I have a five-year old that was using pull-ups at night up until just a couple of months ago. I decided to just stop cold turkey and make it a point to wake him up around 2 or 3 to use the bathroom so he doesn't wet the bed. I have a 9 month old at home so it's not that big of a deal getting up. I'm looking for advice on how to get him to get used to feeling or noticing the urge when he's asleep so he can get up on his own and use the bathroom. I let him sleep through a few nights and one or two of them he was fine but there were about three times that he wet his bed. (FYI - I put special hospital pads underneath so it doesn't wet the bed at all). FYI: He is not allowed liquids after 7 p.m. and he does use the bathroom before he goes to bed which is 9 p.m. Also, when he wets his bed, I make him take a shower no matter what time it is and than he goes back to bed. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I want to thank all the moms for their interest in my posting on bedwetting and their advice and responses. As of today's date, he wet his bed twice and hasn't the other days BUT I've had to wake him up once or twice throughout the night to use the bathroom. I decided that although I want him to move on to the next step and stop using a pull-up, I feel that he is just not ready yet for several reasons. The other night he wet his bed and the next morning I asked him why doesn't he just get up when he feels that he has to use the bathroom and he said very matter-of-factly that he just doesn't feel like he has to go; that he doesn't feel anything. You can't force a kid to feel that. Like everyone has said, it is something that will come to him with time. He turns 6 tomorrow and just because he will be 6 doesn't mean he has to not use a pull-up so I am going to get them again and we will aim on his not wetting his pull-up. We'll stick to the no drinks after 7 and aiming on keeping that pull-up dry and awarding him whenever he wakes up and it's dry. I was doing that before and just got impatient but that, I think, is the way to go. Thanks again.
Hi T.,
I don't think there s anything that you can do. It has got to come from inside him. When he gets to the point that he awakens and hates laying in a wet bed then he will learn to notice the signals.
S.
While I cannot give you advise on teaching him how to wake-up when he feels the urge, I can tell you to limit the amount of fluid he intakes from 6:00 p.m. on. My son, who is now 5, will not wake up to go to the bathroom. I doesn't wear pull ups and hasn't since he was 4, but I do monitor how much he drinks. My mother once told me to get a cup (one the size that we would drink out of) and fill it up with what ever it is my son would drink at night. If he drank 2 things, then fill it half with the first thing he would drink (like milk). From that cup, use it to fill up his cup when he asks for something to drink, but not all at one time. Only a small amount at a time. If he gets through all the milk, fill the cup up half way with the other thing that he drinks (usually water) and use it to fill his cup (small amounts at a time). This way, he doesn't get more than a specific amount before bed. I also stop, regardless of if he has had the whole cup, at 7:30 (he goes to bed at about 8:30).
We also have a specific bathroom routine. I usually give the kids a bath right after dinner (about 7:00) and he has to use the bathroom before he gets in the bath (which by then has drank most of his fluids). Then, he knows he has to use the bathroom before he goes to bed. If I notice that he is still awake an hour after I put him to bed (which happens), I will send him to the bathroom again.
Good luck!
Sam
I found that no liquids after say...7PM helps too. Talk to him about the big potty at night all the time too...praising him on how BIG he is getting now! (they love to think they are all big at that age). Be sure to emphasize his big boy pants are like his dad's and that he can tell when he has to go, it will wake him up. Keep the praise going...it worked for me...maybe for you too. What has your Doctor said about this? Does he have urological problems going on?
My friend just broke her five year old from bed wetting. They were getting him up during the night and decided to stop doing it and see what happened. Of course he wet the bed the third night. They then decided to make him get up and go to the bathroom and wash up and change his own clothes. After about three times of having to change his own clothes the bed wetting stopped. Hope this helps.
I wouldn't rush the fixing of the bed wetting. My brother when he was young wet the bed for an extremely long time. My parents went to extreme measures to wake him up, including an alarm when he wet the bed and then put him in a cold shower in order to wake him up, which he barely did. He eventually grew out of it. Later on in life, you hear more about bladders not growing at the same rate as others. The only thing that worrying about it and the extreme measures did was make my brother feel like he was "not ok". My son seem to have the same problem, and every once in a while he would have an accident while he was sleeping. He is 8, and he still has small accidents that only hit the underwear, but he wakes up and changes and goes back to sleep. If you are concerned take him to a dr, but I wouldn't take away the pull ups or shame him, because it is usually just the growth of the bladder. Good luck.
