7 Year Old with Bathroom Problems

I would recommend having a sleep study done. There's something going on when he's asleep that isn't allowing him to wake up to go to the bathroom or notice that he's wet. I'd say it's not really a bladder problem, but a sleep one. It's more common than you might think.

I have a friend whose daughter has the latter problem she found that having her daughter drink more water has helped a lot.

My brother had bed wetting issues pretty much until he hit puberty. He eventually grew out of it. The more issues made, the worse it got, but really it was just a matter of letting his body get all coordinated. (He also has mild hypospadias, where the urethra doesn't open in just the right place -don't know how much it contributes, but have you ruled that out?)
The stress can make it worse. Buy a plastic mattress protector (it goes under the bed pad so no one even knows it's there) and give him the option of wearing the disposable night time undies or changing his sheets in the morning. Then don't make it an issue at all. And if you feel that there is still some medical issue, it won't hurt to get another opinion but still don't make a big deal of it with him.

As for going #2, not everyone goes everyday. Some people are very regualar, others not so much. As long as he doesn't get tummy aches from it and it doesn't actually hurt as it passes, I wouldn't stress. Make sure he gets lots of fiber (whole grains, fruits and veggies, not just fiber suppliments) and plenty of water (about 1/2 oz for every lbs of his body weight, daily). "Little Tummys" is for gas (if I'm remembering right), and won't help clear out the stool, but miralax is usually gentle and effective for kids. And, again, if you feel like there's a medical issue being missed, get him checked, just for peace of mind.

k, so first problem, cut out all liquids and hour to an hour and a half before he goes to sleep. make him use the restroom before bed. if that doesn't work, wake hime up every two hours during the night to use the restroom, and increase the time between days by 15 minutes. day one = two hours, day two = two hours fifteen minutes, day three = two hours thirty minutes, and so on til he's sleeping through the night.
second problem #2's, he really ought to be going #2 every day or every other day. if he's not, he needs more fiber in his diet, less junk
hope this helps, good luck

Hi S., I don't have a lot of suggestions about his bed wetting although I think you're right to try to wake him in the middle of the night, maybe more then once would help too. My thinking is that maybe if you and hubby are consistent in helping him wake and get up and go regularly he will begin to automatically do so. Often consistency is the key to a whole lot of teaching and training issues. I would also watch his liquid intakes about an hour before bedtime that might slow his urination down. Concerning him not being regular we swear by natural laxitives they seem to be our best bet. By that I mean the following should help him get regular. Almonds, avacados, raisins, grapes, prunes/prune juice and apples just to name a few. We've had the best luck with almonds. And lots and lots of plain old water. I cannot stress the importance of drinking plenty of water. This acts as a flush for our G.I. tract as well as tons of other vital parts that water plays for our body's health. Blessings to you, L.

I think you should see a specialist to rule out any medical problems. I took my son to a specialist for the same problem and same age. The 1st thing they told me is to not worry about it so much. It is much more common in boys than girls and usually does fix itself. The 2nd thing they told me is that he NEEDS a bowel movement EVERY day. Add more fiber and water (I know, it seems wrong to give water, but during the day - not at bed time). If that doesn't help, they recommended Miralax. It's a liquid you can mix in his juice and he won't even notice. My son has finally stopped wetting the bed, but I do know that it does NOT work for everyone and sometimes patience is required.

It sounds like a classic case of enuresis. My son has it, too. You can read more information here: http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/bladder/enuresi...

Good luck! And remember, you're not alone! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

I have a son that peed the bed everyday for 13 years. I took him to a chiropractor and the problem was fixed after the 2nd adjustment. Sometimes the nerve is pinched when he is laying down that tells the brain to shut off the bladder. Seeing a chiropractor may also help the bowels. It helped my other son. Also put him on a whole foods diet so he can get plenty of natural fiber. His poop will be so soft it will come out very easily. Basically he needs to be a vegetarian or vegan for the next 6 months so his colon can shrink down to the size its supposed to be. Take him off all milk products. He will get calcium naturally through eating vegetarian.

