OT: Little boys bed wetting woes

[Cadiewampus]

Our youngest DS (10 now) wet the bed up until he was about 7. We were putting him in pull ups as night as well. The price of those kept going up so we called his Doctor. My son was a preemie and the Doctor said a lot of the time the bladder just lags behind in developing fully. Anyway he pescribed something. We only had to keep him on the pills about 3 months. He has not wet the bed since.

 

[Keri]

I just remembered our ENT, of all people, told us that when they don't get the right kind/amount of sleep (he had apnea issues too) often the bedwetting happens because their bodies don't secrete the hormone that is supposed to slow urine production at night. So in addition to the physical maturity of being able to hold it all night/waking to the sensation of needing to go, there is that element as well. That is the other thing we started more recently, using a nasal rinse, which is allowing him better nasal breathing & better sleep.

Anyway, just remembered that one, so something else to consider if you think it's possible he has some kind of issue -- be it apnea or something else -- that is physically causing his sleep problems which are likely related to the bedwetting.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

My ex-husband took away our son's GoodNights at 5 years old. I was terrified because he had never even woken up dry and his dad was forcing him to night train. I was the same way when I was little. I slept too hard to wake up. But sure enough, within a week he was trained. He has had VERY FEW accidents since too. Good luck.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I don't know the answer. I do know as a parent it's hard. We tried the vinyl pad with a cushion top for the bed. It made my DS very hot during the night. We had to get rid of that pad. I tried different things to help my son get sleep and save the mattress all met with varying degrees of success.

Finally, finally I bought a pad that's used for hospital beds that are made of mostly cloth. I'm sure it has some vinyl built in but it's done in such a way that it didn't retain heat. The large one was perfect. Sturdy. Not too bulky. I put it under the top sheet because it didn't slip out of place and was more comfortable. I wish I had thought of it sooner! Still great for the occasional accidents.

You can buy the pads at a medical supply store and some larger pharmacies.

 

[gr8leg8]

Here is my wish for you

Dry nights,
happy, healthy kids,
the support of you spouse,
and
a sturdy washing machine

My second grader still keeps an extra pair of panties in her school bag. (Discretely tucked away in a zip lock) Just in case.


She is a stubborn girl (no idea where she gets that from)


She was a late potty trainer.
Then dry for a long time.
Then she had a stretch of wet nights and day time accidents.
Now she is back to dry.

She was not getting enough sleep, not wanting to stop playing to go potty, and not listening to her own body.

I stopped asking her "Do you have to go?" and started telling her "GO!"

We lessened the amount of allergy meds / changed her playdate with Grandma (with cat) to our house.
Not sure it that was related or not.

But I am sure she will not go off to college with diapers.

 

[momofrrr]

Our son had this issue as well. We did discuss it with our pediatrician and she told us that it was a hormone issue in boys and not uncommon at all. She prescribed a nasal spay that he used everyday. We only went through one prescription and the bed wetting stopped. He never had an accident again. It was such a relief to have that behind us. Poor little thing (he is 22 now) had to shower every night before bed then again every morning before school. Good Luck

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> overtired

OT: There have been some studies done where the conclusion was that it can be hazardous. Overtired persons, once asleep, have sometimes not awakened to smoke and fire alarms.

So work on avoiding the need to get overtired at the same time as the bedwetting problem. You might kill both birds with one stone.

>>> Poor little thing (he is 22 now) had to shower every night before bed then again every morning before school.

He would only need to shower in the morning. Also to freshen up if he got too hot in bed because you put a plastic cover on the mattress. Now what could cut down on the laundry load? Fast drying swim trunks instead of pajamas?

Reminds me of an old emergency supply kit list, I think it was called Civil Defense. They listed "rubber sheets". And I actually found one in my grandmother's attic. Now this could come in handy, easy to hose down in the shower the next morning if he wet the bed.

