Bed Wetting - Baltimore, MD

My brother wet the bed every night until he was about 7. This was 20 years ago, but my parents got a sensor with an alarm on it that woke him up when he went. Problem solved in about a week. It only cost like $25. He and they were so happy. Good luck.

Hi J.! My almost 7 year old stills wears a pull-up every night, and I am worried too. I have talked to the pediatrician about this and they keep telling me not to worry. A lot of children apparently don't make some kind of hormone that we need - I guess it keeps you from producing too much urine at night or something. The doctor said sometimes kids are older before they produce this hormone. So, sorry I don't have great advice (I'll be reading all the responses hoping to get some too) but just wanted to let you know you're not alone :)

K.

Hi J.,
My son had accidents until he was about 11 or 12. (He's 19 now) I don't know of anyway to end them really except to wait it out. It may just be that his bladder is having a hard time catching up to his body. What we did to try and help lesson them is to make sure he was drinking anything an hour or so before bed, making sure he went to the bathroom right before bed and making sure he stayed warm enough through the night. These steps did halp but there was still the occasional accident. To help keep him from being embarassed if he's away for the night they make padded underwear that look like boxers that will keep from getting the bedding wet without anyone knowing. Sorry I don't have anything that will make it stop altogether, but we did find that taking these steps and being patient worked pretty well.

J.,
I have heard that a lot of times kids wet the bed because their bladder has not fully developed, but when it does they will stop because the bladder can hold the fluid for longer. This is just what I heard though......

Once your child is about 6 years old, they are old enough for a bed wetting alarm. Basically there is a sensor attached to underpants and a buzzer attaches to the shoulder of the pajamas. If it is only once in a while, I wouldn't stress out about it. They may have been sleeping really heavily. But both my kids wet their beds and an alarm worked wonders for them both....

I have an 8 & 12 year old still wetting the bed. The 8 yo is my daughter and her accidents are maybe 1 or 2 times a week. The 12 yo is everyday but he is my step son. I have been told the earliest he can stop is the age that was the youngest for his parents which was 12 and he could stop up to the age of the oldest parent which was 17. He has always hated wetting the bed everyday so we put him Good Nights but he wet through every night. Then we moved to Depends. He still soaked through every night. Finally after 4 years of dealing with this (how long we have had custody)He was so frustrated and his father and I were too we took him to the doctor (we made sure this is what he wanted). Anyway, the doctor put him on DDAVP and we have had NO accidents since. His self esteem is so much higher. The doctor told me they will not treat until the child is 8 or has an esteem issue concerning wetting. Before doing medication we tried EVERYTHING. I went to the library and read up on bedwetting. Some suggested it is the diet of the child so we altered his diet and nothing. We cut off everything after 5 and nothing. Tried setting alarm clocks but he never heard it. I went up and woke him up but he was a sound sleeper and he would go to the bathroom and literally fall asleep on the toilet. It was miserable for all of us. The DDAVP has been a lifesaver. I know many people are opposed to medication but there comes a point where you have to say to yourself, "What is BEST for my child" and put your feelings aside. Bottom line is, what does your child want? Does your child want to stop wetting the bed? Is your child embarrassed by this? If you can answer yes to this then I suggest you see your doctor for advice. If medication is the answer I recommend DDAVP.

As for my daughter, she is occasional so I am not too worried about her. She is not bothered by it either. I know she will eventually stop and it is not an everyday thing. As long as she is not bothered by it I am not too concerned. When she worries then I will worry. Best of Luck!

Hello,

I experience this on occasions and I make sure that my son does not drink anything after 7:00 pm (although that is hard because he plays football) and make sure he goes to the bathroom right before he goes to bed.
I think it is all different for each child and hopefully this will phase out. I don't think it is anything to be concerned about unless it is happening every night. Good Luck.
KRW

J.,

The one thing we have found that has worked is a bed wetting alarm. You can purchase them on line, if it's really only occasionally then they will outgrow it, and the alarm might not be worth it. We have had some serious bed wetters (my husband and his mother included).

J., I experienced this problem myself when I was a child and it turned out to be a medical problem so you may want to take your son to the doctor. I don't recall what the exact diagnosis was but I had to have surgery to fix it. When I was in the hospital there were a few boys in with the same problem. My urethra opening was too small so they had to enlarge it. I had to have the same surgery again when I was in my 20's, which at that time it was an out patient procedure. I'm not saying this is you son's problem, but I would have him checked out just in case.

Best of Luck! K. M

My son is 9 and still has occasional issues. We have found that it helps to remind him to "empty his bladder". He can find such mundane things as using the toilet time-consuming, apparently, and will relieve himself just to a point of comfort, rather than actually emptying his bladder.

This happens in our house veeerrrrry rarely & the only thing I can think of is it's on nights that everyone is extremely tired like if we're over at a friends' house late with lots of snacks & drinks. I just try to make everyone go to the bathroom before collapsing in bed & hope for the best. Sorry I don't have a better solution for you!

I wish i something to say but i am still going thought this w/my 6 and half yo. Sometimes he is dry sometimes he isnt. We do the nite time undies and just try not to stress too much. He is tired of wearing them so we have tried the no drink 2hrs b4 bed(works some times)and waking him up b4 i go to bed but he is such a heavy sleeper(which is the main problem)i cant get him or if i do he is to sleepy to do anything. So good luck and let me know if u find something that works.

Hi. I too had a bed wetter and on very rare occasions still do and my child is 10 years old! Here are few things to consider: some juices tend to cause constant urinating (apple juice) so check that first; second don't give liquid an hour before bedtime; third, did your child watch a movie, read or experience something happen that day that scared him/her - that causes my child to do have an accident; fourth, some children, like mine, are heavy sleepers and what I have read is that their receptors take a little while to learn to react when they these kind of heavy sleepers but they do tend to outgrow it - spouse bed wet rarely until 15 years of age, the article I read said there is medication and stuff you can give but we didn't go that route, we opted for putting a plastic cover over the mattress and making our child assist in washing their bed linens. Boy let me tell you no one likes washing a smelling bed linen. My advice - your child doesn't like it either so don't get upset just get them to help with the wash - unless it's a medical condition due to infection or small bladder, it will pass with time.

my 8 year old daughter still wets the bed. it used to be quite frequently but now its down to maybe once a week or twice. i just put a water proof cover under her sheet. i dont think there is really anything we can do except limit their drinking in the evenings and wait for them to outgrow it. unless maybe your child has urinary tract infections or urinary reflux that may make them go more often. i think making them wear those overnight diapers would probably be a bit embarrasing especially if they have siblings who dont wet the bed. good luck! they will probably outgrow it soon :)