Bed Wetting and My 7 Year Old!

I also have a 7 year old who still wets the bed at night sometimes. He sleeps in goodnights. We haven't tried the medication since he has always grown so fast. His doctor said that for some kids it is normal that their bladder may not be growing as fast as the rest of their body. We have been working really hard and praising him. Giving him a prize if he does not wet the bed, but it still happens and he is disappointed by it as well. He is a really deep sleeper and he has always been on the 90% on his height and weight. For example at age 2 he was 3 foot 2 inches.

I have had the same problem with my daughter who is now 10. Once in a blue moon she still has an accident. We never had to use any medication or anything. You might continue making sure that he doesn't drink anything after dinner (or a specified time depending on when you eat) and continue to stress going to the bathroom before bed. Be sure that you stress that you are NOT upset with HIM, but upset for him that it happened again. My daughter would REALLY stress about it. I also had her help clean it up. I made sure that she knew that I still loved her, no matter what. I noticed that it happened more often when she was upset emotionally and stressed out, along with overly tired. You might contact the scout leader and explain the situation to him/her about what is going on and ask them to help with getting him to a place to change into/out of the pull-ups w/o the other kids noticing. Hope something helps!

C.

In the book "Diaper Free Before 3" the author talks about bedwetting. She says that all children will outgrow it. You might want to consider using an alarm clock to wake him up once in the middle of the night to signal to him to get up and go to the bathroom, since his body is unable to wake him up at this point. It might take a ocuple of nights to figure out what time to wake him up...but that is better than nothing. If it works, then just put batteries in the alarm clock and let him take it on the sleep over. Good luck!!!
E.

My son had the same problem. He wet the bed untill he was 12....I took him to the Dr and they gave him a nasel spray that worked wonders. I went so many years thinking there was nothing out there for him, and I could kick myself now thinking back.After I took him to the Dr, and the med started it was all over. I feel bad for making him suffer through this thing for so long. You live and learn I guess. For some reason it is more common for boys.
Hang in there and good luck.
C. R.

I don't have any advice as far as a solution would go, but as far as the sleepover goes, you may want to see if either you or your husband could go along as a chaperone. That would probably ease any worries and possible embarrassment for your son.

Hi S.. Not many people know this but this problem can actually be hereditary. Did either you or your husband have the same problem? One of my good friend's daughter and son BOTH had this problem. They went to the doctor and the doctor asked about family history of bed wetting. My friend found out her husband (now ex-husband) wet his bed until the age of 9. The son stopped wetting the bed at 9 also. The daughter is only 7 and still wears goodnights but the doctor said she will probably stop around the same age as her father and brother. They tried the device that sends a little jolt to wake her up and it didn't work. It would wake her up but she wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom, would go back to bed and fall asleep and wet the bed again. I would talk to your son's father and see if he possibly had the same problem (or other family) and find out when they stopped wetting the bed and maybe that's when your son will. Best of luck to you and your son.

Oh my gosh do I know what you are going through. EVERYNIGHT from diapers on, my oldest son (now 10) wet the bed. We talked to his ped. for years and she gave us advise and absolutely nothing worked. She guessed that his bladder was just too small for his quickly growing body. My husband is 6'6" and his brother is 6'10". I'm 5'8" and my 10 year old should be my height within a year. But...when he was 7, his ped. suggested a medication. She explained that it would shut down his bladder at night and it would help increase the size of his bladder. It took us a year to decide to try it and when we did, it was mostly because my son really wanted to. One month of 2 pills a night and one month of 1 pill a night and it was over. In the 2 years since then, he has wet the bed maybe 2 or 3 times. It was a good choice for us and he had no side effects at all. I have tried to find out the name of the medication, but just can't find it. Ask your doctor about it. I know it seems extreme, but it is an option. Best of luck to you.

We have been going through the same problem, my son is 8 and still wears goodnights to bed. I feel for him when he has gone to a sleep over but he has only had a couple so far and the mom's were very understanding.
My son is just a very hard sleeper and sleeps through just about anything and can fall asleep in seconds in the middle of a conversation (he's not narcoleptic SP or anything). I'm not sure if this is part of his problem or something else, I have actually never spoken to the dr. about it cause I figured it would be something he would outgrow, but just hasnt yet.
I have tried the drinking thing, had tried the "these cost a lot and we could use the money to buy you something else if we didn't have to buy these", have tried waking him...(he doesnt wake up though), and I have ran out of things to try so I just deal with it for now and hope for the best.

I acttully had the problem when I was younger till I was 8 or 9. The problem turned out to be I had very weak mussles. The only thing that helped me was doing strethes. To start with when I would go to the bathroom I had to stop midstream and hold it to the count of 10 or as long as I could. Then let it go. Once I could hold it for about 30 or so seconds I had to do the same exercise when I was not going to the bathroom. Pretty much Keggles(SP). I now have a very strong bladder and can hold it for hours!!!!! I do have to use the restroom as soon as I get up. Even if I wake up after a 5 minute nap I have to go potty. Hopefully that will help.

First of all - at 7 years old they are going to require a parent to accompany him on an overnight. If not they are violating BSA policies.

My son was still wetting the bed last year at his 7 year checkup. I mentioned it to the doctor to see when we should start being concerned. He thought we should go ahead and take a trip to the urologist to find out. Well, I was putting it off for a while and then realized he had quit wetting the bed. I joked that it was the threat of going to the urologist!

