6 Year Old Still Wetting the Bed - Saint Cloud,FL

I was a bed wetter til, oh, maybe 10...? I recall having dreams that there was a toilet nearby and would sit and pee. Meanwhile, I was in happy la-la dream land and wetting the bed. When I did wake up, I couldn't go down the hall to run into the bathroom on time because there was a tiger or bear lerking in the shadows... It's something he'll grow out of unless there is a bladder infection or some other physical aspect.
Plastic mattress cover, nightlight for when he wakes up, a change of clothes nearby, and lots of patience.

My 8- and 10-year-old nephews both still wet the bed. They wear Good Nights, but the 10-year-old is at the max weight for them and they don't always hold. There is not a whole lot you can do if there is nothing medically wrong with him. Just teach him to strip his bed when he has an accident and buy him some extra sheets to help. It is perfectly normal, especially in boys, to continue wetting the bed into the double digits. Good luck!

I'm sure that it's frustrating for both you and your son!

I remember having those vivid dreams that I was sitting on a toilet and wetting the bed until I was about 8 or so. It's not his fault and no amount of limiting fluids will stop this. I just think that the bladder/brain connection isn't there yet. You might want to invest in some overnight diapers and forget about it. When he wakes up dry a couple mornings in a row put him back in undies and see what happens.

Good luck!

I also remember having very vivid dreams that I WAS in the bathroom on the toilet... and the wetness in my clothes would wake me up after it was already too late! (Glad to know I'm not weird... others have experienced those dreams!)

I never did much limiting of fluids for my son when he had nighttime wetting issues (he didn't fully outgrow them until he was about 9-10 years old, which I understand is not that uncommon). I did try to make sure he drank a LOT during the day, so he didn't feel dehydrated and that last minute NEED to drink something before bed. I still let him have a few sips after brushing his teeth. :)
But push the liquids during the daytime.. then have him go to the bathroom early in the bedtime routine, and then again the last thing before turning out the light. Then, after about 3 hours, you can take him again. That USUALLY was sufficient to keep our son dry the rest of the night... there were a few occasions, however, when it just wasn't enough. My son is a VERY heavy sleeper and just is asleep to heavy to wake up because of the urge. I think sometimes our bodies are more efficient/less efficient at processing the urine output than others, which can result in some of these wee hours accidents. just my opinion.

Just remember that it isn't something he is doing consciously, unless he actually does wake up but doesn't GET up to use the potty in the night. Have you tried asking him if he would like a nightlight in the hallway between his room and the potty? Or a nightlight in the actual bathroom? Some kids are less comfortable wandering around the house at night alone.

My daughter is 12. We took her to the Dr., as well as consulted a psychologist, when she was younger. All this did was make her more self conscious. She feard going on vacations, because she shared a botel bed with her older sister. She cried when she got invited to sleep over parties. Neither Dr.s helped her. She did eventually grow out of it. We put a water proof mattress pad on the ped. She did not want to wear pull-ups. We told her it was not her fault and we were not angry with her. We invested in extra sheets for her bed. She currently has 5 sets. We do not need them now but she loves to change the sheets on her bed and give her rrom a new look. My biggest advice to you would be just love him. Tell him you do not judge him.

6 is the magic age where you would want to first consult your doctor. If they are still wetting at 6 then the doc needs to rule out any physical/medical things that can be causing it. Then if that is clear you could continue with what you are doing and add:
-taking him to the bathroom before you go to bed
-getting an alarm that attaches to the front of the undies and wakes them at the first sign of wetness

A primitive reflex called Spinal Galant is probably still present. Put him on all 4's and stroke lightly down from shoulder to pelvis about 1/2 inch off spine. If he wiggles like a fish, it is still there. There are integration exercises that I can tell you so let me know what your findings are. Google it and see what else this reflex is responsible for when unintegrated.

Take a deep breath...hold it...count to 10...there - let it out.

