Wetting the Bed

Hi T.! One of my nephews had this issue, and just like your son, it was very sporadic. What my sister found the problem to be was making sure he didn't drink any fluid close to bedtime, and she used Pull-Ups as a back up, just in case. She also made sure that he went to the bathroom every night before bed. I think that in some cases, it's just their bodies are still learning and it will pass. Good luck!

Hi T.,
I'm a chiropractor so I've seen this a lot! Many times children will change there patterns and go back to wetting at night due to spinal misalignments, espeacially in the pelvis region. The reason he only does it at night is because he is completly relaxed and his nerves aren't sending the 'hold it' message to his brain in time. Very common with a pinched nerve or simple misalignmet. Has he had any falls latey, rough play? Really anything that a 4 yr old does could cause this type of misalignment. I would suggest taking him to see a chiropractor in your area (ask first if they deal with kids often, as all of us do not). Chiropractic is very safe and effective for children of any age and usually clears the problem up right away, even the chronic ones. Best of luck to you guys:)

T. I have raised my two and fostered one for a couple of yrs. The 2 boys both had bed wetting issues through out their formative yrs. My son would always do it when he was getting sick. My foster son did it every night practically until he was 14! Alot other serious issues there. But after trial and error I had to resort to medicines. Which I hate! But whenever I put them both on bladder stretches, there all several kinds, they both straighten up with-in the month! Praise the Lord! They only had to take one prescription. First make sure he is getting plenty of liquids throughout the day, then stop them an hour or more before bed time. Anything like noises, lights, touch, sensitivities that might make him excited or uncomfortable illuminate them. 100% cotton linens and PJ's are best in a mostly dark room with soft nature sounds, real if possible. Crack his window always, this helps illuminate harmful toxins in his environment. I wish I had known this then, I'm sure it would have helped. Less stress on the body. I pray this helps.

It's normal and has to do with the development of neurological pathways in the brain. Try not to make a big deal of it or make him feel bad. There's nothing he can do about it. It's not particularly uncommon for children (especially boys) to wet the bed every night for years. It sounds like your son doesn't have much of a problem, so he will likely outgrow it sooner rather than later.

Make sure that you do not allow him to drink anything for at least an hour and a half before bed. Have him drink most of his liquids throughout the day and only have a small amount at supper. Also make sure that he gets up early enough to go to the bathroom even if he needs to go back to bed for a while. You will have to figure this one out. When mine were working on this, they would go to bed around 8:00 and if I wanted to let them sleep in, I would take them to the bathroom sometime during the night or early morning. Usually if they were getting up at 7:00 am they were fine. At the time they were 3 years old and that is what worked for them. It might take some time, but you will figure out what his bed and waking times without accidents are. Good luck!

Children's bladders are different. My boys wore underwear from 2 1/2 years old and on...day and night. I have a friend whose son was still wearing night diapers at age 8. He was a heavy sleeper and she even restricted his drink, while my boys drank up to the very moment they went to bed!

His bladder will mature, but he may need help in strengthening it. You could get an herb called Kid-E-Dry. The link is: http://www.herbsfirst.com/extracts.html. Just arrow down until you find the Kid-E-Dry and click on it to read a little excerpt on it.

You can also read a little more about bedwetting at www.herballegacy.com and click on ailments at the top and then arrow down to Bedwetting. Hope this helps!

Hey T.,

I don't know very much about potty training (mine is six months) but my sister had a bed wetting problem up to age nine. It wasn't every night but often enough to hinder sleep overs and the like. The doctor said that her bladder was small, that it wasn't growing with her but that it would eventually catch up. Not sure how to deal with this kind of problem (I was young at the time) but it might be something to bring up at the doctor's.

Advice can be quite scary! You really just need to kind of keep a mental or physical diary of his day before you freak out and go see any kind of doctor. Take note of what he's drinking and eating the days he does have an accident and how hard he did or didn't play that day. How much is he drinking and exactly when do you cut off the liquids before he goes to bed. You know the doctor's are going to ask you these things. I know of children that become potty trained in an instant and then six months later, they decide that they're going to wear pull ups again and will go on the floor. Right now, I have a friend with a five year old that kept wedding her bed and it turned out that she just wasn't getting enough rest. Although she didn't want to do it, they ended up giving her half the lowest dose of ritalin at bedtime only and she would have a good night's sleep and her bed wetting stopped also. Everything comes down to you watching the different things happening in his life and then talking to his doctor with all the options you hear from all the other moms and see what the doc says. I'm working on potty training right now with my daughter so I know how hard it can be. Good Luck!

You may want to consider having your child examined by a chiropractor.... sometimes the position of the tailbone can have an affect on the nerves that affect bladder control. It may just be a simple adjustment that will help him... hence why it may only happen time to time depending on the position he may be sleeping in due to the pressure on the spine. I am a Chiropractor and I have been able to help several little ones end their bed wetting by adjuting their lower back..... I would be happy to answer any qiestions you may have.