Seeking Hints to Stop Bed Wetting

My son will be 8 in April and still cannot make it through most nights dry. Every year I bring it up with my pediatrician and every year he tells me not to worry about it that it will stop and for now just to have him wear pullups at night. My sister who has taught elementary schools also says this is not uncommon and that I shouldn't worry. And, lastly, a friend's daughter wore pullups until she was 9 I think. So, we're just waiting until it stops. I have noticed that lately he seems to be having more dry nights, so maybe an end is in sight.

C.

I was a bed wetter until 9 or 10 :( I still cringe when I think about how awful I felt in the mornings when I woke up wet. It is hereditary... my father and my nephew had the problem. It's the secretion of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) that is immature. Naturally at night our brains secrete ADH and we don't make as much urine - our bladder doesn't fill. Hers does. It is not just holding the urine for these kids. It's a physiologic issue. Use the good nights and positive reinforcement for the occasional dry nights. I really feel for your little one. You could also wake her up to pee in the middle of the night. Remember she will grow out of it. Hopefully, with your support, she won't feel so terrible about her "problem". Her brain just hasn't developed that way yet.

I am a 39yr old mother and RN.

My 6 year old does this too. It was actually recommended to us by his Dr. to NOT wake him in the night because the negative effects of sleep deprivation out weigh that of wetting the bed. He explained to us that it is probably an immaturity in his "anti diuretic hormone production" and this will improve with age.

Don't make a big deal over it, it does pass in time.
We had 2 kids in the family who did this and when we made them responsable for changing the sheets and bringing every thing to the laundry, it stoped.

My daughter had the same problem. A few months ago, she was invited to her first sleepover (she's 6). She was too embarrassed to go and it broke my heart. I started to do some research at that point, and found out about the Malem Bedwetting Alarm, which we got through amazon.com. It's not cheap, but it has worked MIRACLES, and certainly paid for itself after we stopped buying Goodnights. Within the first week she was dry all night -and sleeping all night! It takes a while - 8-12 weeks to fully train, but she hasn't had an accident in over a month, and is now fully weaned from the alarm. She's so proud of herself, and it's been a joy to see. Though I understand she may have grown out of it, I didn't want her to feel like options like summer camp, sleepovers etc weren't possible for her because she was too ashamed. She'd NEVER had a dry night beforehand, though she was potty trained by 2 1/2. Now she wears her underwear to bed and it's a whole new world for us. Do check it out -and good luck!

Hello....I worked in a pediatric urology office for several years. The physician would instruct parents to stop liquids after about 6-7 pm. He also instructed the parents to totally wake up their child in the middle of the night and have them go to the restroom. Totally waking them up by washing their face, having them use the restroom and then placing them back in bed. After doing this for w while, the child usually stops wetting the bed and gets up to use the restroom. It's alot of work, but it is well worth it. Good Luck

Bed wetting is hereditary. I am a 39 year old mother of three. I was a bedwetter, and so was my grandfather. One of my children is a bedwetter and I have a nephew who is a bedwetter. It is something you have to outgrow. I wet my bed because I slept so deep, I never woke up. I grew out of it at around the age of 11. I had to learn not to sleep so deep. Now I am a very light sleeper. Anyway stopping drinks is fine, but it doesnt really make a difference. I took my child to the DR just to be sure everything was okay and my Mom did the same for me. Both times the Drs said it was something that had to be outgrown. You can buy alarms that wake them up when they start to go, I just resolved myself to washing sheets everday. When they wear those underwear, lots of times they leak through, and you still have to wash the sheets anyway. Also, my child hated wearing them, I think it gave him more of a complex about it. Just dont make him
feel bad about. My mom never said a word about having to wash sheets and I think that helped. She never made me feel bad, but I already had low self esteem because of it.

