Hi moms! Help! My 6 1/2 son still has fairly frequent nighttime accidents. Last night was his third in a week. He will go for a month or two with none and then have 3-4 within a two week period. Needless to say, I am less than thrilled when awakened at 3 am to have to shower him and change the bed. I try not to get upset with him, though. He is just a very deep sleeper. He is healthy and a pretty happt-go-lucky kid, so I don't believe it is medical or stress related.
My nephew went through the same thing until he was almost 11. I can't do this for another 4 years! We have tried limiting liquids and sweets at night and have a regular bedtime routine, which always includes using the potty before getting into bed. My husband has been getting him up in the middle of the night, but he is not really awake and I worry that we are merely training his body to go without him realizing it. He refuses to wear a pull-up.
Any suggestions?
I've heard really good things about a book called "Dry All Night". It has a section for parents to read and also a section for the kids to read to themselves every night.
You are doing the right thing by not getting mad at him. My son, who is also 6 1/2, wets EVERY SINGLE night. So consider yourself lucky that your son wets infrequently. My son wears a pull-up, but since he pees so much at night (even with limiting liquids, peeing before bed, etc.), many nights the bed/pj's still gets wet. When that happens, I just put a thick towel down on the bed over the wet area (I also keep a plastic mattress protector on his bed, directly under the sheet), change his pj's, and get him back to bed as quickly as possible. If the blankets are wet, I just either flip them over to a dry spot, or toss on different blankets. I do the laundry the next day, when I get home from work.
My dad wet the bed until he was 13, so I realize that this could go on for quite some time. Ug...I feel your pain!!!
My 6yr. old still has accidents at night, and we've basically done the same as you . . . limiting liquids, potty before bed etc. And it's still happening. Our pediatrician says it's not abnormal for some, and can possibly continue until 11 or 12 yrs. of age. Well, I'm like you. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I'm so tired of getting up in the middle of the night. The one difference is that I make my son wear a pull-up. But some nights, that's no help . . . he and the bed are still wet. I don't know if it's how he's sleeping (position) or just that it's too much for the pull-up to hold. Anyway, I can't offer much advice. Just know that you're not alone. :)
My 7 year old is the same way! I make him wear goodnites to bed, because I simply cannot change his bedding that much with 3 younger children.
Like the others have said, it could continue on for a while. I would just tell him he needs to wear the goodnites. Hang in there!
We covered our daughter's mattress with a big piece of plastic. Then we put a sheet on it and on top of that, a large piece (2 yards) of leak proof fabric (bought it at joanne fabric's) that I sewed a piece of quilted fabric (about 1 yeard) to. The quilted fabric is about where the lower body would be when sleeping and it absorbs the pee. That stays on top of the sheet and if my daughter has an accident, she is to take that off the bed and continue to sleep. She changes her clothing herself. I have two of these sheet things ... so one can go in the wash while the other is on the bed. I got tired of washing all the sheets when she had an accident so I figured, why not put it on top? She actually prefers it as it is kind of warm.
Lastly, we do a positive affirmation before going to bed - something like 'If I have to go potty during the night, I will wake up and use the toilet'. I figure telling the body what you want it to do can't hurt!
I hate to admit it, but my older son, and his cousin, have this problem (they are 9 and 11!!) It's a hormonal issue, and not the child's fault.
For occasional use (like when he is invited to a sleepover) he takes an inexpensive prescription drug, Desmopressin. We are looking into buying a sensor alarm - we haven't done it yet because he was resistant to the idea, but now he has asked us to because it is embarrassing to him. For now, he wears pullups (goodnites are best) - we are a two-working-parent family and we're done with night wakings!
Hi M. K You didn't mention if you have taken him to see his peditrican. If not maybe you should because it could be something physical.
Malem Bedwetting Alarm did the trick for us. We were setting the alarm to wake my son 2 times a night but our ped recommended this & I would recommend it to anyone. Kinda pricy, but worth every penny. Check out ebay. You will be so happy you did. He does have the occasional accident still at 9 yrs old, but he does take care of everything himself & we have a waterproof cover on he mattress that we purchased at slumberland.
Hate to break it to you but my 11 year old son still has slight issues--though it has gottem much better recently. I would have him wear the goodnights--they can be reworn again and again. Also my son typically has issues when he is overtired--he is also a very hard sleeper.
My 6 1/2 yr old son has the same issue and I would suggest having your son hand wash his own sheets and make his own bed if he refuses to wear a pull-up, my son doesn't like it either, but it's purely selfish not to- like you said, you don't have time for that...and who know how long it might be.
I will say I switched to a cloth pull-up and I think it has improved the situation, but it is by no means been the answer. My son too is a very sound sleeper. I did have a friend who used a bed-wetting alarm and thought it was helpful...
First Steps has a waterproof pad that tucks around the mattress...if you get a couple you can just switch that one small piece out rather than change the whole bed and only have to laundry every few days. Good nights are more of a short than a pull-up, have you tried those with him? Bedwetting through the kid years runs in my family, but it eventually will go away. Hang in there!
my 7 yr old daughter is the same way, so I know what you mean
We put down waterproof pads (like 5 of them) on her bed each night, they are the thick flannel burp/lap pads you get for infants and they work great to soak up the pee so you don't have to do anything but take them off and have him change pants. I taught her long ago that if she wasn't going to wear a pull up then she was going to take care of this herself and NOT wake me up. Teach him how to take care of himself and leave the shower till morning.
Nighttime dryness is caused by a hormone. Until they develop that hormone you could do every single thing you want and they will not be dry no matter what. You can train them to wake when they START to pee with a bedwetting alarm. My nephew is 10 and he has had great success with one. But my daughter refuses to use one. ugh. There is also medicine (the hormone) they can get but usually they won't prescribe it till they are 8.
So, get the alarm, or teach him to take care of it himself. Maybe you could put a Poise pad in his undies since it's not a pull up really?
I used to do some writing for a nonprofit that helps people with incontinence. It sounds like your son has something called Enuresis, which is essentially bedwetting. As the body grows and develops, it increases a hormone that condenses urine at night (that's why your urine is a darker shade of yellow in the morning). Usually when children are wetting the bed their body simply isn't making enough of the hormone yet. Most kids eventually catch up and their body eventually makes enough of the hormone and they no longer wet the bed. People sometimes think the problem is that they sleep too deeply and don't get up to pee at night. But kids who don't wet the bed don't get up to pee at night either... their body condenses the urine so they don't have to get up. It's not the kids fault... this is just how their body is developing. You can learn more by going to www.simonfoundation.org, click on About Incontinence, and then scroll down and click on What Types of Incontinence Are There. Look for Enuresis. The best advice is to embrace that this is how your child's body is functioning and find a way to make it work for your child and your family.
Best of luck!
J. Sassack
Founder and Contributor
www.UrbanSuburbanFamily.squarespace.com
While it is no fun for you, it is no fun for him either. Personally, I would not make him take care of it himself. He is not intentionally wetting. Try using the mattress pads that a few of the moms have suggested, it might help save the middle of the night bed stripping and talk to your doctor.
Two of my children also had a problem. For my children it was actually related their bowel movements.
Good Luck!!
Hi, I had the same problem with my 6 year old and happy to say that now that he's 7 it's totally gone! I don't know for sure what finally clicked, but to make my life easier in the transition I had him sleep on a pad made for incontinence (you can find them at CVS and Walgrens) That way when he had an accident all I had to do was take the water proof pad off, wet wipe wash and change his pj bottoms. I didn't do the whole shower thing. Too distruptive to both his sleep and mine! It will pass!
