At What Age Should I Seek Help for My Bed-wetter?

I actually went through this myself. I wet the bed until I was about 10. I did eventually get put on a medication, and that helped. But if you don't want to put her on medication, just keep using the pull ups. OR, I had a mattress pad that protected my sheets, so at least we only had to change my blankets when I wet the bed. It sounds like a developmental issue to me, not a medical problem, so I'd just wait until her next well visit in a few months.

Rebecca, my daughter (age 4) was recently seen by a pediatric urologist (for another issue) and we had a lengthy conversation about this very subject and I will tell you what he said.

Acheiving bladder control at night is a complex issue. The bedwetting child literally sleeps through his or her bladder signals. This is especially true of deep sleepers. They have absolutely no awareness of bladder sensations during the night, let alone how to control it. Also, there are hormonal factors in play as well, and for some children the hormonal control of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) may act differently. Simply put, bedwetting is a communication problem between brain and bladder.

Withholding fluids or cutting a child off at a certain time will do more harm than good. Children need a great deal of fluid in order for their bodies to function properly. Restricting fluids can cause dehydration and constipation and at the end of the day, it does not "teach" your child anything about waking up in the middle of the night to go potty. They simply stay dry because they don't have enough fluid to actually need to urinate. Therefore, you've done nothing to "teach" the brain how to detect bladder signals simply because there are no signals at all to detect. Restricting fluids is only done really as a convenience for the parents. The same goes for waking them before you go to bed. Again, you don't "teach" their brains to wake on their own since you are waking them up! There are drugs you can give them, but again, the drugs don't cure bedwetting, they just mask the problem by slowing down bladder function at night until your child can outgrow bed-wetting.

The pediatric urologist told us that the biggest "issues" kids seem to have with bedwetting are when they are away from home at sleepovers, grandma's house, etc. It becomes more of an embarressment the older they get.

He then went on to tell us that these issues usually resolve themself by the age of... are you ready for this... TEN!!! I was shocked when he told me that!

He did also tell us that, at the age of 4 (which is where our daughter is), doctors aren't concerned at all about bedwetting. But at the age of 6 or 7, they start to get slightly concerned about it. Your pediatrician will probably ask you to start keeping a diary. What is different about your child's day on the nights he/she stays wet or dry? Is there a relationship to food, drinks, events, bowel patterns, etc.?

My advice (take it for whatever it is worth), keep the diary from now until your child's 7 year checkup so you come in with plenty of information for the doctor to look at when you go in for your appointment.

I hope this helps and best wishes to you.

It's a chemical missing in their blood that stops urination while asleep. There's nothing you can do about it, but wait till it builds up in the system. My son was 17 and my daughter was 14 before it built up enough in theirs. Tough road, but it's genetic and the longer it took the generation before - it'll take even longer for this one!! Your peditrian will want to put them on pills or spray - neither helped either of my kids......

I waken them both before I went to bed, or if I woke up to pee, I woke them up - it didn't help.....their blatters emptied regardless of how many times a night I woke them up to go and it only made us all grumpy!!!

I wet the bed until I was almost 10, my ex wet until he was 11...and our almost 9 yr old son still wets the bed. I have asked our pediatrician about it twice, and both times, he told me that there are alarms, etc., you can buy but they are pretty much a waste of money because our son will basically grow out of it when he grows out of it.

I know it's frustrating (to put it lightly) but you can train her to at least take responsibility for it, she IS old enough. My son knows that when he wakes up after having wet, he needs to shower and then put his sheets, blankets, and jammies all in the washing machine, drop in an all-in-one laundry sheet (I buy just for this purpose) and turn it on. I take care of the rest :)

You are right, it is developmental. My son slept in cool pullups until he was 7 cause he did not rest well worring he might go and not lknow it. I think I would be concerned if she were older and bed wetting. Oh, and we tried the whole wake and a go deal and it didn't really seem to make a difference but I know it messed with his sleep!