My little sister had this problem until she totally grew out of it around 9 years old. There are apparently more reasons than just deep sleep that cause it, I have heard that it can be neurological. Anyway, our family doctor prescribed medicine for her to take that prevented it from happening. It worked. She took that for a year or two and eventually grew out of the problem. Her medication was called DDAVP. This was about 15 years ago so it is by no means recent, but go ahead and read about it and see what you think. Good luck!!

My son is 6 1/2 and still wears a pull up to bed. He was potty trained at 3, but just can't make it thru the night. We have tried cutting off drinks at dinner 6:00, and he goes to bed at 830, and somehow he still goes during his sleep. The ped said it could be diabetes or kidney disease, he had blood tests for both and he does not. The doc says it is more common that I realize, he will most likely grow out of it. Let's hope...

you didn't mention if you were cutting off all liquid-intake prior to 6pm?

Your son needs to see a doctor. His poop is hurting him when he goes once a week so he doesn't want to go. Give him foods that will help this. Fruit, fiber etc... Then if you can help him go every few days, then every day, his body won't have that large pocket where he stores up the waste until he's sick and in pain. Sleep-overs are over-rated and kids don't need to be doing that anyway. Many children get in trouble when they're at other people's homes where you don't know what is happeneing. Take my advice.

I would highly recommend checking into food allergies. My son and another friend's daughter both wet the bed when they have wheat. Neither one of them ever have potty problems if they don't eat wheat.

If it was me, I'd look for another doctor. If he thinks this isn't a problem, he needs to go back to med school for a refresher course. First, our bodies are designed to go #2 after every meal, not every week. That should be dealt with first. The first goal would be to get your son to go #2 daily.

Have you looked at your son's diet? That's the easiest way to regulate the body. Cut back on the sugary stuff and add a salad at one meal and apples and carrots for snack. If he'll eat oatmeal, that's great (it's best if it doesn't have milk on it); if not, oat granola. All of this is considered fiber and should help with his stools. If it doesn't, go to a new doctor or naturopath.

Then, address the bed wetting. It may be a result of a urinary tract infection (from not going #2) or the kidney problem. There can be lots of reasons for an infection - too much sugar, too much wheat or dairy, antibiotics or bacterial. Ask the new doctor to run a UA (first thing in the morning) and see if the lab can actually look at the urine under a microscope. There are some things that test strips can't tell you.

And it wouldn't hurt to add some exercise. His muscle tone may be part of the problem with the bed wetting.

Hope this helps.

My daughter is 7 and also still has lots of accidents. Actually it's gotten SO much better the past few months. The only thing I've done different is that I CONSISTENTLY wake her up every single night to go to the bathroom after she's been asleep already for 2-4 hours. I make her sit on the toilet before bed and count to 60 each night too. lol, I gaurantee you if I didn't wake her up at night she would pee every night. Same as your son, she is such a deep sleeper - she doesnt even wake up! Now, with me waking her up every night (and sometimes that means I set MY alarm for 12am to wake me up) her accidents have went down to maybe once a week. The other night she went to sleep at 8:30pm and I woke her up at 12:15am and she had already had an accident..... I'm sorry I wish I had better advice!

One of my best friends and my step sisters had the same problem w/ wetting the bed until they were 10 years old. They all used a device and it fixed the problem for all of them. I don't know exactly what the device is called, but I'll explain it to you. It has a small speaker on one end that you can strap around your wrist. Then it has a a small long cord that has a sensor on the end of it. So how it works...you would have your son put the sensor end into his underwear, then string the cord underneath his pjs and put the small speaker on his wrist. When the sensor gets wet, the alarm in the speaker goes off. It wakes up the sleeping child letting them know that they are having a accident. Once the alarm goes off, make sure you have your boy get up and try to finish going to the bathroom. Eventually after using this device for about a month and doing the same routine every night, the child becomes aware of his bladder and stops peeing the bed. It's an amazing device! I'm sure your doctor could tell you where to find it. As for the constipation thing. The best thing that I have found is Acidolphilus. It's an all natural supplement. You can give it from infant age to senior age. It is safe for everyone. It's the same stuff that you would find in yogurt, but the pill form works much better. You can find it in any health food store. Just break open the capsule and pour it in your son's drink. Or of course if he can swallow the pill whole, then that will work too. Acidolphilus helps digestive tracks. It keeps them healthy and flowing properly. And best of all it will help with constipation in a natural healthy way. It should regulate him to going about once a day. I was recommended acidolphilus about 7 years ago for my own digestive issues and now I have none. Any doctor or pharmacist can tell you more about it. It's amazing stuff too! Hope this info. helps:)