 

[crysplefty]

My son just turned 4 and has been potty trained during the day for about 2 years, but is just getting to were he has occasional accidents at night. He's a hard sleeper, so he wasn't waking up at night when he had to go to the potty. We have to make sure he doesn't have anything to drink a couple hours before bed and he goes to the potty when he goes to bed. At his 3 year check up his pediatrician told us that kids usually grow out of constant bedwetting by 8. Your son's urinary system could be underdeveloped especially if he was a premie. Surgery could fix that. I've seen some type of electronic device that goes on the inside of children's underpants and shocks them and an alarm goes off when they urinate. It is not a dangerous harmful shock of course, just enough to make them feel vibrations.

 

[mckinnonlori]

We are in the same boat. My son is 6 and he soaks a pull up every night!
I am not too worried about it. The pediatric urologist won't even see boys until age 7.
I only want to add that it is very important not to make a huge deal out of it. My nephew ended up with a severe sleep disorder that required meds. His dad would go ballistic if he had a wet bed, so the poor little guy would never sleep because he was terrified to wet the bed. His grades dropped, he stopped growing and was a general mess. When they finally discovered that he was not getting good sleep the ped. suggested a play therapist and discovered that it was all linked to the bed wetting. They put him on meds to help him sleep but he still wet. At 10 he finally stopped.
Imagine how hard that is for an 8yo and up. No sleep overs.......and the embarrassment that comes with that. My son will not even let his grandparents see him in his jammies anymore.
I am just saying......

 

[mikamah]

I'm right there with you OP - you are not alone! DS is 7.5 and wears goodnights - only wets thru them about 1 night out of 15 or so - but they are wet on MOST nights.

My pediatrician is VERY anti-meds or any aids at all - she says that it is VERY normal at this age (and until age 10 or so) so she won't even really discuss options at this point.

I have heard from others about the alarm and just started discussing with ds the last few weeks or so. He is very against it at this point - but I hope that by at least bringing it up on occassion it won't be as scary when we do it. And I DO want to go ahead and do it - just not sure when to start it. It will at least make me feel as if I'm doing EVERYTHING I can to help him. He hates being wet and gets rashes from the goodnights on occassion (very sensitive skin) - so I want to help him.

Oh and my ds is very different than yours - go to sleep without a hitch, sleeps like a log (which is why I always think he sleeps thru any urges). Is not a big drinker and never drinks anything after about a 1/2 cup of milk at dinner.

Best of luck to you!!

This is my son to a T. He wear's the goodnites, and is wet most nights. I have a hard time limiting his fluids after supper because he runs so much at his after school program, and is always sweating when I pick him up, i know he's dry and thirsty when we get home.

This sounds like something I would try...and we have tried going for a few weeks or a month without the pull-ups - thinking he would be able to feel it better. However, he doesn't wake when he wets at night - doesn't realize it until the morning. So I'm not sure if that would help for us. And doing the sheets every day gets so old...

We have tried to go with no pullups, and he still wets the bed, and doesn't wake up til morning. I'll check him before I go to bed, and sometimes he's soaked but sound asleep.

Our ped reassures that this is common, and is not worried, but said if it bothers him, we could try the alarms. He's not bothered by it, but some friends are talking about sleep overs, and we've been talking about that. I know he would be mortified if he had an accident in front of a friend. My sister has a 3 and 4 year old, totally trained even at night, and I know that bothers him. My niece had workups, and everything was normal, and eventually outgrew it at about 12. I wish there was an easy answer. Good luck.

Dry nights,
happy, healthy kids,
the support of you spouse,
and
a sturdy washing machine.

Loved this.

 

[Bonnie151]

We started DS (7.5) with the alarm 2.5 weeks ago and are seeing some progress. He had been waking up every morning to an absolutely sodden bed. The first week with the alarm he was up twice a night (1:20ish & 5:20ish) then last week and this week it's generally been once around 5:20ish, but has also had two completely dry nights. It's also catching him right at the start and he's able to stop the pee pretty much immediately - i.e. there's a trace in the pad but it hasn't leaked to his underwear or the bed which means a much less disruptive night and far far less laundry!

