OT-advice for bedwetting

[Sydnoahmom]

My DS9 still wets the bed. Any advice? We have tried the basics-no drinks at night, etc. We have an alarm set to go off at midnight right next to his bed and he usually sleeps right through it! Or lately, he gets up then, but is wet when he gets up in the morning. He doesn't want to wear Pull ups any more and I respect that. We have the waterprood matress pad and a smaller pad under his bottom sheet, but boy I am tired of laundry. It really hasn't bothered him too much, but he is getting frustrated. DH is very bothered by it.

I have heard about the potty pager-any one tried it? What about a chiropractor? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. TIA

 

[drivencrazy]

Have you asked your doctor about it? We have a friend (she is 11) and she is still wetting the bed... she has some pills that she can take that help her make it through the night, but they don't always work...

Anyhow, they are now thinking it is partly because of the allergies that she has! They have done some testing and found that she was eating lots of stuff she shouldn't be, wheat and such. So taking that out of her diet might help, they are trying that now!

Best wishes in finding out what will work for you!

 

[teresajoy]

First, check with your pediatrician to rule out any problems, then my best advice is to just wait for them to outgrow it. We tried the alarms, but didn't have any success with them. I know a lot of people do though, so that is something you might want to try. The key to those is that you have to wake the child up, because usually a bedwetter is such a deep sleeper that they will not hear the alarm themselves. We tried the pills too, and they did work, but I really hated giving a pill to my child everyday, and they didn't like it either. So, we stopped. Be patient, be supportive, and have lots of extras sheets.

 

[toystorymom]

We have already solved this problem with one DS and now we are working on it with another.

Last year, our son was 8 and was still wetting the bed, sometimes twice a night. Oh, the laundry! We tried all the things you mentioned but nothing really worked. A friend of mine told me she used the bedwetting alarm with her daughter and it worked. At my son's yearly physical the doctor checked to make sure there was no physical cause of the bedwetting (diabetes, etc). Everything was fine, he then also recommended the alarm. I ordered one from bedwettingstore.com and it was amazing. It really works. It is not an overnight cure, and it still involved a lot of laundry and getting up with him during the night - but it worked. Eventually, we just phased out the alarm and he hasn't wet the bed in about a year.

Now, my younger DS7, always wore Goodnights, and he would wake up with it soaked every morning. He was starting to get upset about them and asked if he could try the alarm. We've been using it for 5 nights and he is doing really well. Most importantly he is proud of himself and wants to stay dry!

Basically, the alarm has a little clip you attach to the underwear, when the child starts to pee, the alarm part (which is attached to the pj top) goes off. Ususally, they will sleep right through it the first few days (but you won't). When it goes off, get him up, take him to the bathroom to finish or pee again, he can get changed if necessary. The child should progress - he will soon stop peeing as soon as the alarm sounds (it starts with just a couple drops) and get himself to the bathroom, and eventually wake before it even goes off. The body is being trained to recognize the signs. This is why waking the child with an alarm clock or before you go to bed rarely works, it is asking him to pee on your schedule, not his body's. FYI, the alarm doesn't shut off until you shut it off, so the child can't easily make it stop and you can't easily ignore it!

Sorry this got so long but I am still amazed at how well this thing works! Good luck, I know it is a frustrating problem for all involved.

 

[mjkacmom]

We used the alarm on ds when he was 7, and on dd when she was 5. It worked totally for dd - never wet again - but ds still wets about once a month, if he's really tired. However, before the alarm, he soaked his pullup every single night. My twins still use pullups, although she is usually dry. Ds5 still wakes up soaked, so we need to alarm him. Just so you know, if you have a medical flex spending account, the alarm can be submitted.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We have tried the chiropractor for my ds7. It hasn't been working after about6 visits. We didn't see any improvement. We are now going to try something else. I will look into the alarm. BTW, I love my chiropractor for other problems. She helps me a lot. She did say it sometimes works for bedwetting, and sometimes not.

 

[Welcome Home]

We used the alarm mentioned above for my DS 6. It took about 2 weeks to see significant results. In the 8 months since we stopped using the alarm he has had 3 accidents. Before the alarm he was leaking through a Goodnights almost every night. I couldn't be happier with the product.

 

[beansmom]

we had the same problem with DD (now 19)...we took her to the doctor and she took those pills each nite...she had no side effects other than she was no longer ashamed OR afraid to have friends over. After a short while, she no longer needed the pills.