Chiropractic is often a great solution to bed-wetting. You can find more info at mercola.com and you can google a chiropractor in your area. It has helped so many!

My chiropractor/acupuncturist says he's had lots of success treating this issue with acupuncture. It only takes a couple treatments--he can usecold lasers instead of needles for children. Also, I would have him
checked for food allergies/sensitivities. Severe constipation like your sons was my son's symptom for food allergies/sensitivities. We have a great doctor who I swear saved my son's health if you are interested. Good luck! J.

my son has the same problem. he's going to be 12 soon. i've had him to an urologist and they say he has an inconsistent bladder. we've found that, more often than not, he's just too tired to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. so we bought him a portable urinal and installed a nightlight in his room so he can see to use it. it's been working out really well so far. i don't know if this will help, but if you feel as we do, anything is worth a try :)

I concur that you should see the best pediatrician you can. If that doesn't work move on to a urologist etc.

As for sleepovers i think every parent should rethink them. Molestation numbers I read were 1/5 for girls and 1/7 for boys.That was almost 10 years ago! It often happens at sleepovers... And you just NEVER know who it might be!!! My friend just found out about her own husband! It was a terrible shock. It's just my little soapbox. I hope I haven't offended you in any way, but some risks just aren't worth taking.

My son turned 9 in October and has battled with bedwetting ever since he was potty trained at 2 years old. It HAS gotten better. Now, it is very rare that it happens (once every few months or so). I have noticed that if he wets the bed once, it usually happens again within a night or two. Guess what we have found is VERY often a factor? Constipation! That's right, if he happens to be constipated or hasn't had a bowel movement in a few days, then he oftentimes will wet the bed. The two are very strongly related as some other poster mentioned. This is because (as she said) the colon puts pressure on the bladder.

My guess is that the two problems your son is having are related. I bet if you fix the constipation problem then the bedwetting will also begin to fix itself. I am not saying that he won't still occasionally wet the bed, but it will not be an every night sort of thing.

My suggestion for fixing constipation is to make sure that your son gets plenty of fluids (especially water) during the day. Also, try giving him any of the yogurts on the market that target digestive health (ie Activia).

Good luck!

Hi S. - a consult with your doc could definitely help to see if the bed-wetting and the constipation is something they can help with.

As far as the constipation, make sure he gets lots of fiber along with lots of fluids. It's amazing how quickly a guzzle of prune juice mixed with apple juice takes effect too. Talk to your doc, but we were able to give our son Milk of Magnesia when he had a bad bout of constipation after surgery.

We also make our son take time to have a bm as part of his bedtime routine, otherwise he will wait as long as possible too. I really cant figure out a reason why. At night, he takes in a book or some markers does his thing. If nothing happens, it's no big deal, it usually happens the next day. My son was withholding for a couple of days and was starting to get messy trying to hold it in. He sat on the potty for a long time but just didnt want to go. I knew he could be done and over in about 30 sec. so I said if you can make poop in the next 3 minutes, I'll give you a dollar. Sure enough, 30 seconds later, he was asking for his dollar. I dont recommend "poop pay" but it was a good lesson for him that he could do it with just a little motivation.

My other thought is that the bed weting might have one correlation to the constipation. When the colon is full it can't help but put pressure on the bladder. When boys have a bm, it's nearly impossible to keep from releasing urine - it's just how the anatomy is arranged. If he is a deep sleeper and he has pressure from his colon, then he might be more likely to wet the bed.

I hope that helps to give you some ideas -