My son was 9 and still wetting the bed. I talked to my sister and she told me she wet the bed until she was 12! She told me to talk to the Dr. they make a nasal spray that they use at night. Yes they grow out of it, but we chose the spray because my son found it embarrassing and wouldn't go stay the night at friends (afraid they'd discover pull ups or he'd have a accident). We only had to use it about a year. It was a good decision for us! Good Luck!

I agree with momma of 4...my oldest will be 7 in April, my youngest will be 5 in May, and they both still wet the bed at night. Well, we let them wear pullups b/c it's just too much work for me to wash everything every night, and I don't want them to have to wake up extra early before school to take showers. My brother, sister, dad, and grandpa were all bed-wetters and so was my hubby. My mom swears the bed alarm worked for my brother and sister, but they were both older when she finally used that. Plus, during the summer we are always at my parents or my in-laws houses in CA and obviously during the school year I wouldn't want them losing out on sleep. I've tried limiting fluids before bed (doesn't make a difference, not to mention I believe kids should drink if they're thirsty!), I've also tried waking them up about 11pm and putting them on the potty, but most of the time they don't go anyway and then it's just upsetting for them to be awake and have to fall back asleep. I don't want to consider medication (all it does is dehydrate them...I don't think that's very safe). So I bite the bullet and buy pullups in bulk and let it be =) I'm sure they will grow out of it by the age of 10, and if not then we can figure out if there's a deeper issue. Oh, and when they stay the night with friends, they just put their pullup in their backpack and put it on in the bathroom when they change into pjs, so no one ever even knows!

milk seemed to be a big culprit in our home. No milk past 6 PM has helped (I had heard of milk being a problem with others and night wetting and tried it.) An earlier bedtime may mean no milk past 4 PM (water is ok in moderation.)

I was going to get the wetting monitor but this helped so much I haven't tried the monitors. My 5 YO still wets the bed sometimes, though.

It's time to at least have a talk to your pediatrician.

I would start by not letting her have anything to drink past 6. Or do you guys have dinner at 7? I wouldn't let her drink anything past dinner. Try that and see if that helps. If she is going to bed at 8 and drinking at 7, that doesn't give her body much time to pass the water through her.
I wet the bed till I was 11, my doctor said it was because my bladder just wasn't growing as fast as the rest of me was.
I was on a nasal spray med that helped out A LOT! I think I had maybe one accident a month. I know meds aren't the greatest answer, but It could very well help out. I would just do a lot of research on the med before administering to your daughter, if you decide to.
I think it's up to you if you want to wait a few more months of wet beds. I personally would take her in after I tried going down to 6 o clock as the cut off.
Oh and what the previous poster said, I too started washing my sheets at 6. Make her do it, or she then has to suffer and maybe that could psychologically help her brain to remember to wake up before peeing.

Watch her diet. When my kids were little I just happened to see a talk show on bedwetting. The guest was a doctor who specialized in children's allergies. She said that kids who wet the bed are often reacting to an allergy. She recommended taking all artificial flavors and dyes out of the kids diet. Easier said than done. No Kool-aid, Trix cereal, soda, etc etc for several years. But it worked. My kids learned to eat somewhat plain cereal with fresh fruit and to drink water. Try it for a week or two, hopefully this helps.

My dd just got control of night time wetness at 6 y.o. Our pedi told us to take her to the potty 3 hours after she went to bed. I was very pregnant and could not lift her, so I would wake her enough for her to walk to the bathroom, she acted like a zombie, but I would guide her to the potty, she would empty her bladder and I would guide her back to bed. We had to do this for about 4 months, every night. If we missed a night, she would have an accident. We did not restrict fluids, except after dinner we would encourage her to only take a small drink at bed time "if she really needed it". Only let her drink water, other beverages will cause accidents. My daughter decided to give up the pull ups on her own after being dry for a couple months, and we have not had any accidents. She now stays dry all night, and does not need to get up in the middle of the night at all. She has also been a really heavy sleeper from birth, so I understand that. I've had other friends use this method with success, which is why I tried it.