Embarassing problem in reguards to 9 yr.old ds--urologists out there?

[aimlyles]

My DS is 8 and still wetting. Occassionally he'll wake up dry but it's never been for more than 2 days in a row. He's a big 8 year old and starting to outgrown the XL Goodnights so I'm hoping he grows out of it soon.

Luckily his best friend who is a year older also still wears goodnights, he's only been to one sleepover, a group party of boys in his class and he was able to hid it. At least nobody said anything, that's my main concern, someone knowing and telling everyone else...kids can be cruel sometimes.

 

[TinkRN]

We used the Malam alarm for my 8 year old. It took about two weeks. He hasn't had an accident in about a year.

 

[8esther8]

We have a strong family history, too. My DH wet the bed; his uncle wet the bed until 18. My oldest son stopped at 8, the middle stopped at 10, my youngest is 13 and still wetting the bed pretty much every night. I may have to look into that Malem alarm. We have a vinyl mattress cover on the bed the completely encases the mattress with a zipper. They are cheap; I got mine at Walmart.

 

[IDoDis]

DS was 10 when he stopped wetting (just this last summer).

We tried everything -- waking him up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, an alarm that went off at the first tinge of wetness, prescribed pills, and paying him money for each dry night. Nothing worked. The pills were only for sleepovers. We tried them at home first. Took one pill and it didn't work. Gave him 2 pills and still no luck. His pediatrician said to try 3 pills but nothing more. Even the three pills had no effect. He slept through the alarm and by the time he woke, he was already soaked. We even had an ultrasound done on his bladder to see if he was eliminating everything properly after using the toilet.

As DS got older and invited to more sleepovers, he was really wanting to stop the wetting. We would not let him go to the sleepovers once he turned 8 because if anyone found out, he'd get relentlessly teased (except for his BFF who already knew). Sometimes the Goodnights leaked and we couldn't risk that. He missed many slumber parties, including a camp-out birthday party, and a huge sleepover with his football team. We did let him have friends sleep over at our house though, because we could hide the evidence (a wet Goodnight) a lot easier.

Just at the end of summer, the wetting finally stopped. One day he was dry. Then the next, and then the next. After the 3rd night, he said, "Mom, I don't need the Goodnights anymore. I know how to control it now that I've done it." He also said, "I'm finally a normal kid."

I felt bad that he had to suffer through that.

 

[brandip22]

I have a 7 yo ds whom I have been concerned about with the bedwetting as well. I'm glad to see others with the same problem. I am just hoping he'll grow out of it soon. His Dr said he also just sleeps too soundly and his body isn't capable of waking him yet. I didn't want to put him on meds at this point.

 

[kim929]

My dd had this same problem. We tried the alarm, she burnt out 2 of them. Her Dr was not concerned at all, she as pp said they would out grow it. She did but she was around 14. She is almost 17 and once in a great while will still have an accident. My cousin who is a lot older then my dd laughs and says she still does every once a great moon.

 

[SGMCO]

I think that the bed wetting occurs because their body is growing
faster than their blatter, once the blatter catches up then they
can control it better. More bed wetting seems to happen during the
growth spurts. That is what I remember when my DS was 9--11yrs.
Then he finally stopped.

 

[pigletto]

My dd had this issue until she was about 10. It got better over the years, until in the end it was only when she was sick with a high fever.

We saw several specialists and my mom is an MD.
They will not operate for this type of issue or consider it a major problem until about 11 or 12. Usually it will correct itself by 10 or so. The only major medical concern is reflux.. which was not the problem in my dd's case.

In her case it was directly related to constipation. I know.. sounds weird. But apparently the bowels being backed up pushed on her bladder and made her have less control. This combined with a bladder that didn't grow at the same rate as the rest of her was a problem.
The specialist said to check for "skid marks" in her underwear. I know.. that is way too much info.. but it is an indication of constipation.

He had us do a few things. Correct the constipation. Lots of fruits and veggies and good fiber and water.