 

[happymommy]

Also, there are diets that people use to curb adhd. They might help calm him down during they day, so he can sleep at night. I was diagnosed at 12 and one of the worst symptoms I had was insomnia{and the fact that I talked all the dang time.}.

Sorry, but my son has severe ADHD. No diet can curb it, just making sure he has adequate protein in the morning helps.

His insomnia was just about cured when we started him on medications. Went from being the lightest sleeper to you couldn't wake him once he went to bed! And he sleeps more hours now!

 

[seashoreCM]

His dad would go ballistic if he had a wet bed,

Enough to tell me that his dad is the big problem and needs plenty of help.
In fact this is causing the kid to have even less control over himself.
It's embarassing enough to wet the bed. The kid definitely does not need a lecture let alone a good licking.

 

[happymommy]

Hi,

I have a little boy just about to turn 8 who is still wetting his bed probably at least 5 nights a week, despite not drinking anything after dinner, and voiding before bed. He wears "Good Nites" but still soaks through those most of the time.

I haven't gone back to the pediatrician yet, although I am considering it. I want to avoid medication if possible.

Anyone here have anything that has worked for them? When should I expect him to grow out of this?

He doesn't sleep well either..takes him a long time to fall asleep, and wakes frequently in the night, if not for bedwetting, then other things such as "I just can't sleep" (his words) We have a good evening and bedtime routine including bath, down time, reading.

How else can I help him?

Thanks!

He does sound similar to my son, only mine was 3. We would "wake" him when we went to bed to go pee as well, but he wore pull ups. At 4 we got rid of them, though.

My son has ADHD, and he couldn't sleep very well.

I would absolutely talk to the doctor.

Yes, a routine is so important! But what is weird, is that it didn't matter to my son what he drank in the evening. He used to have a sippy cup of soy milk before bed. It never mattered.

It can be the bladder isn't ready yet, but really 8 is quite old. I would make sure nothing is wrong.

Oh, and taking away the pull ups isn't the issue. My DD was 2, and I put pull ups on her. They were always dry. I still was afraid of accidents. Then, I realized she didn't need them.

 

[esk]

My son stopped wearing Good Nites about 3 weeks before his 8th birthday. just came to me one day and said "Mom, I don't need these. I've been keeping my pull up dry"

He was also waking up at 4 or 5 and going to the bathroom, then either falling back asleep or reading quietly in his room.

We did the same thing...no liquid after dinner, dinner drink was like 2 fingers of liquid, woke him at 10 pm to go potty, etc.

But he literally grew out of it and it was sudden. I guess his bladder or his brain or whatever got big enough.

I'd give it another 6 months before seeing the doctors about it.

 

[JUJU814]

My son stopped wearing Good Nites about 3 weeks before his 8th birthday. just came to me one day and said "Mom, I don't need these. I've been keeping my pull up dry"

He was also waking up at 4 or 5 and going to the bathroom, then either falling back asleep or reading quietly in his room.

We did the same thing...no liquid after dinner, dinner drink was like 2 fingers of liquid, woke him at 10 pm to go potty, etc.

But he literally grew out of it and it was sudden. I guess his bladder or his brain or whatever got big enough.

I'd give it another 6 months before seeing the doctors about it.

Yeah, I did call the pedi and they said it was still within the normal range and to wait, but they'd see him if it would make me feel better. Duh, after saying that, I'd feel dumb bringing him in. I feel like they never listen to me. I'm getting ready to change doctors.

Poor thing right now has flu and strep!!

 

[amy_225]

Sometimes it is genetic...in my case, all four of my boys wet the bed well past eight years old, and there was nothing medically wrong with them. The pediatrician told me they just had smaller bladders and would grow into them. My sister and I also both wet the bed until at least age 11. My oldest quit finally at 13 (yes, 13!), middle son quit at about 10, third son quit at 9, and my fourth son, who is 6, is still wearing the Goodnights...down to wetting in them, though, only a couple of times a week at most.
Just talk to your ped, but don't worry, it's probably normal for your son.