How do I stop my 7 year old wetting the bed?

[Anonymous]

Two months ago we made the decision to remove night pull ups from my 7 year old DD as she is now getting too old for them. She has not kept a bed dry since however even with all we have done to take her to the toilet before we go to sleep and limit her drinks before bedtime.

What other things can we do to train her. I have made sure she puts her bedding in the wash in the morning to know that there are consequences to her wetting herself at night but nothing has worked yet. I don't want to keep doing daily laundry, what was the things that worked for you to train you child to be dry at night?

[Anonymous]

It’s biological. Some kids just can’t stay dry. Punishing her is cruel.

[Anonymous]

Stop shaming her. This is actually quite normal. Talk to your pediatrician. The one thing that helped (but didn't solve) this for one of my kids was making sure they are not constipated. Otherwise, its just something kids do and they can't help and they will eventually grow out of. Give her back pull-ups.

[Anonymous]

Please stop, OP. This is going to create trauma and frustration and long term hurt. She cannot control it, or she would have. No 7 year old wants to wet the bed.

Buy her the pull ups and wait. It is normal-ish through the onset of puberty. Talk to her pediatrician for validation.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I have spoke to the paediatrician and this is the advice I have been using as he told me she was learning to use her pull ups instead of going to the bathroom.

[Anonymous]

My folks put me on desipramine. It mostly worked. Put down a waterproof pad to protect the sheets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I have spoke to the paediatrician and this is the advice I have been using as he told me she was learning to use her pull ups instead of going to the bathroom.

Your pediatrician is a moron.

[Anonymous]

BEFORE she goes to sleep, she has control over her body. She can limit drinks (to a reasonable measure) and use the toilet several times, including immediately before going to sleep. It's reasonable to enforce those rules.

AFTER she goes to sleep, she has no control, so don't shame her. I don't think the doctor is completely wrong: in some cases kids might get used to the pullups, and those kids will stop after a few times. But if she is repeatedly wetting the bed without them, it's just biological.

The options are to use medication or wait. Typically (but not always), it stops at puberty. We did not use medicine and our son stopped when he was about 13. Until then we generally woke him and took him to the bathroom right before we went to sleep, a few hours after he did. That worked about 90 % of the time.

[Anonymous]

My DC had this issue and we talked with a specialist. The one thing they said works is the alarm. We tried it and it took about 3-4 weeks but it worked. DC slept with me during that time so I could hear the alarm and get them up. It’s a lot of work and will only be effective if your child really wants to fix this issue.

[Anonymous]

Shame her into submission? That's the only thing you can control. You cannot control another human being's bodily functions.

[Anonymous]

OP your pediatrician is a doofus. She’ll grow into her bladder. Let the kid wear the pull up. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Op here - I would like to try an alarm before giving up. When we ditched the pull ups we made a big deal about how they are for babies and how she really needs to be grown up and being without them. So I don't really want to go back at all.

[Anonymous]

This is not trainable. She has to grow out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BEFORE she goes to sleep, she has control over her body. She can limit drinks (to a reasonable measure) and use the toilet several times, including immediately before going to sleep. It's reasonable to enforce those rules.

AFTER she goes to sleep, she has no control, so don't shame her. I don't think the doctor is completely wrong: in some cases kids might get used to the pullups, and those kids will stop after a few times. But if she is repeatedly wetting the bed without them, it's just biological.

The options are to use medication or wait. Typically (but not always), it stops at puberty. We did not use medicine and our son stopped when he was about 13. Until then we generally woke him and took him to the bathroom right before we went to sleep, a few hours after he did. That worked about 90 % of the time.

This former bedwetter appreciates your dedication to your son’s dignity.

[Anonymous]

Childrens hospital PG county. They are great. Use an alarm and eventually will get better. May take years.