7 yr old girl still wets bed every night

[Anonymous]

DD still wets her bed almost every night, regardless if she drinks or not before bed. There were time swhen she would not wet for a couple of days, then back to the routine. She is healthy and happy otherwise, and does not seem to have anxiety. We spoke to her doc, who just recommended going to the bathroom and no drinking before bed. Any suggestion?

[Anonymous]

I had kidney reflux as a child and wet the bed until I was almost 10. Basically, every time I contracted my bladder to pee, I urinated some, but some went back up to the kidneys and was recycled. It meant lots of kidney infections, but it also meant that my last trip to the bathroom before bed didn't empty all the urine, so that didn't necessarily stop the problem. Frustrating and embarassing to say the least. Maybe ask your pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric urologist to rule out a medical condition like this?

[Anonymous]

We used a Malem alarm for my daughter when she was about 5 and it totally worked. It clipped on to her undies and made a sound when there was moisture to wake her up.

She also was wet every single night and was starting to feel badly about it. She is a VERY deep sleeper. The alarm "trained" her to listen to her body's cues and wake up when she has to go.

[Anonymous]

I could have written the prior post - we, too, used the Malem alarm for our heavy-sleeping 5 year old daughter. It worked and she was completely dry in a week.

[Anonymous]

I'd try the alarm but would not freak if it does not work. Alrams do not have a high rate of effectiveness. It did not work for my child. Bedwetting is not about anxiety (that's a myth). It's about brain development, and it's hereditary. Ask around, you may be surprised to learn that people on one or both sides of the family wet their beds. My mother did until she was 12. Bedwetter's on dad's side of the family, too. There's medication, Desmopressinm, that's harmless. My child took it for several year, finally outgrew it. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

PP here ... bedwetters plural not possessive! argh!

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for all the posts. I will try the alarm. Our beds smell soooo bad...

[Anonymous]

My DD's ped has written a book that is supposed to be good.
ttp://www.wakingupdry.com
I've seen it at a lot of the local libraries. I think it is aimed at both kids and parents.

My DD is 5 so we aren't worried about it yet, she was late to day train too. In the meantime we have a waterproof matress pad and she wears pullups. We're sticking with the pullups until she is dry for 30 days. It's actually more common than you might think. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

second the idea of waterproof mattress pad. they are much nicer than they used to be. fabric on facing side, plastic on bed side. my son has had lots of accidents over the years. mattress itself never been touched. and they make them in all sizes of bed child size bed on up.

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old DS still wets most nights, even with limiting liquids and getting him up once before we go to bed. DH and I both wet the bed until 9 or 10. Pediatrician says to just wait it out for now. DS doesn't seem to be bothered by it, except that he doesn't do sleepovers. DD is 5 and is dry every night. Guess she missed the bedwetting "gene".

[Anonymous]

My daughter did the same thing. And now my younger 6 year old is doing the same. At some point (around 6) we stopped pushing the issue and gave her pullups and whatever she needed and let her manage it herself. I would not do anything she doesn't want to do - ie if she doesn't want to do the alarm don't push it. We gave her bed pads and let her experiment which worked best. In the end she just kept using the pullups until about 8 and then she was able to wake up and i think she's only had one slip up since. The only carrot we offered was sleepovers would be better without pullups.