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School-Aged Children
Wetting the bed
My 6 year old is still having problems with overnight bed wetting. I have tried everything from waking him up every 2 hours to go at night to minimizing his liquid intake before bed and nothing seems to be working. He is just not waking up to go to the bathroom and pull ups cost a fortune. I am getting ready to talk to his pediatrician but wanted to see if anyone on here had some insight for me. Thanks!
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Re: Wetting the bed
My son is almost 8 and we deal with the same thing. He's a really, really sound sleeper, and the "gotta go" signal doesn't wake him up. We even tried the "wake him up in the middle of the night" trick. I couldn't wake him up enough to pee! Seriously, I was dangling him over the toilet by his armpits, and he was sound asleep!
My pediatrician has 4 boys of her own, and she's considered the practice's expert on this issue. A long time ago she promised me that between the ages of 6 and 12, it would diminish, and that around age 12 it would stop.
First of all, know that there's really truly nothing your child can do about this. It's a purely physical thing and no amount of willpower can stop it (although your child can be diligent about minimizing the number of accidents and about helping to take care of wet clothes and bedclothes.) I try really hard to remember this and not to scold my son or make him feel bad, even though it can be really frustrating sometimes. He's already pretty embarrassed about it. Scolding him would just make him want to hide it, which is already a huge temptation for him.
My son used to wet the bed about 50% of the nights until he turned 7. In the past year, it has started to get better. Now it's down to about once every 10 days, with an occasional stretch of several weeks with no bedwetting!
Here are some things that have helped us deal with this issue:
--no pull ups. This may be just my son, but wearing a pull up actually made the problem worse, especially when he was little. Now he won't wear them except to sleepovers. Also, as you say, they're SO expensive!
--the most effective way I have found to prevent night accidents is for him to TAKE HIS TIME in the bathroom and learn to empty his bladder fully. Small kids often just go enough to let the pressure off and never let out all the pee. We really notice more accidents when my son is too rushed in the bathroom.
--get plenty of rest and keep to a schedule as much as possible. My son is more prone to wet the bed when he's more tired, probably because he sleeps even more soundly than usual.
--encourage him to pee first, before getting pjs on and doing the rest of his nighttime routine, then to pee one more time before lights out.
-- waterproof mattress pad. I actually put on the waterproof pad, then a sheet, then layer on another waterproof pad and another fitted sheet. This way, he can just pull off the wet stuff and there's a clean sheet underneath. I don't have to be involved every single time.
--2 laundry hampers: one for wet pjs and sheets, one for normal dirty clothes. It's his job to get the stuff into the right hamper.
--Febreeze is my friend. I have a spray bottle for any stuffed animals that end up below the high tide line and also the laundry additive. I rinse wet laundry in the laundry sink and wash in hot with febreeze. If the mattress or pillows get wet, I use an oxy-based pet/carpet spray and drag the wet items out on the deck into the sun. An oxy treatment + sunlight will break down urine and remove odors like a champ.
There are also electronic devices you can use to help train your child to wake before urinating. I looked into this and read the info, but my pediatrician doesn't recommend these and my son did not want to use this method. The manufacturer says it's best if the child really wants to use the device. If you google "bedwetting alarm" you'll find the product.
GL!
Absolutely within the realm of normal. Both my DH & I wet the bed for a long time as kids (I was 7 or 8 & he was around 11ish) and so I was concerned as my oldest was starting to PT & such. My pedi said that they don't even begin to get concerned until they are around age 10. Of course, there are social issues that surround the issue, so that's a different story. A friend of mine is an RN & works at a couple of camps during the summer & she said I would be shocked at the number of kids bedwetting in the 4th/5th grades.
As the other responder noted, there is nothing your child can do about this. It will happen when his body is ready. I think common sense dictates limiting some fluids in the evening, but other than that, nothing you can do to "cure" him of this.
Has he ever been dry?
My 6 yo wears a Goodnight to bed every night. She's just now starting to wake up dry occasionally. She's a very deep sleeper, and she just doesn't wake up. If we forget the diaper, she always wakes up wet in the morning. She's never been dry at night, so our pedi doesn't think it's an issue. I think she said 7 or 8 years is when they start considering it a problem.
ETA: I disagree with getting rid of the pull ups. Personally, I'd rather have DD wear a pull up or goodnight every night than have to do laundry every morning. I think you'll save more money with the pull ups than the cost of doing laundry. (Detergent is something like 20 cents a load plus the cost of water and electricity. A Pull Up or Goodnite is 40-50 cents/each.)
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
I just had this conversation with our pediatrician at my daughter's 6 year check up. She said it is totally normal and not to worry about it. I was a bedwetter til I was about 9 and my daughter is a super sound sleeper. Those 2 things are against her. We were waking her up after 2 or 3 hours at night but the dr said that is not helping her learn her own signals. She said if I were really worried about it we could get a bed wetting alarm that she wears on her underwear and it should help. I have just chosen not to make a big deal about it, she can wear pullups and she also helps clean her sheets if she does wet. Since her appt in July she has had a couple of weeks that she has woken up dry so maybe we have turned our corner.
Good Luck, Karen
1 pull up a day does not cost a fortune.
I agree with the other posters. For some kids, there is just nothing you can do except wait it out.
Agreed - plus try buying store brands. My dd#2 is 9 and shows no sign of stopping at this point. It can also be hereditary - my dh and one of his 5 sibs wet the bed. It has to do with sleeping soundly and not waking up or something.
My DD is petite so I still buy the 3T pull ups - they still work. My Bff spent the night with her kids and her 10 year old still wears the night time pull up. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Just don't shame your child and when it's time it will stop - I doubt my DD will still be wetting the bed when she goes off to college.