My 6 year old step son still wears a diaper to bed and almost every night has a bowel movement(aneedless to say wets himself stll), that we are greeted with in the morning. His father keeps saying its because hes a deep sleeper. I need help, I want him to be able to stay over at friends. What do we do?? Is it just laziness and he doesnt want to get up in the middle of the night,or is he really sleeping thru it, or what? Please help!
You know, you might consult with a doctor on this one. I doubt it's anything serious, but he could have muscular weakness in his sphincter or something. Or, it could just be that he actually needs to mess up the bed for a few nights (just buy a bunch of backup sheets and toss the stinky ones) to trigger some subconscious body awareness. But I'd start by asking the doc, just in case.
Does he also go to his mothers? I would say this needs to be something you all need to be on the same page with if he does. At the age of 6 perhaps you need to talk to the pediatrician. Perhaps there is a medical reason why this is happening? Is he scared to poop or something?
If there is no medical reason then perhaps you could reinforce when he gets up dry and BM free. At this age w/out medical problems he should have to bowel and muscle control to go before bed and hold it until morning.
I hope you get some great tips from the other Mamas on here!!! Best of Luck!
It could be genetic. My 9 year old still wets the bed. We have tried lots of stuff but the bowel movement we have never had to deal with. I would talk to his dr and see what they think. But first I would try and find out if there is a family history on either side if possible. My nephew is almost 16 and still has acidents, my brother was about 10 or 11 and my other brother I am not sure about but mom said meds worked on him. Another option would be to see counciling to see if there is something that is going on with him that's making him do this.
Good luck and God Bless!
I may be wrong but that doesn't sound normal for his age. I would ask the pediatrician about it. I know kids can wet until up to age 6/7 but the BM would be a concern for me. My girls are 3 and 5 and sleep through the night with no diaper. If the 3 yr old drinks too much late in the evening I might throw a diaper on just in case but my 5 yr old will get up in the middle of the night if she needs to go. Every child develops at their own pace but I would definitely be consulting a doctor just to ease my concern if nothing else. Have you tried just taking the diaper away and putting him on the potty before you go to bed? That's what we did for the first few months with our older girl until she started getting herself up when she needs to go.
Probably not much you can do about the wetness but the bm's maybe. I was having this problem with my 3 year old waiting until he had a pull up on at bedtime to poop. Now right after dinner we have what we call "poopoo time" where he goes and sits on the potty until he poops. If he goes he gets a treat from the treasure chest (plastic shoe bin full of candy) and a sticker on his chart, for every 15 stickers we go to the dollar store and he can pick a toy. I know he is older but you might try just making him sit on the potty after dinner until he goes (make sure you put books or some small otys he likes in there with him).
What does the doctor say? Bed wetting is still considered normal at that age, and not really an issue of choice... but I think having bowel movements in his sleep is pretty unusual. Baring a medical condition, he should be able to control his BMs. This is either behavioral or medical, but it isn't "normal" or because of being a deep sleeper. Get him to the doctor and/or a therapist.
HTH
T.
Does HE want to stay over at friend's? If he doesn't he won't care to stop.
Diapers at 6 unless he is special needs should be stopped, as should the BM's at night, he's way to old for those, deep sleeper or not...Dad needs to stop making excuses for him and expect him to at least poop before bed. Make it your son's responsibility to clean himself up in the morning, if you get him in underwear and he poops them teach him how to wash them out, and if he goes to Goodnights make it his job to strip, toss the poop in the toilet and flush it (because "that's where poop goes") toss the Goodnight, then clean himself, refuse the "greetings." Have him go to the bathroom after dinner, no TV, video games or toys until he poops, then bed. Also try to regulate his pooping schedule so he does it earlier in the day.
As far as bedwetting, if he still is at the age of 8 or 9 his pediatrician may do tests to determine if there's a medical condition causing it or not and you can go from there.
I had a friend that struggled with wetting the bed well past 7...I've never heard of bowel movements tho' - that seems to take a little more effort (?)...but maybe not? If he does spend time with his mom...you need to be on the same page with her...and I would speak with a pediatrician. If it is a physical thing...making him feel guilty or like something is 'wrong' with him will probably backfire :(. Good luck!
