Any Advice on Bed Wetting

my oldest had this problem until his was almost 14, then one day he just stopped. he was way too big to wear pullups, so i bought him Depends. we didn't make a big deal out of it, and no one ever said or did anything to make fun of him. one day we just realized that it had been 2 wks since he'd wet the bed. there are meds available by Rx, but we only had limited success with that. we tried limiting drinks after dinner, getting him up at nite, nothing worked very well. good luck.

Been there, out there somewhere is an alarm system for bed wetting. They are not cheap. But along with cutting back on the liquid intake and waking up several times a night, plastic sheets. Hopefully this will be something that we be outgrown soon. You might also see the doctor he may be able to help you.
I know this a problem had two like that, problem with the over nights with friends, family etc. Good Luck.

J. (and others)

Yes, bedwetting is genetic. My husband, father and two boys have had issues with it. We've tried limiting beverages in the evenings, cutting out milk, alarm clocks (that only woke me up) and waking them up ourselves twice a night. Nothing worked.

I called my pediatrician and he recommended a device called the Potty Pager. It is a small device that is hooked to their underwear at night. It vibrates when they wet. I don't quite understand how it trains them but it worked. It is not an instant fix. It took my boys a few of weeks to "be trained" but they did it on their own with out medications, nasal sprays, and I'm getting a good night's sleep for the first time in a year.

The website is http://www.pottypager.com/. The phone number is 1-800-497-6573. Call and talk to them. The cost is about $70 per pager and you can supply your own batteries if you chose. The batteries last through about three to four bed wettings.

Just be sure to love your son when he has an accident. My husband and I give high praise when they are dry and the boys know it is their responsibility to get up and change their sheets if they are wet. The sheets are then to appear in the laundry room and I wash them wihtout question. This builds the accountability.

I wish you the best of luck. I've been there. My boys are 8 and 10 and are happily dry 99% of the time.

there is, or was, a pair of underpants that lightly shocks when they start wetting to wake them up and allows them to make the choice to go and potty. My step-son wet the bed til he was 14. He got a new bed and it all stopped. His Mom was the one that was told about the pants that lightly shock.

My youngest started wetting the bed around 6 yrs. No reason why. My husband would get her up during the night, but that didn't work. by moringing she was wet. I read an article abt bed wetters. Sometimes, they just cant' hepl it. We bought a plastic matress cover. When she went on sleepovers, we bought the disposable underwear (like the adults). She learned how to change her sheets and wash them. I had to be on top of her stripping her bed every morning so the soiled sheets didn't stay on her bed all day. She stopped at about age 13. She is now 14 & hasn't had an accident in about 1 1/2 years. We never could figure out why. We just loved her. I never punished her for it. Except that she change her own sheets. Good luck.
Abt me. I'm 49, married Oct will be 30 yrs. 5 kids, 26,24,22,15 & 14.

my son's 17 and still wets sometimes. They say it can be genetic - I wet the bet till I was almost 12 and it gets worse as generations go. There can be a chemical DDVAP that's missing in their system. I just have great mattress pads and have taught him (and his sister) that if it's wet, take the sheets off and start the wash. His sister is 14 and she'll ocationally still have an accident - just not nearly as frequently. There's a place called Hargett House that says they can help, but they're expensive. Best thing to do - ask the doctor, DON'T critize him - it's nothing he can control.

He could just be a very heavy sleeper and still needs an overnight diaper/pull up type thing. Or he might need to be checked by the Doc. It can be a medical issue to.

Hi J.,
Have you tried taking him to the Doctor? Don't over look the problem. He may need an evaluation.

Elisa

Take him to ur doctor ! i had the same problem and had to have my bladder opening enlarged , at about the same age .
What could be wrong is probaby that he doesn't know he has to go to the bathroom , until it is too lat e God bless , G.