Anyway - I wouldn't worry too much about it. Make sure he's responsible for cleaning it up - help wash the sheets, change his clothing, etc. Oh - and you can double or triple make his bed if you have enough waterproof sheets. I used to make the bed like normal, then put another waterproof pad & sheet on it, and then in the night I only had to strip off one layer and not remake the bed.

Hi There S., my name is D.. I understand what you are going through, my son who is now 12 had a big issue with wetting the bed when he was younger and up to the age of 11, and now every once in a while he will still wet the bed at night ( not to much ). I know you said you had him on pills once before, but did those come from the doctor? anyways I was told by our pediatric doctor that most boys don't get total control of their bladders till about the age of 11 to 13. My son also wore pullups until he was 10 or 11. I know Kids can be cruel but there are others out there and there could be one that is in his scout group. Just support him and when the time is right for him he will grow out it. Dont worry, some boys are just slower at it then others. Hope all goes well.

Bedwetting is very normal for children up to age 12. For some reason doctors don't even bat an eyeelash until after that age. Being stressed or tired lends to heavier sleeping and their mind is so preoccupied with sorting things out on a subconcious level that if doesn't respond to "the urge to go" or the body simply doesn't make the request.No worries yet, this too shall pass. Just avoid making a big deal about it and remember that although the washing machine may be your enemy at times, that's what it's for. B.

Hi S.! I am so sad to read about your poor little boy's embarassing problem. My husband had the same problem until he was 14! He went through all of the possible treatments, but it finally just stopped. Now we know there were two more alternatives that his parents never knew about:
#1 chiropractic. I know this seems crazy to alot of people, but it has been researched and proven to work. You can read about it here:
http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/chiropractic/bedwetting...
If you need a referral for a chiropractor with experience in this area, please let me know.

#2 nutrition. Your son may have an allergy to dairy. It also seems crazy, but there is also much research with removing dairy (all dairy) from the diet and miraculously, the bedwetting stops.

I wish you all the best and I hope this helps.
J.

I struggled with the very same problem and had to outgrow it. It was an embarrassing thing to deal with. My children had troubles with it as well and ended up outgrowing it as well. We tried the medications, and limiting fluid intake, as well but nothing was entirely effective. I have heard of something, and I'm not sure where to get it or what the name of it is. This device is an alarm system that goes off when your child begins to wet the bed. The key to it being effective is that you have to ensure that your child helps with cleaning things up and changing the sheets before going back to sleep. Eventually the child becomes aware of the need to use the restroom and will become accustomed to waking in the middle of the night and using the restroom before an accident occurs.

My daughter was 8 before she out grew wetting the bed. We went through visiting the doctor and the urologist. The urologist said that her bladder was a little smaller than expected, but this is not uncommon. He did yearly check ups from 5 to 7 and finally when she was 8 it grew enough to resolve the problem.

In the meantime, there are good night underwear which can be used for overnight events with his friends. We did this for sleep overs.

This is absolutely the most embarassing thing for a seven year old to endure, especially if his friends find out. What are you waiting for? Go to the doctor and get him some medication. I know for a fact they have some that work marvelously and seven is too old to be peeing the bed. I am surprised that several women with the same problem didn't see a need to help their child bring it to an end, but they aren't asking for advice and you are. Please get this taken care of.

S.,

My daughter will be 9 in Jan and still has accidents when she sleeps. She can go for hours while she is awake but when she sleeps she relaxes and if she is allowed to sleep to long she has accidents. From what I understand its a common problem and they will out grow it. I have noticed if she is too tired or if she has had an accident, (goodnights over fill just like diapers sometimes)the smell from the accident seems to trigger it as well. I have used cleansers and aired out her mattress with some febreeze and it seems to help. That and keeping her on a strict routine so that she goes to sleep and gets enough rest and she can not sleep in or she has them as well. I feel for your little man and I hope that he out grows it soon. Good Luck!

Kat

S.,
I am about to reveal one of my big secrets. I used to wet the bed. Thing is, everyone said that I would grow out of it. By the time I was 15 and STILL doing it we realized that I had an actual problem. I went to a urologist, and he told me that my bladder is half the size it should be. He also said it was not as strong as it should be. To fix the second part he had me do excersizes. Basically, while using the bathroom I had to stop in the middle, hold it as long as I could, and then finish. Its not a fun excersize, but it seemed to help a little. But not completely. I would still wet the bed if I got too tired or stressed out. So I finally talked to my Dr about it. He put me on something called DDAP, and I was on the lowest dose there is. It really did help me. With in a few months I was able to stop taking it and not have any accidents. I know how mortifying it can be to wet the bed with your friends around. I honestly think it is the worst feeling in the world, because adults are understanding of it in children, but other childern are not. Let your child know that you love him no matter what, and that you are going to be there with him each and every step of the way to help him through this. I would definatly call the scout leader and talk to them about this. So yeah, I just thought that I would let you know, nine times out of ten they will grow out of it, but every now and then there could actually be a reason why it is happening. I would talk to your childs doctor again and see if there is anything else that you can do. Also, keep a log of when he wets the bed and what was going on with him in school, family, or friends. If he is stressing about something then you might see an increase in the bed wetting. Good luck to you both, and please let your little one know he is not alone.