There is a genetic aspect to it. My mom found that it increases when they are fighting illness, too. My sister was a bed wetter. My other sister and brother were occasional bed wetters (only when they were coming down with something). Anyhow, what helped in our situation was that when Mom went to bed, she would walk my sleeping sister to the bathroom, pull down her pants and sit her on the toilet. Then she would tell her to pee. She would then my Mom would take her back to her bed. My sister (although her eyes would open and she would talk to my mom) never really woke up. But it kept her from wetting the bed and eventually, she started getting up by herself.

My Mom was also a bed wetter when she was growing up. She said it was really hard because she was a really sound sleeper and would dream that she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Me, I wasn't a bed wetter, I was a sleepwalker. The blessing was that I would sleep walk to the bathroom. ;)

Good luck and try to be patient. They have found medically that in some cases the bladder isn't growing as fast as the child and it just takes time for it to catch up. (That is at least what I've heard without the medical jargon.) Hope my Mom's experiences help you out.

My son had the same problem and the pediatrician said it is hereditary. They put him on medicine called DDAVP. (Follow however your Dr prescribes it.) He took one, two, or three of them before bed and it realley helped. It was nice because he was then able to have sleepovers or sleep out withouth the embarrassment of having to put a pullup on.

The child will grow out of it. We have the same issue in our family tree and the child has always grown out of it. The most recent family member to grow out of it was at the age of 9, and she needed lots of protection and support talk from her mother and father. It was trying for her at times, but she is so happy she is out of the sitation. Today there are products such as "push ups" that were a Godsend for all of us. Also, I put on allergy resistent coverings on my mattresses, which are water repellent.

Hang in there!

A little about me:
I am a 60ish yr. old lady that totally loves my family and their children. I, too, am married to a wonderful man, and we love having everyone's kids spend time with us.

I don't have any advice necessarily for you, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I have an almost 6 year old who is in the same boat. We have tried everything too with no luck. I would sure be interested if you come up with any helpful ideas:)

I myself was a bed wetter. Not every night, but often enough to be embarrassed. I did eventually grow out of it. My mom never sought medical care for the issue.

I can tell you from my personal experience, there was ALOT of change going on in my house. So I was under stress.

Is there any major change that has occured in your home?

Is your daughter under any added stress at school?

Hopefully this helps...

You didn't mention and neither did anyone else, so I'm just going to throw out what seems obvious. My son wet his bed a lot when he was 4, and my daughter did occasionally too, and while I was a bed wetter, we've stopped it with them right away. The "no drinks after 6" is good, but we also incorporated that the kids have to go potty right before getting into bed. It's a question we still ask every night "did you brush your teeth?/did you pee?" If they even once forget to pee before bed, they have an accident....we can predict it! Now, we don't have that problem anymore and the kids take care of pee before bed on their own. They can learn to relieve whatever is in their bladder even if they don't FEEL that they have to go. It works for going out of the house and avoiding public restrooms too. They use the bathroom before we get in the car. It's a pleasure.

Bedwetting can be hereditary, but my understanding from your parents. Contact your child's PCP. There are bedwetting alarms (sometimes covered by insurance) you can purchase and a bunch of other tricks your PCP should be abrest of. Good luck.

It is a huge pain I understand my 2 middle children have both done the same thing. For us I know it is hereditary as both myself and my father wet the bed until 12. Twelve seems to be the magic number because that is when puberty sets in and apparantly that seems to be the cure. You can also try chirpractic adjustments. That helped my son as well. My dd wet until she was about 8.5 then suddenly stopped. My son never wet until he hit about age 4-5yrs old than it was constantly even multiple times. It has to do with their sleep patterns. They sleep so heavily that they can't wake up to go. He is 6.5yrs old now and hasn't been wetting as frequently.
hth
V.

I used to wet my bed when I was around that age (maybe older). At the time I lived in Holland. Anyway, my parents talked to the doctor and he suggested I use this big bulky underwear that was hooked up to a machine at night. As soon as the underwear got a little bit wet a really loud beeping would go off to wake me up - that was my cue to go to the bathroom. It definetly helped me out because about 3 - 4 weeks after sleeping with this thing I stopped wetting the underwear. I remember seeing something similar to that a few months ago at one of the stores here (wish I could remember which one). I would check out Babies 'R' Us or something similar to that to see if you can find anything.