Now: It takes some kids' bodies longer than others to figure out the whole "don't wet yourself in your sleep" thing. This was extremely frustrating to me, having twin boys - one who decided just after he was 3 that he was going to wear underpants 24/7 & did it no problem, & the other just seemed to get into such a deep sleep that it didn't matter even how many times I woke him at night - he was still wet at least once a night (sometimes more) & in the morning. There definitely seemed to be a bladder-release-upon-waking thing. I restricted fluids after a certain time, woke him numerous times each night, read all the nice stories that are out there about staying dry, etc., but I think in the end it was just a matter of his body maturing in the right way. From what I've read in the various bedwetting books & online, a child's body begins to create less urine at night (rather than "holding it"), but for many kids (particularly boys, but some girls too) this process doesn't happen as quickly. Reading books, talking/explaining, begging, scolding - none of that worked - eventually, while he still did wet, the amount began to lessen to the point where I didn't have to change the whole bed, all the clothes, practically bathe him completely, etc., and only put down a thick beach towel under him.

Note to all of you saying EWW, gross, unsanitary, etc.: really not all that unsanitary - everything got washed every day, he got washed every day, but we just really needed our sleep - it was taking quite a toll being up all night doing laundry & trying to ensure him staying dry (which never really did happen until his body was finally ready - just over 7 1/2 years old).

Good luck to you - I know it's stressful - you will all get through it & he won't be getting married & still be a bedwetter. Smile -

I took my son to the Dr and they gave him a med that goes by DDAVP. That's short for a much longer name but it really worked for him. Our insurance covered it so I'm not sure about the cost. But it may even be on the $4 list at Wal-Mart. Our pharmacy started offering a $3.95 program for their customers. I love it. They couldn't sell these drugs at this price before and now they can and still they are making a profit. That's my soap box for today!

E. G.

Unfortunately the best thing to know is that it is completely NORMAL and he will outgrow it.

You could see a pediatric urologist to rule out an structural problems with the bladder - or to see if there is any other problem - but most likely it is just that your son has grown faster than his bladder.

Limiting fluids is not a good idea - except right before bed. You can try waking him during the night at reguar intervals to have him go.

My son wet the bed until he was almost 10 - we worked with a pediatric urologist b/c he had some urgency and small bladder capacity issues. He also had an underlying chronic constipation problem that we had to manage with regular fiber and miralax. He finally had success with the bed alarm - but I don't think he would have at age 6 - he chose it at age 10 - was dry within 2 nights - used for a full 2 weeks and dry for over a year now!!!

The urologist did reassure me that 20% of kids outgrow it each year until age 15... up to that point they consider it totally normal - I know that is not much of help to hear.

I did take my son to a chiropractor - it did not help. I don't agree with medications that give you synthetic hormones to not urinate - they are not a CURE...

Good luck - I completely understand what you are going through.

I take my boys potty before I go to bed AND once in the middle of the night.

Coming from the other end, when I was younger, I wet the bed until I was about 10 years old. Why? Because when I had to go, I had very vivid dreams that I was actually sitting on the toilet. My parents yelled at me and said that I was lying. They never believed me.

When I was pregnant with my second child, I had the same dream and almost wet the bed at the age of 30 years old. Luckily, while dreaming, I remembered that sometimes I had dreams like that in the past and I caught myself.

Ask your little one why he's wetting the bed. He may have an answer for you. Listen to him, and believe him.

It's a long shot, but you should make sure to rule out food allergies and sensitivities. My nearly 7 yr old was struggling with nightly wetting until recently and nothing seemed to help. She tested negative for food allergies but she had an obvious sensitivity to milk so we had always given her soy milk. About two weeks ago we decided to remove soy from her diet as well and after a couple of days she stopped wetting and has been dry 11 out of the past 14 days! I should say that she had no obvious sensitivity or reaction to soy. I was just doing trial eliminations of foods to see what would happen. I've read of others whose wetting was in
response to preservatives, food colorings and the mold in cheese. As I said, it's a long shot but worth consideration. If we had just waited for her to grow out of it we might never had found the problem.

