!

(3) Stay strong with the laundry! Make your son help pull off the potty bedding and carry it to the washer. Although it sounds yucky, if he has to help, he might be encouraged to try harder.

Note: If he takes any allergy meds or any other required day-to-day meds, you might check to see if a side effect is sleepiness. If so, it might be making it harder to get up when/if he needs to go during the night. Some kids truly have smaller bladders (my 3rd child did...so it just took her longer to grow and be able to hold it all night...or wake up on her own).

My final step sometimes feels worse than washing the bedding...it's setting an alarm for yourself to get up and wake him and take him. However, my children's bedtime was 8pm, while we head to bed around 10/11pm. That tended to also work quite well as the "middle of the night" potty trip. As well, when I got up to prep my hubby's things for his day early - I would wake my daughter...and then put her back to bed (it was still dark out!). She'd continue to sleep more ... but I'd save myself some laundry!

I think what helped her the most was having to help with the laundry. We used the vinyl mattress cover from Target (elastic edges & waterproof). While I wiped one side of the mattress cover with a Lysol or Clorox wipe, I had her doing the other side. She didn't really like doing it, but since it was a team effort, she came to understand cleaning up from these accidents required much time and effort & though I loved her dearly Mommy needed her cooperation. It worked wonders!

Good luck & Lord bless you!

When my son was 3 1/2 we decided to purchase a Malem pee monitor to help him be dry in the morning. He only had to wear it twice before he was completely potty trained at night. He has never since had an accident and he is now 5 1/2 years old. The Malem monitor is a small box that you pin to the front of his pj's then it was a wire that you thread under his pj's and hook to the front of his underwear. As soon as it senses any dampness the small box vibrates and makes a loud noise. With my son he woke up immediately, stopped the pee process in its tracks and ran to the toilet to finish. It cost us about $100, but we bought the more expensive model thinking we would benefit from a variety of noises, but we should have bought the base model as he only needed it twice. It seems a bit expensive, but we figure the amount we saved in diapers and the grief of stripping and remaking his bed made it well worth the dollar.
Good luck! You can find them online by lucking up Malem.

Try giving him a teaspoon full of honey before going to bed.

B.

I don't know how to get a hold of one of these for you but the pads that you find at hospitals make really good barriers for when they do wet. Not sure how to stop it... maybe less liquids, etc. Maybe there is a hospital supply store somewhere that sells these pads. I had my 2nd baby on the one I have! The only wash you would have to do would be the pad.

C.

Babies R Us sells these Vinyl underwear things that you put over normal underwear. I used these with my son and the bed was never wet. I also used an extra waterproof pad on top of the sheet that could easily be changed without having to change all the bedding.

Personally I would not put him back in pull-ups...I would just do this. It worked perfectly with my son!

Has anything tramatic happened in the last six months. A move, divorce, new sibling, or a death. Sometimes when something changes in their lives they revert back on potty training. My daughter was completely trained for six months when my son was born. She started having accidents during the day and more at night. I tried to include her more with my son and eventually it straightened out. It just took time for her to adjust. Now my sister when she was around four started to wet the bed. It was also around the time my parents seperated for a while. She saw a physcologist, but it turned out she just had a weak blatter. They gave her exercises to do and after several months she was fine. She still had the occasional accident for several years, but now as an adult she is fine. Wish I could be of more help.

Try raising the foot of his bed about 6 or 7 inches so it is on a tilt this should put more pressure on his bladder and signal him to wake up and go potty.Also limit his drinking hrs.before bed.

My son is 5. he's been potty trained for 2 1/2 years and he had peed the bed for awhile. some things ive tried are limit the amount of caffine during the day, limit all liquid about an hour before bedtime, make sure he uses the bathroom frequently even if he says he doesn't need to, and if he is like my son if he's just a heavy sleeper you may need to get him some good nights or pull ups and let him know that just because he's wearing them doesn't mean he can pee in it before he falls asleep because my son did. Just whatever you do remember it is a phase and will pass. I also have an almost 4 yr old girl who has been potty trained for a yr and 1/2 and never peed the bed but had more accidenst during the day. I hope this was helpful to you and good luck!

I had an issue with my daughter at about that age, she is now 6 and has not had a problem in a verylong time. I spoke to her doctor about the problem and the dr. put her on a medicine that really helped. The dr. said it was due to bladder spasms during growth spurts. My daughter was growing faster than her bladder could handle. Hope this helps.

I am a SAHM of 4. Daughters age 6y, 4y, 4mo, Son age 2.

2 suggestions that worked for me. I am a wahm of 4 kids. My first child was very easy to potty train as she started waking up dry and that is when I started her. My second was nothing like that and I have learned that she just has a small bladder. I limit her drinking at night and reminded her that if she did drink, she will wet the bed. She learned that after dinner or when it was dark, her drinks were very limited. The second thing, which helps with all the washing, I would put the crib liner on top of her sheets so that if she did wet, all I had to do was wash that and her clothes. Saved alot of time and pain.

Good Luck!

it's not a habit, it's biological. deal with it. use the "pull ups."

Hi Nikki,

My son is grown now, but the same thing happened to us.I was at my wits end till I read a article on nutra sweet.Some times it can cause problems with the kidneys.He loved Kool-Aid,and I was buying the ones with nutra sweet.I stop the kool-aid and the bed wetting stop.So maybe it's something he is eating or drinking.It's a place to start. Good luck.

S.

Cut fluids like an hour before he goes to bed then when he burshes his teeth give him a sip and have him go to the bathroom before he goes to bed my son will be four in 8 days and he vary rarely has an accident. He has been potty trained for a year now. We have a plastic bedsheet undre his regular sheet to protect the bed if he does by chance have one and you can get those at walmart for like five bucks.