7 Year Old Still Wetting the Bed

My stepdaughter had this problem until she was about 14. We found an online program that she was able to do, and it worked. But, the primary thing was to eliminate dairy after 6:00pm.

http://www.hargitthousefoundation.com/

Good luck!

J.

Hi Rachel,

i am also having the same problem only my daughter is 11 years old. When I spoke to the doctor about it, he stated that she is growing so fast that her bladder is not having a chance to grow with her. He also was willing to give her some medicine, but I chose not to use the medicine and just work around it. One thing I did was buy a mattress protecter sheet, and due to the noise of the plastic I place a fitted sheet on the mattress first then the plastic covering then another sheet. She is much better, but when she starts growing again I know she will be wetting the bed. I hope this helps. Hang in there they do go out of it.

Had the same issues....the bedwetting alarm worked great BUT you have to get them up and awake when it goes off. If you let them sleep through the bed changes and clothes changes it doesn't do any good.

Also, we found out that my daughter has sleep apnea and that is a major cause of bed wetting.

I would inquire about the apnea, it is really quite a common thing among children.

Hi R.,

I too was a bedwetter until age 10, so I expected my two sons to also have problems in that area. However, they didn't and I strongly believe the reason was because I did not give them dairy (we later learned they and I were both allergic to dairy). That can be one of the reasons for bedwetting:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/388487/bedwettin...
tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/7jc6nt

Your pedi will likely tell you this isn't true, BUT most conventional doctors get one course in nutrition and they are NEVER taught that the manner in which what we consume can impact our health and bodies (which is really silly when you think about it - you are what you eat).

Dairy can aggravate the bladder and in some folks the kidneys - noting that dairy is one thing they tell folks with kidney stones to avoid, so there is science behind this - it's the accumulation of calcium in these organs that seems to be problematic.

So, I would recommend you remove dairy from her diet for at least a month and see how it works. There are tons of alternatives and even ice creams that are fantastic (but skip the rice one - it tastes like cardboard and look for the Divine Decadence ones (the Coconut is fantastic and only has a few ingredients - the have cookie dough and mint chocolate chip versions). Cheese is the toughest - they do have some rice cheese cheddar flavor slices that are okay for sandwiches.

M. B.

Our 7 yr old still wets the bed, and it turns out there are medical reasons for it not just a developmental delay. When I finally pushed hard enough we had an eeg, a sleep study, and some elimination testing done and found out- she has apnea and bladder reflux. We- like you- expierence weeks and sometimes months of dryness and then flood gates open. We have also tried counseling... We were initilally told its developmental, then it was she's just trying to get your attention... Patience and persistance! I am so glad we did not punish her and then find out she really can't help it.

Hi Rachel!

Have you tried taking your daughter to a chiropractor? I am a Chiropractor and I have treated many children for bedwetting. The nerves that supply the bladder come out of the spine. If those areas of the spine are out of alignment it puts pressure on those nerves and it will not allow them to function properly. By adjusting the spine it removes the pressure on those nerves and allows the bladder to function properly. We can also check for food allergies or underlying infections. If you are interested you can check out our website at sullivanchiropractic.com or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at ###-###-####. Thank you! Dr. Sandra S.

After a few visits to our chiropracter my son stopped wetting the bed. This was years ago and I don't remember how many visits but I think it was one or two. Don't just go to any chiro though. We used a gonstead chiro or one who does adjustmenst like gonstead. Currently we use Dr Fugere at Fusion Chiropractic in Frisco.

I have a four year old. I make sure he uses the restroom when he goes to sleep around 8pm. Then, I wake him up when I go to bed around 11pm. Then, I wake him up again around 3 or 4. I have noticed that he has started waking himself up lately to use the restroom but not always. It is a slow process but he doesn't wear goodnights anymore and hasn't wet the bed in months.

Rachel- I would first ck with the pediatrician- from what I understand "wetting the bed" isnt hereditary but a bladder issue can be. Stop all liquids by around 6-7pm and maybe this week during vacation- wake her up throughout the night to empty her bladder. To be honest with you- there are remedies for bedwetting that weren't around when you were younger and at 12 I am very surprised that the dr didnt address it. It can totally crush your dgts self esteem and ruin her "sleepover" fun times. I'm sure its an easy fix and may be something as easy as adjusting her diet or habits. -but I would address the situation. Sometimes bedwetting is also caused by stress.

Good luck!
D.

I had the same problem when I was little. I ended up having Kidney infections. I would make sure she doesn't have some kind of bladder or kidney infection too! Good luck!

I remember my BIL bedwetting when I first met my husband, he as about 10. He didnt do it all the time, but it as enough that he would not do sleepovers. He outgrew it pretty soon after that though.

