Need Advice: Bedwetting 4 yr old

[hiddenj]

This is going to sound completely wierd, but try a protein snack just before bed. A friend of mine was having this problem with her daughter and someone suggested that many bedwetters have blood sugar that drops really low while they sleep, so it puts them into a deeper sleep and they won't wake up when the need to go. She starting giving her dd a slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter before bed and she stopped wetting the bed. It may not work, but it won't hurt anything to try.

 

[linda0706]

My DD7 is just outgrowing bedwetting. She's dry...oh...around 5 out of 7 nights.

One thing we recently started doing is she wears panties to bed but wears a pullup (Goodnight) over them. Not only does it help her feel less like a "baby" plus protect the bed, but if she stays dry overnight we reuse the pullup the next night since it's still clean. Cuts down on the cost too! (for all us budget-board readers...)

 

[BMNABrinx]

We experienced the same thing except that our DD had to be medicated to help her stop. The Dr. said sometimes the body just doesn't communicate. It is a medical condition. Be patient. It will work itself out in it's own time.

 

[zoemurr]

and is wet 1 of every 3/4 nights.. so he is still in a pull up.

We used to make a big deal about it when he had a dry morning. Then one day he looked at us with this grown up expression and said, "You know I can't help it, don't you?"

We just talked with our Dr. last week. He said to not even try until he has 5-6 dry nights in a row. He said we can try all sorts of things, but we will all be frustrated and lose sleep. My DH was a bedwetter and I think it is horrible and embarrassing. A pull-up saves them from that (and me from having to change the bed at 3am)

I think there are a lot more kids than you would suspect, because no one likes to talk about it. My Dr. said almost all kids outgrow it by 12(!) most quite a bit sooner. There are so many other things to stress about when you have kids.. I wouldn't stress over this one.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I have never met a grown adult who needed to wear a pull up over night.

Then what are 'Depends Overnights' for?
Seriously, we come into this world wetting our beds overnight, and end up the same way...I recently lost an older dog who went through the same thing, so your post got me thinking...I was buying "puppy pads' for her at the pet sore and the package said, "for any stage of your dog's life" right on the front ....

 

[kbuckley]

This is going to sound completely wierd, but try a protein snack just before bed. A friend of mine was having this problem with her daughter and someone suggested that many bedwetters have blood sugar that drops really low while they sleep, so it puts them into a deeper sleep and they won't wake up when the need to go. She starting giving her dd a slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter before bed and she stopped wetting the bed. It may not work, but it won't hurt anything to try.

Actually makes some sense. I may try that with my ds 6. He wets the beds every once in a while and I know he can't help it. He falls into a deep sleep and just can't wake himself up. Sometimes he'll wake up when he's starting and run to the bathroom. I'm glad I read this thread--I feel a lot better.

 

[SplashMountainMama]

Perhaps things are different in the UK but I am a nursery nurse in a school and I don’t know any of my children aged 5+ that wear pull ups to bed.

Just curious how you would know this for a fact? Even if you asked the kids or their parents who's to say they would tell you the truth? I'm a teacher and I can't imagine asking my students if they still wet the bed. It seems like something that is none of your business, IMO. Perhaps, as you say, things are different in the UK.

 

[JoyG]

One of my twins still wets the bed. He'll be 7 next month and until last month, he wet every single night. Lately, he's only been wetting 1-2 times a week. But we have to wake him up in the middle of the night around midnight in order for him to stay dry. Luckily for us, dh is a nightowl and usually up at that time. Otherwise, DS would be wet every night still.

My youngest also wets every night and he's 4.

 

[teresajoy]

Trust me, at 4, bed wetting really is not unusual! My 4 year old wears "side closing panties" to bed. She hates pullups, any kind, because they are scratchy. Feel them, they are! So, now we buy the size 6 ok, they are diapers, but we call them side closing panties so she won't feel like a baby, they are more comfortable, and about half the price!

And, it is not unusual for teenagers to still wet the bed either. It often runs in families. So, relax, buy more pullups, or side closing panties, and just wait it out. The most important thing to remember is that neither you nor your child is doing anything wrong.

 

[all4fun]

Thanks to everyone and your advice. I will put her back in pullups. Actually, the other day she said I don't want to wear them when we were talking about it. I'll just explain to her that we'll use them until she really doesn't need them anymore. We have a vacation coming up soon, so this will definately put my mind at ease. I figured she just must not be quite ready even though she does have some dry nights. And I have to remember not to compare what older dd did to how she does. Thanks again your input has really put my mind at ease.

Don't feel bad. My ds is four and is just now getting daytime potty trained. He still wakes up with a wet diaper on most mornings so I know it will probably be a while before he's night time trained. I'm just glad he's finally going on the potty at all!

 

[disneymom06]

The Good Nights are great for kids. My 5 yr old wears them and I could care less. My 8 yr old just stopped a couple of months ago. The embarrassment for a child is a heavy burden,at any age, who wants to wake in a wet bed. They eventually grow out of it. Take the pressure off of yourself and your child, it will come with time.

 

[lunalibre]

My DS was 9 before he was truly reliable at night. However, we knew to expect this. DH was 9 (maybe 10) before he could do it, BIL was 9, my nephew was 9... you get the idea. My pediatrician was horrified when DS wasn't night trained at 6 and wanted to do all sorts of testing (!!!), but we flat-out refused. DS sleeps like the dead (can be out cold within 30 seconds of laying down!) and honestly just couldn't wake up to go. Why would I stress the kid out over something he couldn't control? DD7 has been reliable for several months now, but we still take pullups when we're away from home.

