Is a 5 yr old wetting the bed MULTIPLE times per night worrying...?

[Anonymous]

For an older child (5 yo) that's been PT'd for a long while now--is it a concern that he's still wetting the bed every single night, multiple times per night?

His pediatrician has told twice in the past that him not being dry at night is not at all a concern at this point. BUT, my question has more to do with the frequency.

It's as if he has the control of an infant still, in the night. I'm talking a dozen or so separate pees, in one night. And this is with a kid who has otherwise exceptional control for his age in the daytime.

Does anyone have any idea if this is something to be concerned about...?

[Anonymous]

How do you know there are a dozen accidents per night? Is he waking you up a dozen times to deal with it? That sounds exhausting.

One issue may be that he isn’t using the bathroom frequently enough during the daytime, so the muscles around his bladder are working very hard during the day and they relax at night. I am working on this with my 3yo, whose nighttime accidents seem to stop if we do more frequent potty breaks during the day.

[Anonymous]

I would find it alarming and seek the opinion of a pediatric urologist.

[Anonymous]

My DS wore one of those older kid pull ups to bed until shortly after his 6th birthday when he just simply stopped peeing overnight. We never made a big deal about it. He just slept so heavily he would not wake up. As I said he just stopped. Nothing changed. Good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know there are a dozen accidents per night? Is he waking you up a dozen times to deal with it? That sounds exhausting.

One issue may be that he isn’t using the bathroom frequently enough during the daytime, so the muscles around his bladder are working very hard during the day and they relax at night. I am working on this with my 3yo, whose nighttime accidents seem to stop if we do more frequent potty breaks during the day.

I told my DH that I wish Santa would bring a week of solid, good sleep for Christmas.

He actually wears pull ups at night, but more often than not will wake up after he's peed in his sleep. He 100% refuses to even attempt to change his own pull up however, claims he has to have DH or I help him.

Daytime he actually has been golden (pardon the pun!) for ages now. No accidents to speak of, for the most part--and he has no problem with holding it, for the most part. Nighttime...not so much though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know there are a dozen accidents per night? Is he waking you up a dozen times to deal with it? That sounds exhausting.

One issue may be that he isn’t using the bathroom frequently enough during the daytime, so the muscles around his bladder are working very hard during the day and they relax at night. I am working on this with my 3yo, whose nighttime accidents seem to stop if we do more frequent potty breaks during the day.

I told my DH that I wish Santa would bring a week of solid, good sleep for Christmas.

He actually wears pull ups at night, but more often than not will wake up after he's peed in his sleep. He 100% refuses to even attempt to change his own pull up however, claims he has to have DH or I help him.

Daytime he actually has been golden (pardon the pun!) for ages now. No accidents to speak of, for the most part--and he has no problem with holding it, for the most part. Nighttime...not so much though.

Is he waking because his pull up is leaking? Pull ups are really intended for that sort of situation. If he's wetting himself that often in the night, I'd simply take a step back and buy him actual nighttime diapers. They are designed to pull wetness away from him better, so you can focus on letting him get a good nights sleep. At his age, I wouldn't be bothered that he's wetting in his sleep at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know there are a dozen accidents per night? Is he waking you up a dozen times to deal with it? That sounds exhausting.

One issue may be that he isn’t using the bathroom frequently enough during the daytime, so the muscles around his bladder are working very hard during the day and they relax at night. I am working on this with my 3yo, whose nighttime accidents seem to stop if we do more frequent potty breaks during the day.

I told my DH that I wish Santa would bring a week of solid, good sleep for Christmas.

He actually wears pull ups at night, but more often than not will wake up after he's peed in his sleep. He 100% refuses to even attempt to change his own pull up however, claims he has to have DH or I help him.

Daytime he actually has been golden (pardon the pun!) for ages now. No accidents to speak of, for the most part--and he has no problem with holding it, for the most part. Nighttime...not so much though.

Is he waking because his pull up is leaking? Pull ups are really intended for that sort of situation. If he's wetting himself that often in the night, I'd simply take a step back and buy him actual nighttime diapers. They are designed to pull wetness away from him better, so you can focus on letting him get a good nights sleep. At his age, I wouldn't be bothered that he's wetting in his sleep at all.

Meant to say that pull ups AREN'T meant for that kind of use, whoops!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For an older child (5 yo) that's been PT'd for a long while now--is it a concern that he's still wetting the bed every single night, multiple times per night?

His pediatrician has told twice in the past that him not being dry at night is not at all a concern at this point. BUT, my question has more to do with the frequency.

It's as if he has the control of an infant still, in the night. I'm talking a dozen or so separate pees, in one night. And this is with a kid who has otherwise exceptional control for his age in the daytime.

Does anyone have any idea if this is something to be concerned about...?

Get him checked for constipation, voiding dysfunction, and diabetes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For an older child (5 yo) that's been PT'd for a long while now--is it a concern that he's still wetting the bed every single night, multiple times per night?

His pediatrician has told twice in the past that him not being dry at night is not at all a concern at this point. BUT, my question has more to do with the frequency.

It's as if he has the control of an infant still, in the night. I'm talking a dozen or so separate pees, in one night. And this is with a kid who has otherwise exceptional control for his age in the daytime.

Does anyone have any idea if this is something to be concerned about...?

Get him checked for constipation, voiding dysfunction, and diabetes.

If you take a 5 year old to a doctor that concerned about bedwetting. You deserve to be laughed at.

OP, this is completely not out of the ordinary, particularly for a boy. If he's not having any kind of potty issues in the daytime, you have nothing to worry about. This is normal.

[Anonymous]

I would not worry about the bed wetting. I had a kid with great day control but a deep sleeper. She is now 7.5 and wet the bed last month, prior to that was about 3 months ago. At 5 she was still in pull-ups at night. My suggestion is not to focus on the peeing but focus on him not waking you up. Do an outright bribe if he changes his own pull-up when it’s wet without waking you up. Obviously leave them easily accessible with somewhere to put the wet one. Give reward for changing himself or just going through the night without waking you up and don’t mention the peeing at night at all.

[Anonymous]

It’s abnormal but probably not sign of serious trouble. I’d have him checked out anyway for UTI, constipation, DI, etc.

And yes, actual nighttime diapers with a booster. And obviously no water within an hour of bedtime. Make sure dinner isn’t too salty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s abnormal but probably not sign of serious trouble. I’d have him checked out anyway for UTI, constipation, DI, etc.

And yes, actual nighttime diapers with a booster. And obviously no water within an hour of bedtime. Make sure dinner isn’t too salty.

P.s. at this age and frequency and insistence on your help, I’d also consider that he’s doing this deliberately because he’s scared etc and this is an excuse to see you.

- mom of boys

[Anonymous]

Check for type 1 diabetes.

[Anonymous]

My ped says they don’t even discuss it as an issue until 7, especially if there is family history.

[Anonymous]

Is he wearing nighttime pull ups? Unless he is peeing very frequently during the day, then it doesnt sound to me like its a medical concern. He probably just can't hold it, once he's asleep. So pee just comes out as often as it needs to.

I agree with PP's. Put him in diapers for the time being. He'll be more comfortable, and there's no shame in that since he'd only be wearing them for bedtime anyways. They would be more up to the task of him dribbling pee through the night than a pull up.