Experiences with older kids bedwetting

[Tiffylv]

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[Cantw8]

I don't have any experience to draw on but sounds to me (from what I have read over the years) that something may be bothering him. School? Bully? Anxiety? Family situation? Talk to him and see if anything is bothering him. Ease in to the conversation, don't just start firing questions at him or he will likely shut down. Hope this helps

 

[Tiffylv]

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[MickeySP]

My DS had this problem His Dr should do a hormone level check. My DS son lacked ADH at the right levels. It can be corrected with meds. Also DS grew out of it when puberty hit.

Google Enuresis. Very very common.

 

[BearFamily]

We've dealt with this on and off with our similarly aged child. Constipation is another MAJOR cause - there's lots of info out there on that, too. (Google!) That's what seems to be causing the problems for DD - she will go for a few months perfectly fine then have two or three accidents in the course of a couple of days - Miralax for a couple days (doctor's orders) and she's back on track again.

 

[DebbieB]

Did he have bloodwork done? Bed wetting can be a sign of diabetes. My niece had some accidents right before she was diagnosed.

 

[sonnyjane]

My sister had issues. She was still wetting well into middle school! She got a prescription from the doc and also had a strict cutoff time as to when to stop drinking fluids before bed. Her doc believed she was just an incredibly heavy sleeper and that her body would NOT wake up when she needed to use the bathroom.

 

[IDoDis]

Bedwetting is not a major concern even at your DS's age except for you having to deal with the clean-up and no sleep-overs for your DS. However, I do give pause to him wetting only an hour after he had just used the bathroom. Does he go to the restroom every 30 minutes or hour when he's awake? Start counting and ask his teacher to monitor his bathroom breaks. You don't have to tell her about the night time issues -- just let her know he's been going more frequently at home and you want to know if it's happening at school). If it's not happening in the daytime, then it is most likely something he will outgrow. My DS was a bedwetter until he was 10, but usually he'd wet after hours of dryness, like after 3am or right before waking up in the morning. One day it just stopped and it was never a problem again.

I'd talk to his doctor again and let him/her know about him wetting an hour after going to bed, but gather some data about daytime restroom usage first.

 

[Minniesgal]

I have two boys and this is normal with boys.

This is the age where there emotions start to kick in. They get pretty vulnerable at this age. One of mine had nightmares the other walked in his sleep both had accidents. It seemed that the accidents coincided with the nightmares. It is part of them growing emotionally and becoming aware of the more negative things about life that we protect them from when they are very little. My older boy had nightmares about something happening to his little brother that he couldn't fix.

This is normal, needs patience and understanding isn't usually physical so limiting drinks etc wont help. It is just a phase you have to go through. They grow out of it eventually.

My younger one is now 12 and even at 12 if a major life event happens he can have a couple of bad nights before he settles down.

 

[Tiffylv]

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[Bianca and Bernard]

My sister had issues. She was still wetting well into middle school! She got a prescription from the doc and also had a strict cutoff time as to when to stop drinking fluids before bed. Her doc believed she was just an incredibly heavy sleeper and that her body would NOT wake up when she needed to use the bathroom.

DS(12) is like this. He just doesn't wake up for anything!

We've found cutting off fluids/food 2 hours before bedtime, and 2 potty breaks (30 minutes before bed, then right before), help cut down on the accidents. He'd down to every 6 weeks or so, as long as he does what he's supposed to.

Now, being as he's in puberty, we have other issues, but that's for another board...

 

[indimom]

I would take them back to the doctor and insist on a full checkup. I worked in early childhood development for 16 years, It's uncommon for a child who was staying dry in the night for years to suddenly begin bed wetting again. I've seen UTIs and constipation cause changes like this, diabetes should definitely be ruled out; but, I also know of one child who had a neurological condition that started with bedwetting.
In the meantime, keep a notebook and try to note frequency of both urination and BMs during the day and night, eating/drinking habits, maybe check in a couple times and night and see how he's sleeping, make note of any other subtle changes.
Good Luck and I hope you get to the bottom of it quickly.

 

[Dawnlight]

My turned 8 earlier this month and has been wetting the bed all of a sudden. Since he was 3 he's had only very occasional night time accidents. He does tend to have far more daytime accidents, he has ADHD and doesn't always slow down enough to pay attention to his bladder and get to the bathroom on time. Night time has not been an issue though.