I read the responses to this with great interest, because I also have a 5 yo boy in pull-ups at night. One night a few months ago he put on his pj's without the pull-up, so we tried it, but after several nights with accidents, we decided (together) that he wasn't ready. To me, it seemed that he wasn't ready because when I went to wake him in the morning and he was lying in a wet bed, he tried to deny it and wanted to go back to sleep. I think until you have an internal reflex that would make you think "oh my goodness, this is not right" and jump out of bed to clean it up, you're not ready. And you just can't "make" someone else ready for anything before they truly are. So just consider how much your son wants to stop the pull-ups. If he really does, and is asking for your help, then by all means try a reward chart for waking up dry and that kind of thing. But if you need to wake him up in the middle of the night, then you're really just training yourself, which is perhaps not really helping him. I'm not really sure. Maybe some people would say I'm being a lazy parent. But daytime toilet training was very very difficult for us (I started too soon, at 2 1/2, and he had no interest whatsoever until 3), so I was so happy to finally have that under control that I figured the nighttime part will happen on its own. If my son turns 6 (still 7 months away) and nothing has changed, I will see if I can kickstart weaning him from the pull-ups somehow. So please post what you decide to do and how it goes :) Btw, pediatricians and bedwetting experts (yes, there is such a thing) don't consider it "bedwetting" till age 6. Intervention such as an alarm is not recommended for any children under the age of 6, because it's still considered within the range of "normal" development until that time. Good luck to you and your son!
I have a 7 and 4 year old (both girls). My 7 year old was potty trained and never turned back. My 4 year old is potty trained but has been regressing for 4-6 months now. I took her to the Dr twice and she had a yeast infection the 2nd time. The first time, I thought it was a bladder infection but it wasn't. Have you taken your child to the Dr to see if it's one of these? My 4 year old will change panties 4-5 times a day. Most of it is dribble and other times it's not. I was told by the Dr to have her sit backwards on the toilet and empty her bladder all the way by sitting up straight. I am going to set up a chart with the days and if she is dry then will get a star or some sticker on her board. My 7 year old wanted to get in on the sticker chart too so if she cleans or puts stuff away (toys, clothes, etc.) then she too will earn stickers and at the end of the month they can earn a big prize. I decided not to do weekly prizes to make them work harder. They are looking forward to the charts. Good luck.
Hi, I have had the same problem with my son who is now 7. I talked the doctor about it because I mean after 4 you would think that enough is enough when it comes to bed wetting. He told me that this could last until he hits prepuberty. I was shocked but he said that their bladder's just don't function correctly yet and it will within time. I don't let him have anything to drink after around 7:30 and he goes to bed around 9 but he still ends up wet by the morning. I use the jammers and they seem to work well. The doctor did stress to me not to make it a big deal because it is something that is uncontrolable. I feel your frustration though!
Hi T.,
I had the same problem with my 6 1/2 year old. I just wanted to let you know that it will stop.
Make sure that you do not give him/her anything to drink an 1 hour or 2 before going to bed. If he/she is thrity just a sip of water. Sometimes when I would wake up at night I would carry her to the potty and then carry her back to bed. It was a lot of work to get her to stop but well worth it.
I also used an award chart during the day. She received a sticker each time.
So don't get discouraged. I don't think he/she will want to do this as they get older.
Blessings!
A working mom of 3. Two grown children and a 6 1/2 year old.
Sensing the urge to go at night is such a natural bodily function that I don't think you can 'make' them have it any sooner than it will naturally happen.... Unless of course they are made to fear or hate some negative consequence or punishment, which I strongly do not recommend. They will get it in their own time and their own body's maturity rate. I personally don't think waking them up to take them to potty makes them learn any quicker since they never really awoke on their own due to the urge to eliminate. Sure, it makes for a dry bed in the am but it's sort of like doing his homework for him....he doesn't really know how to do it himself yet,but he will soon! I would keep using the pull ups with being consistent about not having a huge drink right before bed, but I am not a fan of limiting liquids for the sake of potty training sooner. I think good hydration and comfort are more important. Don't stress or worry or make them feel bad about themselves, you won't have an 18 yr old still wetting the bed!!