My daughter was in pull-ups at night until 5 years old, when we out her on ADHD meds. We tried training her at night and just decided it wasnt worth the stress on all of us. After the meds started, it stopped. The doctor linked the two together, saying that ADHD kids often have trouble with nighttime wetting. Something I wasnt expecting, but a nice bonus.

I would discuss it with your doctor, I know her pedi took a urine sample and whatnot to look for a few things.

GL.

I got an alarm off of ebay that works miracles. You need to look up bedwetting alarm it got my son to stop the night time accidents and he was the same age as your daughter. Good luck!

My daughter's friend is almost 8 and still wears pull ups at night. Her mom took her to the doctor and they told her she had narrow tubes or something. (this is an 8 year old relaying the info, remember) They bought her a watch with an alarm in it for the daytime so she goes to the bathroom even when she doesn't feel the urge. Then she wears the pull ups at night. She understands it's a medical issue and it's not big deal. When we have sleep overs she's very matter of fact about it and no one bothers her. Kudos to you for not making her feel bad about it. That would do more harm than good.

I was a bed-wetter myself up to the age of 11 and my mother discovered after talking to our pediatrician that it was related to milk/dairy. I could still drink milk and have dairy products but I could not have any past a certain time at night. The bedwetting stopped. My 6 year old is the same. He can't have anything to drink even water 30 minutes before he goes to bed and we make him go potty right before he does get in bed. We haven't had any accidents in a long time (knock on wood). I have also though gotten up in the middle of the night and made him go potty if I got a feeling that he might have an accident. We don't use any medication to prevent this.

There are also horomonal reasons for bedwetting. Your body produces certain horomones that regulate the amount of urine produced during certain times of the day. As the body matures, the horomones decrease the amount of urine produced at night. She's probably got some more maturing to do, especially if there is family history. DDAVP is the meds which help, it might be worth looking into. If she's dry some nights and not others, you have a better chance of the meds working than if she's wet every night.

Rachel, even if it is sleep apnea or narrow tubes, your child will most likely grow out of it. You are handling the situation just right. You should share your own experience with your child so she does know that there is an end.

I wet the bed also until I was 10... I would ask your pedi about it because I hear there is medicine now for the older kids who wet the bed...

Good luck
A. J

Dear R.,

Patience and love--that's what your daughter needs. Additionally, you should have her urine checked to make sure she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. If there's any reason to believe she may be under stress, you need to check into that as well, even if that means getting her counseling. Probably, it IS just hereditary, and she will grow out of it, just like you did. FYI--I understand your concern. My grandson had the same problem.

Deb

My son is almost 9 and has wet the bed almost every night of his life. It is hard, but pull ups are great (when they don't leak)! Our doctor tried to give us the medicine at his 8 year old check up, but when I researched it on webmd their were several comments about it giving children seizures. I felt it wasn't worth it and he will eventually grow out of it. I hope!

R.,

We bought an alarm system for our son when he was younger. It was great. Seems like it was called "Star" something.

The alarm gets attached to the child's pajama top. It has a lead attached to it that you snap onto the child's underwear. When the child starts to urinate, the material between the snap gets wet and completes the electrical circuit and the alarm goes off and startles the child's body and the urine flow stops. Meanwhile, the parents can hear the alarm and come help the child get to the toilet.

Our son wet his bed for quite awhile before we found out how to solve the problem. We tried the waking him up before we went to bed routine, but he couldn't wake up, we'd have to drag him to the toilet still mostly asleep. The alarm helped him wake up enough to get to the toilet before finishing peeing. After a few weeks with the alarm his body learned to control the urge to pee. We had a party! And filled out the special Star certificate sent with the product (stars for how many dry nights, after a certain pre-chosen number, you give the certificate)

Hope this helps. We loved this product.

A funny note about when we were first started using the product: The alarm had gone off, I had come to help our son, he was still mostly asleep, standing in front of the toilet trying to pee and he yanked off the alarm (which was still buzzing to help him wake up) and threw it in the toilet. LOL!!!!!!!!!! I yelled for my husband and he had to quick-smart open the alarm and dry it while both parents laughed hysterically. Something to watch out for, I guess!

Hope this helps.

A.

No help but I am in the same boat with my 6 year old son. His 3 and 4 year old siblings have been trained completely and through the night since they were 2 years 3 months each. I do think that there is something to the hereditary thing because all three are adopted but the younger two have the same bio parents. It is hard on him to see them not need the pull ups. I try not to call attention to it and since he has a plastic sheet I let him not wear the Pull Ups when he doesn't want to. I am hoping to get some advise from his doctor or maybe here.

Good luck,
K.

I have a son who is 6 and still wets the bed as well. I also have a friend who has a daughter who is a little bit older and she wet the bed for many years as well. She found a product that goes under the sheet and when the child begins to urinate it sets off an alarm waking up the child. She said after a few weeks it worked for her daughter. As for us I just set my alarm every night and wake him up between 2 and 3 am. I just remember that it is not lazy it is that he simply does not wake up and I know he will out grow it soon enough.