Best thing we EVER did for her...her self-esteem soared!

 

[kim929]

we used the alarm with my middle dd 15. She burnt out 3 of them. She can sleep thru anything. The pills have dangerous side effects so her pedi would only give them for when she went on a sleep over. She would not give them for nightly use. There was no medical reason for her wetting the bed, so she kept saying she would out grow it. As she got older the wetting stopped. She on rare occasions will wet the bed, if she is extremely tired, she is such a sound sleeper and that seemed to be her problem. Good luck, it's a tough thing to go thru.

 

[jakoky]

hi there, my son had the same problem. I used to feel so badly for him, he even gave up sleepovers ....he finally outgrew it for good at 13....his problem was that he was way too deep of a sleepover...my dh or i got him up every night when we went to bed, and i am pretty sure he was peeing in his sleep when we got him to the toilet ...anyways, by the time he finally outgrew it, he was just having the odd accident, once in a while, but up until about age 9 or 10, it was more often than not, after that it became less...but i do remember the laundry amount i did well....we started to put a thick blanket on top of his sheets, because around age 9, he would actually start to pee, then wake up sometimes, so he could just pull the blanket off and climb into his clean sheets....easier to wash the blanket then strip the bed, plus it meant he didnt have to wake me and it was a little more private for him)....good luck, they will outgrow it eventually...oh yah, i remember the doc asking if my dh or i were a bedwetter, because if one of the parents are, there is a good chance of having a child that is...unlucky for my son, it was me that had the same issue as him
sharon

 

[ladulce]

My eldest daughter went through this, also, until about a year ago. Here is what our pediatrician said: Childrens' bladders grow concurrent to their age. Therefore, regardless of a child's size (height, weight) the bladder is uniform for that age. So, at 9, my daugther was roughly 5'3" and 120 pounds. HOwever, her bladder was what it should be for the "typical" 9 year old girl which is considerably smaller. I was told to just wait it out, and, that it would catch up with her eventually. If not, when she started puberty it would change things anatomically and she would be able to wake up more easily. (?).... And, she is now 10 1/2, a few inches and pounds taller and no longer having accidents. If your child is larger than average,this is a common issue. THe bladder simply isn't big enough for their body. Best wishes!

 

[bookgirl]

My DS9 still wets the bed. Any advice? We have tried the basics-no drinks at night, etc. We have an alarm set to go off at midnight right next to his bed and he usually sleeps right through it! Or lately, he gets up then, but is wet when he gets up in the morning. He doesn't want to wear Pull ups any more and I respect that. We have the waterprood matress pad and a smaller pad under his bottom sheet, but boy I am tired of laundry. It really hasn't bothered him too much, but he is getting frustrated. DH is very bothered by it.

I have heard about the potty pager-any one tried it? What about a chiropractor? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. TIA

If he no longer wants to wear pull ups then he needs to do his own laundry. Some kids are just heavy sleepers and some grow faster than thier bladders, it's not his fault and it's not a punishment but if he decides not to wear a pull up then it's his decision to do laundry.

I would talk to your doctor and I would test his blood suger. He might be pre diabetic or he might have some other medical issue. I wouldn't withhold liquids but I would limit milk (causes you to burn fat that is spilled into urine) and caffeine (diuretic) I would allow water because if you are dehydrating him at night then he'll compensate during the day by drinking more and will still be wetting at night.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I was bedwetter for most of my childhood. My mom (and later me) would just put a heavy towel down over the bed in the area of my butt. If I wet the bed, I'd just ball everything up and put it in the washing machine, then put down a new towel, throw a cup of detergent in the washing machine, start it and gee presto. No big deal.

I started doing this part of laundry at around 7 or 8, I'd guess. It wasn't hard to learn to do just that one little thing and it meant that my bedwetting episodes weren't any trauma to anyone at all.

Even at sleepovers, everyone was just casual about it. I had several medical conditions and everyone knew it, so my friends didn't think it was any big deal - and I'd tell people "yeah, my bladder's messed up. The doctor says maybe when I grow some it'll be okay." And it was.

 

[TaraPA]

DS11 was a consistent bed wetter from about age 4-7. I don't have any advice about the pills or alarms, but it wouldn't hurt to try. The easiest thing for us was to use the waterproof CRIB pads - they were the perfect size to prevent any accidents from soiling the bed. When he wet the bed (he slept through it - woke up wet & cold!) I could just replace the pad with a new one & not have to strip the whole bed.

