Almost 8 yr old DS still wetting the bed

[Anonymous]

I am a mom of an 8 year old who does not set the bed. She has other concerns. I wet my bed till I was 10 and it because I had emotional concerns that were not being listened to or addressed, by my mother. I tried to complain about stress in my life and she basically didn't want to hear it. So, she took me to the doctor who "determined" I must have a physical problem and did surgery to enlarge my bladder. After that, I felt no one really cared enough to recognize, so I stopped setting the bed and took my feelings underground. I suffered from depression and did not get help until I became an adult and got help for myself. I'm not saying this is what is happening with your child. But, I encourage you to pay attention to the meta messages you might be receiving from him/her.

[Anonymous]

As noted above, significant emotional issues may be playing a part in this. I try to remember that my kids sometimes agonize to the point of distress over things that I am inclined to say are no big deal. I really make an effort to trust my child by acknowledging that if it's a big deal to him, then it's a big deal and do not diminish the magnitude of whatever it is.

Both of my boys would wet the bed almost once a month until their 9th birthdays. Our pediatrician felt it was developmental; they just slept so deeply that they did not wake up when they had to go. We didn't make it a major issue, just change everything in the morning and don't harp on it. They simply grew out of it.

[Anonymous]

OP, I wet the bed occasionally until I was in 4th grade. I remember going camping with my Junior Girl Scout troop and wetting the sleeping bag, so embarrassing! I had some kind of treatment by a urologist to enlarge my bladder but I don't know if it worked. They never tried any bedwetting alarms on me. I finally stopped doing it.

My younger brother wet the bed until he was at least 12. He finally stopped doing it.

We were a very happy, emotionally healthy family.

Both my children wet the bed at night until relatively late but not as late as me and my brother. I want to say my son stopped at age 9 and my daughter at age 7? It's kind of a blur.

Our pediatrician said it was usually genetic and chemical/hormonal in nature. There is a chemical or hormone that your body naturally secretes that either stops urination at night or at least allows you to wake when you need to pee, and in some people their body makes less of it until they are older. Something like that.

She said that there is medication you can give your child for one time events -- like they can take the pill every day for a week at sleep away camp. Otherwise she recommended just using the pull ups. She said you can give the alarms a trial for a week or so -- if they are going to work they will work; if not wait and try again in 3 months. Sometimes they can give a little push to help your child's body learn to figure things out.

I have read that constipation (sometimes undiagnosed) can be a significant contributor to bedwetting. Even if your child is regularly having BMs, he can still have a back up of stool that is putting pressure on the bladdar -- something that can really only be diagnosed with an xray maybe? Not sure about that.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

From what I've heard and read, doctors don't worry until 9. Even then, there are medicines children take well into middle school- I remember being a camp counselor for rising 7th graders and out of 10 girls in my cabin, 2 were on this medicine. It's not terribly uncommon. I would buy the goodnights and make an appointment with your pediatrician. It certainly sounds like it's not something your son can control or change on his own.

My DS was dry at night shortly before he turned 6.5. My DD was before 4 years old. Youngest DD is currently 4 and she still wears a pull up at night. The longest she's ever gone is 4 nights in a row dry. My rule is 7 nights dry and you can wear underwear.
Before my DS suddenly started being dry, he literally never was dry. And then all of a sudden he started having dry nights. I don't think limiting fluids, waking them up before you go to bed, etc makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

One of my children wet the bed until he was 9.
I followed the program in the book It's No Accident. It was resolved in about a month.

[Anonymous]

My 12 yo DS is still wetting the bed on a rather consistent basis. Done the alarms, constipation cures and meds. None of it works. We're a relatively normal family and DS is a happy, well adjusted child. We are hoping that with puberty comes a hormone kick.

[Anonymous]

Have dr check for constipation by feeling or ultra sound. Many kids are constipated but don't know or show (stomach distended). When they are is suppresses feeling to urinate so it comes out at night. My DS just was diagnosed - 8yrs. She had full bladder but couldn't pee, saw on ultra sound. Did cleanse a week back - NINE BMs, the girl was plugged up. A week later we're having a few dry mornings. (She wears pullups)

[Anonymous]

I just had my son at the pediatrician for chronic constipation. (He's almost 6 and rarely stays dry all night) He had an x-ray that showed that his colon was very backed up, so we had to do a total cleanse, and miraculously after that he stayed dry all night for two straight weeks. Then just this past week he started wetting the bed again. I'm going to try the alarm recommended by PP, but I'm also going to make sure he is getting enough Miralax.

[Anonymous]

DS wets the bed when he is constipated. After a week or so of Miralax, it gets much better. Like another PP pointed out, he can still be constipated even if he's having BMs. Plenty of feces can make its way around the blockage part. If they are constipated, they truly stop feeling the urge to pee or poop, so they have accidents. When DS was in preschool, he suddenly started pooping his pants every single day! Even though he had been fully constipated. Little did I know that pooping his pants could be a sign of constipation! Now he loses the sensations of needing to pee when he is constipated.

[Anonymous]

My 2nd grade DS went through a period where he would slightly wet his pants during the day. Turned out to be emotional issues around school changes. Eventually it stopped and he is doing great.

[Anonymous]

My son turned 9 in December. We stopped buying Pull Ups about 2 months ago. This was after he neglected to tell me he had run out and I realized he was making it through some nights with out wetting the bed. He is dry about 5 out of 7 nights dry now. It's a pain in the ass to change his bunk when he does have a wet night, but he now refuses to go back into Pull Ups. He's sensitive about it at 9 so I just suck it up and change the sheets.

No emotional issues. He just sleeps heavy--always has-- and is a little lazy about getting up to go to the bathroom. We tried the alarm about a year ago, but as another PP noted, it just resulted in everyone getting less sleep. It appears he is simply growing out of it. If there are no emotional issues, I would just give it some time.

[Anonymous]

It's normal. You just need to wait it out, he'll grow out of it. Don't accidentally make him feel bad, tell him it isn't his fault.

[Anonymous]

We did the alarm at that age and it worked. If it hadn't, we'd have gone to the doctor. There is a medication they can use to stop this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's normal. You just need to wait it out, he'll grow out of it. Don't accidentally make him feel bad, tell him it isn't his fault.

I agree with this. I wet the bed until around age 10 and my DS also had the same issue. I'd sometimes get frustrated (unfairly!!), so I get how annoying it can be, but it's really not his fault.

I even asked the ped about it twice, but the ped said to wait it out and that it's more common for boys to have this issue for some reason. I wouldn't go back to pull-up though. We got a small waterproof pad to put over the sheet which was easier to roll up and wash. I'll try to find a link.

I'll also add that DS was never constipated, so that was not the problem in our case.

[Anonymous]

PP again -

We got something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Saddle-Style-Soaker-Mattress-Pad/dp/B0001YIB1A/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1428605909&sr=8-15&keywords=waterproof+pad

You just tuck the sides in. It's not completely fool-proof, but often worked so that DS didn't have to strip the bed completely.