Suggestions for Nighttime Dryness for a Very Deep Sleeper

My son was doing the same thing. I had read that boys have a hard time making it through the night and that it's likely that they won't master potty training at night for many years. However, after getting fed up with pull ups and wet sheets we decided to try an incentive. For each night he went without an accident, he got a sticker to put on a chart on his door. He loved to pick the sticker and it worked to make him more conscious at night of when he needed to use the bathroom. We also cut off any drinks after dinner. Hope this helps!

My son was a tough one too. He of course had a family history on both sides of bedwetting so that didn't help. Right around the time he turned 6ish, he told me he didn't need the pull-ups anymore and he wanted to wear his underwear to bed. He had not had ONE dry night prior to that. So, I did let him try, anticipating I'd be doing laundry that am. To our surprise he did it! He's 7 now and still has an occasional accident but that is usually when he drinks too much before bed. We make sure he uses the bathroom right before bed and he gets limited fluids after 6/7 o'clock. I guess he knew he could do it before we did. I did find that Kroger does sell a Kroger brand version of Goodnites (Overnights). They are much cheaper and even better! He will outgrow this. Some kids take longer and if it's not bothering him yet, I wouldn't worry about it. My doc told me when it starts bothering him, then we would try the medication.. Good luck to you....

If you receive a good answer, please email me !! My daughter has the exact issue. She too is almost 5 and I have her in a pull up at night for the same reason. She does a perfect job during the day every day (no accidents for over 2 years !) but cannot get through the night. She goes potty right before bed, I limit how much water she drinks after dinner, and still she wets every night. I have tried without the pull up and just end up with wet bedding. My direct email is ____@____.com I would love to hear any suggestions! thank you

My daughter is 6 1/2 and still has this issue. She stopped for about 6 months and has started back up again. I also tried limiting liquids, I make her go to the bathroom right before bed...everything I could think of, but nothing worked. I have noticed that she tends to wet more if she gets cold at night. Don't know if that really matters or not... :)

At her 5-year well-visit, her Ped told me not to worry. Genetics played a big part in her problem (myself, her dad, both grandmothers were ALL bedwetters) and if it made us more comfortable, gave her a good night sleep, then keep putting pull ups on her. She said they don't even worry about it until they are about 8 years old.

K.-

First, relax. Many, many kids have nighttime wetting. My son has. After consulting my ped, I learned that a very small percentage (usually boys) will wet until they are teens! Needless to say, I was NOT thrilled to hear that, but my son is now 9 has quit wetting the bed. I was told that most will wet until they are about 9 or 10.

In order to help us and him, we purchased GoodNites for him and we found plastic zip cover for his mattress as well as a waterproof mattress cover (both from Meijer). This worked well for us and then we have just waited it out. Our patience has been rewarded! Good luck and don't worry this is natural for many kids!

Hi K.~
You may have already tried it, but my only idea is perhaps an alarm clock to wake him up in the night. I'm concerned that if you go wake him up every night, he's not really learning anything more than to rely on you to do it for him. Maybe just the 'grown up' idea of being able to take care of it w/o relying on mommy will help him subconsiously. Good luck and I would love to hear if you find a solution!
~L.

Hi K.,
I have an almost 4 year old that will wet the bed if I don't get him up to use the bathroom. I don't usually have to wake him up because in the middle of the night, usually around 4 he will climb into my bed but before I let him in I go with him and he goes potty. He never wets the bed if he goes in the middle of the night. So maybe start getting him up to use the potty and then put him back to bed. Hopefully if you do that for a couple months he will learn to wake himself up when he has to go. Good luck.
Chris

My sister had this problem with her 8 year old daughter. Kids will keep doing it if their not shown how to wake themselves up at night. As hard as it will be, get him up at least once in the night. Wake him all the way up and tell him to go to the bathroom. This may be hard at first and he may be grumpy until he get on a routine of doing it. It took my sister a while to get this to work fully on its own, but now her daughter goes on her own and not in bed. Shes almost 10 now and goes on her own at night instead of in bed. Some kids outgrow bedwetting, or pullup wetting but because of the covenience of it for them, some never do and its hard when it continues until their 8 or 9 (plus expensive for you). Try it and after a couple of weeks it will be like second nature for him and he will get up and go on his own.

Hi K.,
Out of our six children, only one has had an issue with bedwetting. Our son is 7 1/2 and still wets occasionally at night, so we do the pullups, limiting of liquids in the evening. He wakes up sometimes to use the bathroom, other times he doesn't. Our doctor told us that his body is just taking longer to mature in that area. His bladder doesn't slow down production at night like most of ours do. He is also our only child who has some issues with hyperactive tendencies. I have read, and I believe in our case it is related. He is just wired differently and will outgrow both. The doctor did assure us that there is a medicine he can take for one night at a time that will keep him dry through the night. We are planning on using this when he is ready for a friend sleepover, if the bedwetting is still an issue. He was very relieved to hear this, as we start allowing our kids to do sleepovers at age 8. I hope that information helps.
L.