No drinks after 6. If she was really thirsty, a few sips, but not a giant drink.

And he had us retrain the bladder. Set an egg timer for every hour or so and have them try to pee.

I tell you .. it worked like an absolute charm. The only time we had an issue is if she had a week where she ate poorly (fast food no veggies e.t.c) or if she was really ill.

The specialist I saw had 2 kids of his own with the same issue.
His advice absolutely corrected the problem.
She is now 13 years old and has been accident free for years.

 

[angwill]

My DB wet at night till he was 15 or 16 and then he just stopped. He did not do sleep overs and just explained that his parents didn't allow them and that was true because none of us kids were allowed sleep overs. For the school sleep over trips not all the kids go anyway so he was just one of them.

As for pads either use the disposable dog pads or Dr. Leonards has a cloth one with a waterproof back on it that is fairly large and inexpensive. They are the same chucks they use in hospitals and nursing homes. I suppose a medical supply store would sell them also.

HTH

 

[Stitch76]

I had this problem with my DD.
I was very concerned and spoke to her doctor about it on more than one occasion. She assured me that this was more common than I would believe, people just didn't talk about it. She said that her bladder just wasn't keeping up with the growth of her body, and that it would catch up eventually, and this would be over. She said most kids outgrow this problem by age 8, but some it takes well into their early teens (puberty). She said that the worse thing I could do, was stress over it, because DD would sense my stress, hence causing her more stress. So, we just kinda dropped the issue.
I did follow some advise her doctor had to offer, and took away anything to drink after 6pm. If she gets thirsty after that, she is allowed to suck on ice chips only.
Right after DD's 10th B-day, she started staying dry more and more (always wore overnights). So when she got to the point that she was managing to stay dry for about 5 nights a week. We took the overnights away, I was afraid that this may be part of the problem. I was potty training my DS (3), and noticed that when he napped with undies on, and had an accident, it woke him immediately, when he had on a pull-up he slept on through. I wondered if this would work with DD. I laid out fresh pjs, sheets, and blankets, beside her bed, in case she had an accident. She only had to use them about 3 times in a 3 week period. Actually getting wet, when she urinated woke her up, where it did not when she wore the overnights. She pretty much retrained her body, and in about a months time, was almost accident free.
She still has an accident every now and then (about once every 2-3 months), but it's usually when I haven't realized the time, and allowed her to drink something too close to bed time.
Your child will outgrow it, it's only a matter of time. I hope I have helped.

 

[dawson5]

We had two issues, neither were genetically handed down like some of the pp's. Oldest had desensitized his bladder. Doctor said the fix was retraining him. The youngest was the deep sleeper that I could not wake up. Sometimes he would fall asleep at 6pm (before dinner even) and we could not wake him up, he would sleep until 10am. He snored also, very loud snores. We could hear him from our bedroom (downstairs) and he was upstairs, we could also hear him stop breathing. His problems were related to large adenoids. He was 6 when we had them taken out, haven't had a problem since. It was like having a different child after that.

 

[bucket o' butter]

My nine year old still wets the bed due to being in such a deep sleep. Does anyone have any experience with this or what to do? I try to wake him up to use the bathroom before I go to bed also--sometimes I can get him to go, other times not.

My son wet the bed until he was 12. When he was four, I was very concerned. (First child and everything), but the doctor said not to worry about it. When he was six, the doctor did send us to a urologist just to make sure everything was okay. The urologist wasn't concerned. When ds was 8, we went back to the urolgoist because it was getting to be a social issue. He gave us some meds to try, but they didn't work. Again, I was the one who was concerned, not the doctor. He said ds would outgrow it "soon". We also tried the "pee alarm", but that didn't work. Just woke up everybody in the house except for ds!!! He finally outgrew it at age 12. I was very thankful. Just give it time! When he spent the night places, I just talked to the mother and explained the situation. He was allowed to discreetly go to the bathroom to put on a pull-up. He probably didn't spend the night places as much as other kids, but I don't think it has affected his social life too much. All I can say is be patient!