There's often an emotional cause - such as experiencing anxiety or intimidation related to a male or msaculine-type authority figure. If it's emotionally based then other things you do may not fully resolve it.

Working with the pediatrician, you can rule out serious physical problems or emotional ones. If there doesn't seem to be a fixable underlying cause, then just wait it out. My daughter wet the bed until 4. There was nothing wrong with her, she just did. We limited her liquid intake and woke her up in the middle of the night, but she still did it. We got her plastic sheets and had her help in changing wet sheets in the morning. One day we just realized it had stopped. My son had a friend who was 8 that still wet the bed. I'm not sure at what point he stopped because we moved. I went to highschool with someone who'd wet the bed until he was 12 and a friend just a couple years ago who's daughter wet the bed still at 10. Her problem was that she'd been abused. But for most kids that have the problem, it's just a matter of waiting for the bladder muscles to be as strong as they need to be.

The fastest remedy I know of is the night-time bed wetting alarm. You clasp it onto the underwear and if it gets wet it goes off like an alarm clock and wakes the child up so He/she can run to the restroom. It is not that expensive and can be picked up at most real pharmacies or ordered over the internet. I used it on my son and he stopped within a week.

My son goes through the same thing. My sister in law is a ped and she adviced me the problem is he has an under developed bladder. There is NOTHING I could do about it, he had to basicly grown out of it. I got him an alarm clock that wakes him up at night around 1am so he can go to the bathroom. Sometimes this helps. I dont make it a big deal. Also, I got him those pads they use at the hospitals to put under you, and that has helped cut down the amount of laundry I was doing. Because I dont want him to feel bad about this since its out of his control I just tell him its not his fault, its not a big deal and I promise him his body is going to stop doing this eventually. I hope this helps.

I have the same situation with my almost 7 year old son. I don't have an answer to make it stop, but I do have a suggestion to help you cope. In addition to having a mattress protector under his fitted sheet, I also found a waterproof cover to put OVER the fitted, bottom sheet. It is about 3 foot wide and tucks under the edges so it won't move. If it gets wet, I just pull it off and throw in washer and don't have to strip the bed. It has saved my sanity most mornings! I only wish I had bought two. It comes in twin or full size and I got it from one of those kid-gadget magazines, One Step Ahead. You can get it online and it was around $40, I think.
We don't make a big deal about it w/ my son, he knows he shouldn't be wearing a pull-up at night, but I tell him his bladder size just hasn't caught up w/ the rest of him. He is about 82 pounds, so the pull ups don't always work and he is about to outgrow them as he has football player thick thighs and a tummy.
Good Luck!

I made my daughters life hell on earth about bedwetting. We stopped drinks after 7, after dinner, after 5, the poor child was probably dehydrated.

They just don't have the ability to stop it themselves. Take her to a Urologist and if they find nothing biologically wrong then go buy some pullups and let the child have drinks. They will eventually grow out of it. Usually by the beginning of adolescence.

BTW, the only thing the bedwetting alarms do is wake everyone up every night and get you more laundry because you end up changing the sheets during the night and then again in the morning.

We kept the water proof mattress pad on the bed and we used pull ups at night for a long time. It's common for boys to have problems sometimes till 7 or 8 or 9 yrs old. It sometimes has to do with a slow growing bladder in some boys and they sleep so deeply they seldom feel the need to wake up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. They out grow it sooner or later. It's important to remember that this embarrasses them, and they are not doing it on purpose. Try not to get mad and always have a spare set of sheets and dry pajamas ready just in case.

There is an all natural herbal remedy. Its called Bedwetting Formula. You can look on my website for information or send me your email address and I can email you directly.

www.mynsp.com/healthykidshappymommy