Yes, the whole bedwetting thing is a ROYAL PAIN. Lots of extra laundry, we would wake the kids up to go in the middle of the night (or try to -- they were such sound sleepers they couldn't always wake up) -- but remember:

THIS TOO SHALL PASS!!!

 

[slmcn66]

This is going to sound completely wierd, but try a protein snack just before bed. A friend of mine was having this problem with her daughter and someone suggested that many bedwetters have blood sugar that drops really low while they sleep, so it puts them into a deeper sleep and they won't wake up when the need to go. She starting giving her dd a slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter before bed and she stopped wetting the bed. It may not work, but it won't hurt anything to try.

That is a great idea. I know my son's blood sugar runs low and we have to constantly prod him to eat @ 2-2 1/2 hour intervals. Never thought about the overnight issues and how they might relate to bed wetting. He is ten and while it has improved it can still be an issue. He no longer wants to wear Goodnights and Iworry about his self-esteem. I am going to give the protein before bed a try. Thanks!

 

[kjetjl]

I have six kids. We spent a small fortune on some bed wetting program for our oldest and he did eventually stop wetting the bed around 8-9 years old. We didn't have the money for my DD and guess what? she stopped wetting the bed around the same age. We did nothing but let her know she shouldn't be ashamed and she would eventually stop or we would go see a dr. Our third, DD8 is still using Goodnights. It bothers her a little but we just talk about it. She tries every once in while to go a few nights without them, but has decided to wear them again because she doesn't like waking up wet at night.
The strange thing is DS7 has never wet the bed pretty much from the day he was potty trained during the day at age 3. It bothers the older ones a little but I just continue to tell them there is nothing to be ashamed about.

Funny story, when my oldest DD was about 7 she was out playing and a boy was making fun of another boy saying, "he wears pull-ups at night." My DD replies, "So what? so do I." I asked her what the boy who was doing the teasing said, and she replied, "he said, oh" and they went on playing.

This is just my opinion, but if you talk about it honestly with the kids and let them know there is nothing to be ashamed about, they will eventually outgrow it and not have issues with it. If you are stressed out about it, your child will be stressed out too.
Good luck!

 

[bellebud]

My ds will be 6yo next week, and he still wears pull-ups to bed (good nights actually - they catch more pee). He has had the daytime ability to hold his urine since 18 months old (but he officially trained at 3.75yo... that has to be the longest 'potty training period' on record! (funny now, but at the time for me it was more like and (that's me asking everyone and anyone i could for tips, advice, etc). But it came in time, just like the doctor said it would. Oh, and some of the advice i got was unbelievable - someone said to spank him at 3yo for wetting his pants

He went for months once around 4yo without wetting overnight, then started wetting again once a week or so. We family-bed, so good-nights are the way to go for me till he doesn't wet for about a year. If he was in his own little bed and I could triple-sheet it with the waterproof pads inbetween, i might do that, but only if he wanted to try. I'm not worried about it at all (it's so nice to finally be in this place of not worrying... took me a while!)

So i'd say at 4yo, definitely don't worry and put on the good-nights.

OH, and we re-use the goodnights till he pees, or they're too stretched out to 'work', which usually takes 5 nights or so. They don't get yucky by him just sleeping in them if he's dry.

 

[MontyMontyMOnty]

I wouldn't worry, but just in case, have you ruled out a UTI or other minor health issue? sometimes with kids, you can't tell they have one unless you get it checked out.
If this was sudden onset, it may have a physical cause.

 

[MinnieMouse73]

Perhaps things are different in the UK

I can't imagine that they could be really, could they?? I'm sure that everywhere there are some kids who are dry at night really early, some who are during the 'peak period' (whatever age that may be!) and some who are a lot later.

My daughter (in the UK) stopped wearing pull-ups at night just at about age 4 1/2. Several of her friends were earlier, and a couple (at age 5 1/2 - 6) are still wearing pull-ups.

 

[jamesmommy]

Just another thought. If any of your children are on meds, this could be the culprit as well. I wet the bed for years, and finally (age 9), a doctor made the correlation between the allergy meds I was on (a few over the years) and the bedwetting. After my meds were changed, I didn't wet the bed again. My mom asked every doctor who ever treated me, Dad was military, so it was many, and before then, no one figured it out.

And to those of you saying you don't know older kids who wet the bed, rest assured that people just aren't telling you. I only had one friend I ever spent the night with until I was quite old (around 12). Her mother was the only "outsider" ever let in on the situation. My friend never even knew

 

[tammy1210]

I know you've already gotten a lot of great responses, but just wanted to say I know how you feel - and it was so frustrating for us. DS' ped also said that she wouldn't recommend trying anything until he was 6, but we did do one of those bedwetting alarms - scared him to death! He was afraid it was going to shock him or something - I just couldn't do it to him. He would not wear pull-ups after he turned 4 - so we had a lot of wet sheets and always keep pads down under him - it was such a relief when he finally grew out of it - btw, he was 5 yrs 3 months - the month he started K! Good luck!

 

[Drivercan]

My neighbour's daughter was 5 and still wetting the bed. Her very thorough Dr. sent her for an ultrasound on her kidneys and everything was fine. By age 6 she stopped wetting the bed and her Grandma bought her Princess bedding!!