In the past month and a half or so he's probably had close to 20 accidents. When it first started he had 3 in a week and I took him to the doctor thinking he had a UTI but he did not. Doctor did not seem too concerned. I've followed all the advice....limiting fluids before bed, limiting salt, having him go before bed, waking him up in the night to go, etc. and nothing has worked. He also isn't snoring or anything that would look like sleep apnea or any of the thirst, fatigue, etc. that would point to diabetes.

I was trying not to rush back to the doctor but my kid just went to the bathroom then right to bed just over an hour ago and already had an accident. I'm getting worried because this isn't him. Interested in hearing from parents who have been through this before (preferably when nothing ended up being wrong with your kid haha). Thanks!

Waking him in the night is not sound advice; I would avoid that and seek other alternatives. Also, it would be better to go to a pediatric urologist that specializes in this instead of a family doctor or pediatrician. If the matter continues the doctor can prescribe desmopressin (DDAVP) to help.

Look into the enuresis alarms; it may work well if your son is not a super heavy sleeper.

We've dealt with this on and off with our similarly aged child. Constipation is another MAJOR cause - there's lots of info out there on that, too. (Google!) That's what seems to be causing the problems for DD - she will go for a few months perfectly fine then have two or three accidents in the course of a couple of days - Miralax for a couple days (doctor's orders) and she's back on track again.

Yes, constipation is a huge factor in bed-wetting. Also, not drinking enough water (which can cause constipation). Many parents try to limit fluids, but that might make matters worse.

OP, it also could be sleep-related issues. One of my boys will sleep through the enuresis alarm going off, full blast right next to his ear; I can hear it from the next floor of the house, but he sleeps soundly through it.

 

[threeboysmom]

I have 3 adult sons, 2 of which were bedwetters (they'd kill me if they knew I was posting this, lol). Does your family have a history of bedwetting do you know? I have an uncle that also bedwet into adulthood so thinking it might be genetic?

Anyways... BOTH of my sons wet consistently pretty much on a regular nightly basis no matter what I did. Hate to rain on your parade, but it didn't end until they went through puberty. This seems to be common among boys - something about the process of puberty "fixes" this. Nothing like a grown 15 yo boy still wetting.... it was a test in patience that's for sure! But it ended just as suddenly.... it was right around the 16 yo mark for both of them. Wetting every single night... then boom, never again.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

My son, now 15, had a real issue with bedwetting when he was younger. He'd go stretches where he was fine and then other times have an accident every night. This was up until he was about 8 years old. It was embarrassing for him, as he has a younger brother who never had issues. He'd wear pull-ups and hated those! If he didn't it meant many midnight bed changes. It was just tough.

The doctor said not to worry about it, that it's common in boys that age, but did a workup and couldn't find any physical reasons for it. So we tried the alarm. We picked a school vacation week so he'd have a full week to work on it. It wasn't fun for either of us having that thing go off in the middle of the night. But we did it. After the third night, he asked if he could try without the alarm. It was the same discussion we'd had many, many times about "trying it without the pull-ups". I gave in and let him give it a shot. He NEVER wet the bed again! I don't know what happened, but those three nights with the alarm were all it took. Now, I know that's probably an unusual result. But I would totally suggest the alarm to anyone who's looking for a solution.

 

[wilkeliza]

Does your son go to day care while you are at work or show any other signs of issues with caregivers outside of you? It isn't always the biggest thing on people's radar but bed-wetting can be a response to abuse. I only know this from personal issues not from having kids or being a professional but actually being the kid. I would try to talk to him and also rule any of that out before I just let it go as a phase.

 

[dja14]

Please have your child's blood sugar tested. Our son had accident problems and it was the only symptom we saw. He had others but they were more subtle. Until he started rapidly losing weight. Even then the dr ignored it and kept putting me off. We called another dr who asked to see him that day. They walked straight into the room and did a finger prick and his sugar was very, very high. We were very lucky as he was probably sick for quite a few months. The finger prick is so easy I don't know why they don't test kids more often, just to be sure and rule it out.

 

[scoutie]

A lot of kids' brains don't wake them up. My 8 year old dd started doing this for the last year. We've had her blood sugar tested and it was fine (Type One runs in our family, so it was a concern). She just doesn't wake up when she has to go. A bed wetting alarm can help a lot, according to my neighbor who is a nurse and who had similar issues with her son. There are underwear pads you can buy at Target (it looks like regular underwear, but you put in a disposable urine pad), which he can wear in the meantime.

 

[Tiffylv]

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[laughinplace199]

We are having a similar issue with DS8. I was going to wait until Dec (when he has his physical) to mention it to the doctor, but I think I'm going to call tomorrow and ask if they think he should be seen sooner.