Need Help with 6 Year Old

Not sure if this applies, but I read in a book that it can be hereditary. Might check with the school counselor. He/she is trained to pinpoint issues that are bothering the little ones. I agree with the other poster. Try not to make him feel bad about it. I know a man who did this as a kid and he still feels guilt and shame over the way his parents made him feel about it. HTH

With children it is one day at the time. If you are under a lot of stress, perhaps your 6 year old is feeling it. Also the new baby could be a factor in the bed wetting. There are also possible medical problems and, if you haven't, you should get him checked out by a doctor. Also, find out if it could run in the family. With my grandson it ran in his father's side of the family.

Is your son on any medication? My friend's son had the same problem and it was from the allergy medication he was taking during the day. Just a thought...good luck!!

The brain controls the body through nerve impulses sent through the spinal cord to the body. The nerves that control bedwetting are in the lower back.

Did he have a recent trauma to his low back?

I would recommend chiropractic. Chiropractic has been proven effective in treating bedwetting.
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Call your pediatrician--NOT because it's a serious medical problem but pediatricians are educated on this issue and can provide you with comprehensive educated answers (along with all the mom's who replied :) )

Doctors are not just trained on physical symptoms, but emotional issues as well if that's part of the problem.

My daughter was a bed wetter until she was 6 or 7! Nothing wrong with her physically or mentally.

I think I read something about sleep patterns of bed wetters. These children don't receive the "signal" that most people get which triggers them to wake up to urinate. These kids sleep through it. Sorry I can't recall proper medical terminology.

Just make sure you and your husband let your little boy know that it is not his fault, nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be embarrassed of. VERY important, esp. from the father. I always told my daughter that EVERYone wets the bed from time to time, even grown ups and it's fine. I wasn't encouraging it, but I knew she was embarrassed when it happened.

This could easily be a stress issue with the new baby (less mommy time) and starting school (homework and stress of routine change. Is he having any daytime accidents, frequency, urgency--these could indicate aphysical problem (which was the case with my son) I would definately mention this to the pediatrician who can give you great advice--professional advice, which we can't give here

Hi K.,

Regarding your 6 year old..... It seems like you are a little stressed. Be careful about how you show stress or frustration because sometimes children wet the bed in fear that if he/she gets up to use the restroom it might upset YOU for waking you up. My husband did that when he was little until he was 9 and it was in fear of bothering his parents and upsetting his dad for waking him up. Plus, with a new baby he might feel left out a little between the baby and his "new" bonus sister. Try to spend as much time with him so he knows you are still there for him as well and that you love him just the same. If things get a little crazy at home go to the bathroom and shut the door and scream if you need to. Hope this helps. By the way you would know if he had ADD ADHD. He would be doing more than wetting the bed.

Hi K.,
Sounds like you have a lot going on with your family. Here is my thought- I have raised 8 boys- 3 of them were bed wetters- they had counseling, I tried everything I could think of- nothing was physically wrong with them- they were just bedwetters- patience with your little boy is the key- don;t try to make too much out of it- but you might try putting on the nitetimes for him- try not to embaress him but give him some time. sounds like he is having some adjustment issues-
Another thing is to limit his fluid intake after 5 or 6 pm- nothing to drink at all- just before bedtime let him have a sip of water just to wet his mouth- this is the hardest part- but it works sometimes-
good luck and blessings

It's definitely an emotional issue. How is his relationship with you or with your husband. Look deeply and see if there is anything that can be worked on. There is something that triggered it, what was happening when he started the bed wetting? There is some fear or underlying feeling of insecurity that is triggering it. Don't shame him for it as he is very confused about it as well. Just love him and as he feels your confidence and support and knows he is safe it will stop. Blessings to you!

I think you need to schedule a mom-son outing for an icecream and talk with your child. Ask him about school. Ask him if he likes all the kids. Ask him if he dislikes any kid. Ask him if he's being bullied. If all seems well at school, ask him the same questions about the neighborhood kids. For a child to regress at such a late age could be an indication of some type of bullying. If all checks out well in the bullying area, you might have his Pedi look at possible UTI (urinary tract)or bladder infection. Rule out all the obvious (or not so obvious) reasons first. Whatever you do, choose your words carefully. You do not want make him feel ashamed. Let him know that you will try to help him and always leave a nuetral ground where he can come to you with questions or fears.

It is certainly possible that sudden onset bedwetting after a long period dry was triggered by something, but given all the pressures you are under with three kids 6 and under, I wouldn't be too worried that something really weird happened -- certainly it's worth checking with the school counselor's perceptions and checking to see if you can put anything together, but it sounds like with so many young children in a blended family, everyone is under a lot of stress and that this may be coming out in this way. The good news is that a lot of this is about a steep, steep learning curve for everyone and it won't be this hard forever, or even for all that long. My 7 year old has ADHD and a grandmother who wet the bed until she was 11, and to me it makes sense that she struggles with on-gain, off-again bedwetting that kind of crops up whenever the family is under stress. I have found the "electric underpants" that are sold on line -- underpants with an alarm that notes wetness -- to be very, very helpful, but they are expensive and I feel they work great if the kid is eager to fix the problem and not at all well if the kid isn't the one eager to get dry. There are so many issues that can connect to this, heavy sleeping, small bladder, anxiety, genetics, and sure, of course, attention deficit or it's cousin, sensory integration disorder, both would make it harder tor a child to register their body's signals. I've really torn my hair out about this at times, but every time I check it out in any source, it says that in each year about 10 percent of kids with bedwetting will outgrow it naturally. I love my daughter enough to give her a tool when she herself is feeling ready to stop, but other than that, I praise her when she makes it through dry and keep a plastic sheet on the bed no matter where she is in the cycle (dry for a couple months now, so, yay!!)

good luck!
M.

K.:

If it's isn't his medication or an allergy, consider this. Our boys wet the bed until they were a bit older than yours. It wasn't medication, allergies, drinking late or milk. We tried bravo charts, making them responsible for their own soiled sheets, waking them up twice a night, etc. Bottom line, they were heavy sleepers and my husband and I simply lost sleep.

I finally called my Pediatrician when I was at wits' end and totally sleep-deprived. He recommended a company called the Potty Pager. Their website is www.pottypager.com. It is a SILENT, wireless device that looks like the standard pager. It vibrates the second any fluid hits it and in doing so, trains the child to wake up before they go. I don't know how it works but it does. My children both used one almost a year ago (where we usually had 3-4 nights a week each that they would wake up wet). To date, we haven't had any wet nights since then.

Each pager is about $75 and you'll probably go through an extra set of batteries but it's worth it. We noticed a significant difference in three weeks - and it was amazing how the boys felt better about themselves as well.

Best of luck to you from someone who's been there....

I have raised a adhd child who is now grown and married. Sometimes the teachers dont understand and let them go to the bathroom. I had to have several ard meetings with schools to protect my son. He needs this right taken care of, if it is mostly at school and if not it is better to not give liquids after 7 in the evening. Hope this works. God bless you and your family. L.