My son is almost 10, and has the same problem. His father was a bed wetter as well. We have used an alarm system with him that sounds when he starts to urinate. It wasn't effective because he slept right through it. We may try it again now that he's a little older. I have a friend who turned to hypnosis to help her boys. It worked great! I've considered the option, but haven't looked into it in the Austin area. I spoke with a woman who had helped children overcome bed wetting through hypnosis, and she recomended that the child be at least 9 before starting the treatment. Most children that wet the bed sleep so soundly that they don't wake up when they need to go. Part of our fire escape plan includes someone making sure that this child is awake and out of the house because he would sleep right through the alarms. The hypnotist would, through the power of suggestion, teach the child to not sleep so soundly. Anyway, I'm usually more apt to stick with more traditional methods of medical treatment, but I may look into the idea again. Good luck!

Have you taken him to see a doctor? I worked w/ two urologist and they had medications and other treatments to help children w/ this problem. I think that limiting his fluid intake after a certain time of the evening would help too.

Have you seen a doctor? There is a medicine that can hekp. I know two of my nephews who had the same problem at your sons age and it was diagnosed as a medical issue. Something about growth of their bladder not keeping up with body needs. But anyway until they were able to make it on their own he gave them a medicine to help nights. Yhey didn't use it all of the time just like when they were sleeping somewhere other than their own bed etc. Hope that helps. I have learned it is not an uncommon condition.

L.

Several men in my family had the same problem. They all grew out of it. There's hope. I wish I could give you more than that.

hmm.. Have you talked to a urineologist? I have a friend who had this problem in her daughter, turns out she had a physical reason she could not hold her bladder in her sleep.. a regular doc may not catch it, try to call a specialist.. could be he sleeps too darn hard too :) maybe wake him up at night and make him go?

Good luck

Hi J.,

When our son had this problem, we went through a company called Pacific International. Its a program that specifically is geared toward your child's needs. It does cost a bit of money, but most insurances will cover some of the costs. Hope this helps.

Have you talked to his doctor? It could be a physical problem with his kidneys or something. If it's not, there's a nasal spray that I'm told works wonders - my nephews wet the bed until they were 12 or so. They got this spray for the youngest and said it did a great job. You may try that. Other than that, just the obvious - limited drinks before bed, make sure he goes before going to sleep, etc.

Have you tried chiropractic? A chiropractor friend of mine was just telling me earlier this week that very often bedwetters have a subluxation in the lumbar (lower) spine that just a few adjustments can correct. I was asking him because my 5 year old has never had a dry night. I'm going to give it a try, starting tomorrow. Overall, it is much cheaper than alternative solutions, and I'm an "avoid drugs if at all possible" kind of person. My same son has personally had great results in getting completely off asthma medication with no further asthma issues by having chiropractic adjustments on his cervical (upper) spine. I'm praying for the same results with bed-wetting!!

My little brother wet the bed until he was 15 years old. My mom tried everything and several specialists as well. The best thing she found was a nasal spray that he took nightly, which worked well, completely stopping the bedwetting. (We can't remember the name, but your urologist probably could give you a script for it.) His urologist told us to cut out caffiene completely. Other than that, and I'm sure you already do this, Goodnights underwear. (Unfortunately they hadn't invented this when my brother was a kid!)

Please don't assume that it's something your son can stop doing if he'd "just try." My brother even wet the bed at a sleepover once. He's told us now that he's an adult that in kindergarten he forced himself to stay awake during naps to avoid wetting and at sleepovers he would stay up all night just to stop it from happening. It's a very sad situation, so please please remember that your son probably hates it and worries about it even more than you do!

There is a medication for bed wetting. The doctors will only use it as a last resort, when all other recommendations have failed, but if your son is 10 years old then it would probably be recommended. My nephew had the same problem and the doctor put him on the medication when he was nine years old. It was successful and he hasn't had any problems with bed wetting since he stopped taking the medication. Sorry I can't remember the name of the medication, but it really did work well for him, and my sister said he didn't experience any side effects from it. Hope this information helps you!

Lots of posters in the past have attributed milk to bed wetting problems. Try not letting your son have it after lunch time. See if that helps. As long as you have ruled out any physical causes, maybe you can set an alarm for yourself and wake him in the night repeatedly for a week. Maybe his sleep patterns with change enough for him to auto wake, like we often do when nursing, and make it a habit to go in the night. Just a suggestion.