Keep up your good work and remember that your daughter needs kindness and patience.

R., my 7 yr old son still wets his pull-up and my other 2 potty trained kids, (5 and 3) do not. I also wet the bed until about 12 yrs old. I guess he got that gene? His doc says not too worry for another year or so and then we can talk meds. But he said most of all not to blame him so we don't. I am so happy for pull-ups though. I still have to wash sheets when those leak but if I didn't have them, I would literally have to wash sheets everyday! Good luck! And don't feel bad.

I think you are smart about not yelling at her or making her feel bad. My brother wet the bed until he was 10 or so. He never wore pullups; however, my mom had to put a waterproof cover on the mattress to keep it from ruining. I remember that she and my brother were always having to wipe down the cover the next morning and wash sheets. However, she NEVER made him feel bad. You may want to eliminate the pullups and put a protective cover on the mattress. Maybe if she feels the wet at night she may not like that and wake up to go to the bathroom. I am not sure if that will help or not considering my brother just slept all night in his wet bed - didn't bother him. However, girls are sometimes different. You may also want to check with the pediatrician.

hi R.. My son also still wets the bed and I used to wet the bed too. My ped said it is hereditary for sure. But here's the kicker, if it's from the Dad, they will wet the bed about as long as their dad did. However, if it is from the mom, they will do it longer than the mom did. He also said there is a medication that you can give for sleepovers, etc., that will control it but it'll take a little tweaking to get the dosage right. You don't give them the meds all the time, just on sleepovers, etc.

I know that for me, it was that I slept so hard that I actually dreamt I was sitting on the potty. So, it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that and was able to "train" myself to wake up. I remember all kinds of things my mom said to me (not positive) about it and all the things she tried to get me "over it". I remember teh alarm, etc. I slept right through the alarm and even the one that shocks you.

Hope that helps!

Overall, just don't give your daughter any grief at all. She's not lazy or anything like that, she just can't do anything about it. Just take it in stride and don't make her feel any worse than she already does. But do talk to your ped about it.

C.

Hi R..
First, have you talked to your pediatrician? You might want to do that, to get some reassurance.
Second, I also have a child (6 y.o.) who wets the bed every single night. I tried not giving him dairy (they say it makes them sleep more soundly, but he sleeps really soundly no matter what), I tried not allowing him to take drinks after 6pm. I even get him up in the middle of the night to pee. So, I bought a bed wetting alarm. The literature that came with it gave advice that I'd NEVER heard before: if your child has any problems whatsoever going potty during the day, your night problems will not go away. I thought, "no way. My kid is potty trained." but, he DOES hold it a lot, and run to the potty almost wetting his pants, and often goes "on the run" meaning he just goes very quickly. The book said that kids like mine (maybe yours too) have not learned how to COMPLETELY empty their bladders during the day. So, at night, when they can not be awake to tighten their muscles and hold in the pee, those muscles relax and let the pee out. SO (sorry so long) they suggest first getting the daytime routine under good control. AFter that, many problems fix themselves on their own. But, if not, the bed-wetting alarm may help too.

I am still on phase 1: getting him to relearn how to completely empty his bladder during the day. Our motivation is this: he has to go pee on the potty at least 7 times every day, or else he HAS to wear a pull-up to bed (which he hates) but if he does the 7x he will get a little candy in the am the next day. So far it's working. I still get him up to pee in the middle of the night but I figure, one step at a time.

I would be very happy to share the info I read. I have it in a PDF file so if you have adobe acrobat reader, you could read it too. Just reply to me here if you are interested.

Good luck!

Hi, I in the same boat here. My son is 9 years old and still wets the bed. When he was 3 1/2 y.o. I took him to his pediatrician to talk about his wetting the bed and after running all sorts of tests (blood and urine) he told us that some kids just go thru this without any specific reason and that we just had to wait until he outgrew it on his own. My husband still gets mad and says that he is just lazy however all this does is hurt our sons feelings and nothing changes.

This runs in my family since my Aunt, my cousing, my brother and my sister also battled with this until they were about 11-12 years old and none currently have this problem (as far as I know!).

Good luck and much patience.

My son is now 8 and wears a pull-up type underwear at night only. Our pediatrician thinks nothing of it, says he's a heavy sleeper. He is! Nothing wakes him once he's asleep. He can even wet the bed and not wake up sometimes. He has dry nights...after four dry nights he is allowed to wear underwear a night. This rarely turns out well. This is something, I believe, he'll eventually grow out of. I don't worry about it a bit. I never say a word if he wets...just have him help me take the sheets off and put them back on. They'll grow out of it eventually, so don't make a big deal of it. Take care!