The best advice I can give is to be consistent. Use the pull ups or Good Nites or alarm if he wants ALL THE TIME, or use nothing, EVERY NIGHT. My friend struggled with both of her sons who are still wetting the bed at age 11 - but she sometimes makes them wear pull-ups, other times not. She buys them when it's convenient for her, but not on a regular basis. Sometimes she wakes them during the night, sometimes not. The pediatrician told me to stay consistent in whatever we chose. We chose to use nothing, just deal with the wet waterproof pads a few times a week. He eventually outgrew it.

Our ped also said it can be hereditary. DH was a bed wetter so I guess it's true! Our other son, now 8, has never once wet the bed, so I guess he got my genes!

 

[tam626]

My dd had the same problem until she was about 8. She wore Goodnights but it was embarassing for sleep overs. I have no real advice but I hope you find something that works.

 

[pjzkent]

Our DS 7 has the same problem. We bought the potty pager (it vibrates not beeps) and he slept through it every time. We finally took him to a bedwetting clinic and learned a lot of things can contribute. For example, the 3 C's-chocolate, carbonation and caffeine all irritate the bladder and make it harder for kids to stay dry. Also, anything with red dye such as Koolaid or juice boxes will do the same thing. Our son also was not using the bathroom frequently enough during the day, and at the clinic they said that the bladder gets overextended during the day by that, and when night rolls around the bladder muscle is fatigued and is more likely to empty while he is sleeping. We bought the MeDos vibrating watch at the bedwetting store, and it does seem to be helping. We set it to buzz him every 2 hours during the day to remind him to use the bathroom, and no one knows that is what it is for.

My advice would be to talk with your doctor and see if you have a specialist available in your area. Hang in there!

 

[averill94]

Hmm my DD5 just stopped...
We realized she was a very deep sleeper and cutting drinks off in the erly evening/late afternoon didn't work. What did work was us waking her at night and bringing her to the bathroom. If I go to bed at 10 or 11 I will get her up and then my DH gets her up later. It seems to be working!

Good luck!

 

[poohfriend77]

My eldest daughter went through this, also, until about a year ago. Here is what our pediatrician said: Childrens' bladders grow concurrent to their age. Therefore, regardless of a child's size (height, weight) the bladder is uniform for that age. So, at 9, my daugther was roughly 5'3" and 120 pounds. HOwever, her bladder was what it should be for the "typical" 9 year old girl which is considerably smaller. I was told to just wait it out, and, that it would catch up with her eventually. If not, when she started puberty it would change things anatomically and she would be able to wake up more easily. (?).... And, she is now 10 1/2, a few inches and pounds taller and no longer having accidents. If your child is larger than average,this is a common issue. THe bladder simply isn't big enough for their body. Best wishes!

Very interesting! My DD5 is big for her age and has struggled with wetting. She was dry from age 3-4.5 (well, she got up at night to go... she's never consistently just slept through and stayed dry) then started wetting every night. She's a very deep sleeper, but it makes sense that maybe her body went through a growth spurt but her bladder didn't.

She asked to stop wearing pullups a couple months ago, and I too was going crazy with the laundry! We started getting her up around 10:30 p.m., and have "weaned" her off that now. She's done really well for the last 3 weeks or so. Her pediatrician said he'd like to start her on meds if she's still wetting every night at age 6 (her b-day is in 11 days!), so I'm looking forward to telling him she's staying dry!

 

[sskem96]

DD12 wet the bed til she was almost 9. We were referred to a pediatric urologist, who did a sonogram and noted some constipation that we were not aware of. Even though she was going to the bathroom daily, she had too much stool in her colon and her bladder couldn't expand to be as large as it should. She was put on a schedule to void every 2 hours during the day, and Miralax daily. She was dry at night within a few weeks. If you're pediatrician can't find anything wrong, you may want to see a pediatric urologist, because there are lots of little things that could be affecting your son that your pediatrician may not be aware of.

 

[court4short]

I can't begin to tell everyone how relieved I am to have found this thread. I'm raising my 7 year old niece and she has the same problems. It's been like this for a year or so (for about as long as she's lived with me) and it's not just in bed. She'll have accidents in school, daycare, or at home - it the middle of the day. My mom (her grandmother) and I are starting to become a little unsure of what to do anymore. We've scheduled an appointment with her urologist in January and we're hoping that some questions will be answered then.

But it's definitely good to hear so much advice and finally hear some stories so I don't feel so alone with this.