7 Year Old and Bed-wetting

My son wet the bed at age 7 also. He wet until I found out that the cause was allergies to milk and dust..........When I stopped giving him any dairy products and removed all his stuffed animals and anything that collected dust from his room, he stopped wetting the bed.........worth a try.

Among the other suggestions offered... why don't you just put a water-proof bed pad under him when he sleeps? Its a real good thing to have and to do... then you won't have to wash an entire set of bedding every time. Then this way, you don't "have to" have him in diapers...

I would suggest buying several, then that way you have extras for washing and then changing them out.

That is what I do with my eldest child. And for my toddler son who is still in diapers because his diaper leaks at night sometimes.

All the best,
Susan

I'm not trying to be judgemental, but why is he in diapers at night? Is there a medical reason? Have you talked to his Pediatrician about ways to help him past this stage?

I'm a single Mom too, and I know it's hard to get through some of the major stages when you know you could really use the help. However, from reading your 'a little about me', it sounds like you've got a full house. I'm wondering how long you've had this giant brood? I commend you for taking on helping kids who need love and guidance, but is this maybe affecting your own little one? Again, just questions...

Is his father involved in his life at all? I know that can be more of a double-edged sword than helpful, but a male influence is SUPER necessary when it comes to boys and potty learning.

Does he have nightmare or any other issues?

I am in the process of potty teaching my son, since he asked the other day to use the 'potty chair' and it's a tough process. If your son doesn't have the ability to hold his urine at night by this age, I'm wondering if there is a muscle control issue. I don't know for a fact, but I read somewhere that most 'boys' develop this by around age 3 and should be able to 'control' their stream.

My last question, have you talked to him about it? Sat down and spent some time with him one-on-one to find out how he feels about it? I used to work as a teacher full-time, and this can be such a tough time for socialization and issues like this if not dealt with can cause huge self-esteem issues.

I hope you and your family can find a way to make nights easier for everyone.

Good Luck.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/bedwetting/article_em.htm

http://www.nobedwetting.com/parents.htm

http://www.goodnites.com/na/expertadvice/Default.aspx

Hello H.,

My stepson (9) still wets the bed some times. So this is what we do
He can't drink water after 7:00 (NO LIQUIDS)
We wake him up in the middle of the night to go pee, and
we bought a plastic mattress cover his bed at target for like $15.00 dollars.

This has helped greatly

I know it’s tough and you wonder what can I do to make it better? (I know I do) but you can't you just have to hope and pray that it stops eventually. His mom took him to the pediatrician and they gave him some kind of pill to help him out, but I don't think it helps him as much as what I told you first. He is now sort off embarrassed of this condition, so I know he doesn't do it on purpose but I’ll have to try to remove all the dust and switch his milk like the other mom said it's worth a try.
Best of luck!!!

My son wet the bed until 8 1/2. We heard about this bed-wetting alarm that goes inside the underwear. At the first drop the alarm sounds and wakes them up. It helps develop the part of the brain that wakes you up for that. My son was such a heavy sleeper that even waking him up to take him to the bathroom was a chore. This frightened him at first, but after the third or fourth night, guess what? He gets up before the first drop! He hasn't wet the bed in almost a year now, except for when he was exhausted from jet lag after our vacation. You can get it from the Good Neighbor Pharmacy on Beach and Talbert. They had to order it for me. It was $85, but that is nothing compared to the price of diapers for his size and the effort of constantly changing sheets. Good luck!

Greetings H. ~ Couple things that may be helpful (my DS is 5-1/2, wears GoodNights every night and is responsible for cleaning up his bed and PJ's in case of accident).

1. Make sure your son's p***s is pointed down in the pull-up. Sometimes when they pull them on or up, the p***s is pointed upwards and pee goes right out the top and not into pull-up.

2. Buy a couple waterproof, hospital grade, bed pads. I found new ones on eBay (pack of 5 for $45). They are approx. 2x3 feet, and fit neatly under child, don't move much during the night, durable and washable (I had 1 pad for over 3 years before it finally gave out), and also good for when child is sick. Saves on changing and washing bed linens daily.

3. Cover mattress with waterproof cover too (extra protection).

4. Have child be responsible (or at least help out with) the changing of linens, keeping track of his supply of GoodNight's, etc.

Hi!

I don't have a suggestion to help keep the pee, however I do have a suggestion on keeping the bed fresh. First, purchase enough rubber sheeting (JoAnns sell it by the yard) to go accross the bed, down the sides and tuck under the mattress on both side. Then cover this with either a flat sheet that is folded and tucked in the sides or a couple of layers of fannel. This can be changed without stripping the whole bed and 7 he can be responsible for pulling the bedding off every morning.

My son will be 9 in March and is having the same issue. We tried limiting fluid, carrying him to the toilet before we go to bed around 11pm and having him go...nothing worked. The doctor suggested an alarm/buzzer that would wake him at the first little trickle, but it was $50+ and he said only works on about 50% of kids. We finally resorted to taping down a waterproof pad on top of his fitted sheet so we only have to change that, not all his bedding when the leak throughs happen.

