7Yr Old Son Peeing at Night

Celeste,
I feel your pain. My almost 6 year old has a terrible time making it through the night without wetting the bed. She really doesn't like to wear pull-ups so we have a routine. Limit liquid after dinner, pee after brushing teeth and getting into bed, then no more than 2 hours after she is asleep we get her up and take her to the bathroom. If she pees a LOT we know that we have to take her again in about 2 hours. If she doesn't pee a lot we know that she will most likely make it through the rest of the night. Most nights this works but honestly there are nights when even with this we end up changing the sheets once even twice. I hate it, but I know that she doesn't mean to do this. When we get her up in the night to pee she doesn't even wake up, not at all through the whole process. We have a friend who is a physician and she told us that she wet the bed until she was 12 and that unfortunately for us, our daughter will just have to grow out of it in her own time. I wouldn't make him feel bad about this, most likely he can't help it. Good luck to you. I will think of you as I'm changing sheets at 2am.

If you click on my name you'll all the advice I got for my 10yr old girl about the same thing
Best wishes
J.

Hi Celeste,

I hear your frustration and I'm imagining you are wanting to support your child the best way you can--and it sounds like you're worried about his health. And it sounds like you are wanting to support your own needs for cleanliness, predictability and hygiene in your home--? The best thing I can say first is please be patient. Children are still quite young at age seven, still tender, and they can respond to frustration with shame. I don't think you'd mean to be shaming--yet I can imagine him feeling that way given that it sounds like you think either something is wrong with him or he isn't cooperating. My daughter is six and a half, and she's had the same frequent urination situation. Also wears a diaper at night as she's not aware of when she urinates at night. I haven't been too concerned about the diaper at night, though I have wondered how it will shift. I've spoken with some adults that remember making the transition at 8 or 9--it took that long for them to be able to feel the urge to when they were so deeply asleep. Two things I have learned about this.

One is that it is not uncommon for children to still need to wear diapers to bed at this age. When I talk with other parents about it, I hear that all the time, about how so and so needed diapers until such and such an age--older than our kids. Given this I accept where my daughter's body is now and support her with a diaper. She doesn't have conscious control, and I would not want her to feel bad about herself because of this.

The other is that I recently took her to a Chinese medicine doctor, not just for this, but for this along with some other symptoms that together I was concerned about. He knew immediately what the situation is and has been treating her for about two months. There's been a significant improvement in all of her symptoms, including having more control over urination and not needing to go as often. My experience is that Western medicine has little to offer about this kind of thing so I'm not surprised that your pediatrician wasn't much help--though I do appreciate the accepting attitude. Still she needs a diaper at night--that hasn't changed. I did talk with one mother who told me about a biofeedback product that helps the kids learn when they pee at night, and I am going to look into that soon. Let me know if you want to know about it, and I can pass on that information when I get it. Before going that route, though I wanted my daughter's overall condition to improve, and it definitely has.

I would be interested in hearing from other mamas about the transition at night-time out of diapers for kids age six and older. I'm sure there's a wealth of wisdom out there!

blessings and patience for us all on this mysterious journey,

M.

Yes, all children are different, but I think I would request to see a specialist at this point. Just to rule anything out. Is your son trying and failing, or just not trying? It is my guess that a seven year old is not doing this of his own volition. He is probably completely embarrassed!

As to the nighttime wetting...my 11 year old son still bedwets. My 14 year old did until she was put on desmopressin, which stopped the wetting. She stayed on this medication from age 10-12, when she finally outgrew the bedwetting. (Age 10 was when I FINALLY got the doc to prescribe something). The medication helps my son somewhat, but not consistently. And yes, we tried the voiding schedule, bedwetting alarms, pullups, etc...! Fortunately, my five year old was always nighttime dry...yay!

Good luck!

Celeste.... just remember how your son feels when he does this. My son just turned 5 and still pees if we don't get him up around midnight ( and sometimes he still pees even when we do that ) ... When do you start limiting liquids at night ? I'd say by 6:30 or so he should not have any fluids... then have him go at bedtime and then get him up at 1 or so to go potty real fast. Just be comforting to him, as I am sure you are, and remember he won't do this forever. I am sure you have tried everything imaginable.... what about the pee alarm ? I think One Step Ahead sells it. Good Luck !