My son was also a bedwetter. When he was younger he would wet right through the pullup at night. No little tricks we tried would help, he slept right through and was getting awful rashes. Our doctor refered us to a specialist who put him on medicine. He was on Imiprimine and DDAVP spray for years. We would try taking him off one or the other after a time and it seemed he needed both. He is almost 16 now and has been off the medicine, but only for a couple of years.

Hi I have the same problem with my daughter who just turned 6 too. My doctor had told me to call him after she turned 6 and to bring her in. I think there is something they can take to help them but I haven;t gone yet but not sure. I use the goodnights to because getting up everynight did become overwhelming. I just wanted you to know that you guys aren't alone on this matter. May we all fugure this one out good luck!! R. C.

Hi Crystal,

You can certainly mention this to your pediatrician, but it is completely normal for her to wet the bed. Some kids do, and some kids don't, and yes it is hereditary. My 10-year old still wears GoodNites to bed! We just don't make a big deal about it....he wears shorts over them so no one sees them and is responsible for discreetly throwing them away each morning. He's not bothered by it; he knows that Daddy and Grandpa both wet the bed until they were teenagers and that he WILL grow out of it. In fact, it has decreased with time.

I would say continue with the GoodNites and don't make a big deal about it. If it's really bothering her (not just you), maybe talk to the pediatrician cuz there are medications out there to help stop this, but I personally wouldn't medicate my child for bedwetting when it can be handled discreetly.

Good luck!

I too had the same problem as a child. I wet the bed until I was 15 years old and then it just stopped. I had doctored for the problem and when nothing else worked the Dr. said it was caused by a weak muscle near the bladder and in time I may or may not outgrow it. I am soooooo glad I did outgrow it. Be patient and don't make a big thing of it. He or she is probably not aware of it until after it happens. I wasn't and no amout of punishment will help.

I have read that B-Complex deficiency's can be associated with bed wetting. Also while it can be associated with genetics and psychological factors a child's food sensitivity or allergy may also play a role. Pediatrician Lendon Smith has estimated that reactions to such foods as milk, citrus fruits, chocolate, and sugar contribute to the problem in as many as one tenth of all bed-wetting children. Stress can put demands on the child's psychological defenses limiting the nervous system's capacity to learn new skills, which may be why B's probably play a role. I have read that on rare occasions infection or structural abnormality of the urinary tract is responsible for bed-wetting. The primary treatment for bed-wetting is "tincture of time", allowing the child to learn to control his bladder at his own pace. Helpful factors include providing a secure, guilt-free, loving home environment. Encourage his efforts to stay dry at night, just as you would encourage his efforts to draw or to ride a bicycle. You might also try gentle suggestions that allow his subconscious mind to associate unrinating with being out of bed. For instance, every time he urinates, have him say something like, "My feet are on the floor. Now I'm going to the bathroom". These are just a few suggestions. I do promote homeopathic care as a good resource for care. I myself have had only positive experiences through referrals. My Best. Mary

My daughter will be six next month has problems wetting the bed. I don't know if it's a developmental thing or them being sound sleepers or what, it is really frustrating though! The only thing that seems to work for me is making her use the bathroom before bedtime. Then when I go to bed I wake her up and make her use the bathroom. If I don't wake her up, 9 times out of 10 she'll wet the bed.

Years ago, I got a buzzer from the pediatrician which set off a small buzz in the child's ear whenever it got wet. Believe it or not, it worked! Don't know if they still have them or not, but would be worth a try. I also tried an all natural bed wetting tablet which worked with another child. It is sometimes a process of eliminating what doesn't work with a particular child till you find what does. I also found that two of my kids had problems in this area any time they drank pop. They outgrew this, but we eliminated pop when they were younger and it was also a help. Hope you find the answer for you little one. I know how frustrating and time consuming this problem can be.
Blessings,
Trudy