You may want to check to see if you son has food allergies.
Many times this can be cause of bed wetting.

My stepbro was the same at that age.

I did not read all the posts but they all seemed to be about a different diaper so . . .

My mom had a rather different way of dealing with the "accident" issue, once she figured out that my stepdad was changing stepbro's sheets every morning. She asked if anything had been tried to get the bedwetting to stop and other than talking to him nothing had been done by either of his natural parents.

My mom sat stepbro down and told him that since he was the one making the mess he would be the one to clean it. He peed the bed that night and the next morning he had to strip his bed and put it into washer (mom added soap) and when he got home from school load into dryer then re-make bed. He stopped peeing the bed, it never happened again. It isn't a punishment like some say you cannot do simply cleaning up your own mess, just like toys :) hope it helps

My son (6 years) is on dessomopressin for bedwetting. He still wets his pullup-but wetting completely through it has stopped. I'm going to look into those tablets the Hyland tablets the other mom mentioned to see if it will stop the wetting completley.

They make diaper doublers. They look basically like maxi pads and you put them inside to add absorbency to the diaper/pull-up. You can find them in most grocery stores. If there is enough absorbency in the diaper, it won't leak.

Have you tried a bigger diaper? Maybe you can put a plastic cover over it as well?

HTH!

I had same issue, but with my daughter and maybe these steps will help. She goes to bed at 8pm and I found she was resless right around 10pm, so I would wake her at 9:30 and take her to the bathroom and that usually kept her dry all night. For accidents, I explained that it was till up to her to take the sheets off the bed and put them in the washer, but not a "blame" thing, just part of taking care of herself. She was also a "heavy breather" and had many episodes of sinus infections & bronchitis; her tonsils were removed and NO MORE BED WETTING!!! The Dr. said she likely had sleep apnea which causes poor sleeping cycles which caused her to be so tired that she would not wake up when her body got the "pee" messege. She is also doing better in school and wakes up without being grouchy.

I just read all of the replies and was surprised that no one mentioned Hyland's Homeopathic Bedwetting Tablets, they really work if you work them right.

Pour three tablets into the cap and then pour it into the kid's mouth under the tongue. Don't touch it with your hands, the oils chance the chemistry, Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppes, I've even seen them at Target.

I'm having a crazy busy day, so I can't type up more of my experiences right now, but I'd be glad to reply to personal messages.

Please keep reminding yourself that it is a body thing not a choice.

Good Luck

You might want to try the next size up? It seems to me anytime my kids start having a leaking problem they need to move up in size, even if they don't seem too small?? Worth a try maybe? I have a 5yo that is still peeing all night long so I will probably be in you shoes in a couple years! :-) I have a friend with an almost 9yo that has always wet the bed until about a yr. ago she put an alarm clock - that plays music instead of BEEP! - they set it for like 10pm I think, that wakes him up, he goes pee then goes right back to bed and doesn't wet the bed after that. Don't know if that would help you or not but just something that works for her. Good luck!

I'm 85 and I'm incontinent so I wear Certainty underwear I bought it at Walgreens. Try it, I hope it works. A.

H.,
Are you sure he's wearing the right size? Try a size smaller, or larger. Also, there are mats that you can put on his bed over the fitted sheet, (they use them in hospitals) and that might be easier to clean up, rather than changing his bedding everyday. Also, I'd see a specialist, if you haven't done so already. It seems like your son might benefit from some professional help if there is anything available for older kids who wet the bed.
Best wishes for you and your son. And congrats on your growing family. Don't know how you do it with so many kids!

Hi H..
I'm sorry to hear that. He's 7 so he understands...maybe just having a heart to heart talk with him about going to other people's homes to sleep might do it. I had my daughter with the same problem and at 6 years old, I took her out to breakfast and said to her..."baby I know you go to school everyday right? well you go to the bathroom right, you remember your meals right? You brush your teeth, brush your hair, change your clothes right? Well, what if I used your bathroom everyday, number 2'd and never flushed the toilet? Would you like that. (All answers yes until that question and it was a firm ewwwww NO!) Then I explained every night she wets the bed, I get the same ewwww about that and it's that same feeling for me to changed stinky sheets. Further more, your friends may invite you for a sleep over and until you get the bathroom thing down..."NO CAN DO!No sleep overs."

Literally, that night the bed wetting stopped and I heard the toilet flush thereafter. I even took her to the doctor to check why she goes so much and she had an bladder problem. She used the bathroom before bedtime faithfully as well. Good luck.

I'm not sure how the pee in escaping but my 2 nephews were also wetting the bed at night around the same age. The doctor told my sister that they "probably" had weak bladders but my parents (their grandparents) let them stay the weekend and offered them rewards if they didn't wet the bed and woke up dry in the morning. Well both nights they woke up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom in the toilet AND woke up dry! Both of the boys! That was the end of their bed wetting.

While it most definitely might not be his fault, he might need a little push to stop wetting the bed instead of diapers so he can keep doing it.