 

[Wendaeh]

WOW - What a timely thread for me. I just 30 seconds ago, ordered a Malem alarm for my ds7 from Amazon.com.

I mentioned to my ds a few months ago that I had 'a friend' who has an '8 year old little boy' who wet the bed and tried an alarm and it worked for them. This, of course, was not really anyone I knew but it was the way I broached it with him to see if he would freak about having it on him. He did NOT want it at first...So I said 'ok'. THen last week he brought it up. He gets rashes sometimes from his pullups and I asked if the rash was bothering him. Well, the next day he said 'can we buy that thing to try to get it to stop?'. Then he brought it up again. SO, I bit the bullet and am trying the alarm. I will subscribe to this thread and write again once we have tried it. We should get it in a few days...so maybe we'll try it this weekend for the first time. Based on reviews I've read - they say to follow the instructions VERY SPECIFICALLY. I plan to! I just hope he stays motivated to try it.

We used the Malem alarm for my daughter -- the KEY is to use it very specifically -- YOU need to get them up when the alarm sounds since they will most likely sleep through it the first few nights. The reason it doesn't work for some kids is often because the parents expect the kids to wake up to the alarm themselves right off the bat. Plan to start over a weekend when you can miss a little sleep, or a school break. If I remember correctly, the first few nights I was up three times with my daughter since she slept through the alarm, then it dropped off dramatically after that, and she was "cured" within 10 days. Our Dr Also said not to worry, but the sense of mastery and pride she got from being able to stay dry was worth the effort. Good luck to you!

 

[left210]

I dont mean to alarm anyone but bedwetting can be linked to sleep apnea and/or sleep disorders. I realize for most of your children it is probably just something they need to outgrow but you might want to research sleep disorders to see if your child has any of the other symptoms and talk with your pediatrician. I only mention this because my DS9 had a sleep study done a year ago for other concerns (not bedwetting) but when I was researching it I found that bedwetting was associated with sleep apnea. He wet the bed until he was 6. He was not diagnosed with sleep apnea but with another sleep disorder called periodic limb movement disorder related to an iron deficiency.

 

[peanut12392]

DD had this problem, and the Pediatritian wasn't concerned, but it was very hard socially for her. We tried an alarm with sound, and it woke up everybody in the house but her. We then bought a vibrating alarm, and it worked very quickly. After about 2 weeks, it never happened again.

 

[mrsgus06]

my son was on ddavp. it is both a nose spray or a pill. both worked for him. it has been a while (he will be 24 soon) but i think the dr explained it to me along the lines of it doesn't let him go into such a deep sleep and he can wake himself up to go to the restroom at night. I remember before he started the medicine I would wake him up every night before i went to bed and he would go then but ALWAYS had to take something from the bathroom back to the bed with him. He loved waking up to find he slept on a tooth paste tube and a hair brush!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I'm an upper cervical chiropractor and have helped many older kids with bedwetting issues. It helps the nervous system which controls the bladder. It helps a lot of other things too.
Here's a link.

 

[Pigeon]

My ds was 8 when he finally stopped. The Malem Alarms are wonderful! We got the one that vibrated and made noise. The vibration was enough to wake him without the noise. It only took 2 weeks, but we left it on for 5 or 6 weeks. Good Luck!

My 6 yo dd wet the bed every single night of her life. We finally tried a Malem alarm, and she was dry within a couple of weeks. She was so happy about it. She wanted to know why we hadn't done it earlier.

It's worth a try.

 

[tmccullough]

My DD9 stopped when she was about 9 1/2. It was frustrating but when she finally stopped, she never did again so it must be something developmental. HTH!

 

[mjkacmom]

Ds11 and ds7 have this issue. Both had to use the alarm, which worked for the nightly issues. However, I'd guess that they still wet the bed about 3 times a month, usually when they are over-tired. They are both very heavy sleepers. I'm hoping puberty is the answer for them!