A Couple of Questions

My 4 year old is still in pull ups too. She has Dev problems, I believe she has Autism and these children soemtimes are never potty trained or they trian at 6 or 7 so I am dealing with the same thing as you. I don't think there is much you can do but limit how much to drink she has at night. Have you tired speaking to her Ped? Its frustraing I know. My child still comes into my bed and soemtins her pull up gets to wet and will leek. Good luck to you.

My sister has the same problem with her 7 yr old. When he pees the bed its the most aweful smell. He has problems down there. The doc told her he probably wont be able to have kids. He also needs a surgery done to that area too. So I would look into seeing if it has to do something like that for her.

Hi S.-
Sounds like you need to take her to the MD either way. They can help you sort-out what's causing the inability to wake & the malodorous urine.
My son had trouble waking up to pee until he was 10 (fortunately not every night)! Hopefully you can get your situation figured out long before that.
Best of luck,
S.

Well, to start off, I would suggest taking her to the doctor to see if she may have a bladder problem. My daughter is 8 and still has to wear goodnights for just that reason. Limiting fluid intake and getting her up quite a few times a night still didn't work. I took her to the doctor and they did some tests. I was told that at night, your body releases a chemical (not sure of the name right now) that tightens the muscle in your bladder keeping you from using the bathroom while you are sleep since you cannot consciously stop it. Some children (and adults) bodies do not produce this chemical which causes them to not have control over thier bladder while sleeping. There is a medication out that you can take at bedtime to help your body build up the chemical supply. Ask your doctor about it. My daughter took it when she was younger but it didn't work. Her doctor is going to put her back on the pill in January. I hope this helps!!! As for the strong pee, I would suggest a cup of cranberry juice around dinner time. I did this with her as well(she had the same problem) and it helps.

well u seem to of got all the advice u need on the pee smell but i did want to say that i personally wet the bed till i was 7. my dad used to get so mad at me and i just couldn't help it. he actually made me sleep in my wet bed once...i was so ashamed...i can't stress enough to u please be patient with her.

I would in no way want to inject my 4yo with synthetic hormones to stop bedwetting.But, the obvious foul odor in her urine could be a symptom of an infection, and thus won't help the bedwetting situation.Here are some key points that my pediatrician has given me.My ds had a infection(actually a narrow urethra(sp) and had surgery to prevent constant infections)and after that cleared up, he has been dry for the last year(he was 3 at the time).Good Luck!!!

Bed-wetting seems to run in families - the likelihood of a child wetting the bed is 40% if one parent suffered, and 70% if both parents suffered. So there is often a genetic element.
One of the most common reasons for bed-wetting is the bladder muscle contracting and emptying the bladder when it is only half full of urine. This is because the child is just being slightly slow in developing the necessary nerve and muscle control - there is nothing wrong.
Some children produce a lot of urine at night, because the mechanisms that reduce urine production at night are slow to develop - again, there is nothing actually wrong.
There is very little scientific evidence to back up the idea that bed-wetting is a psychological problem. Some children do wet the bed if they have anxieties at home or school, but more often bed-wetting is a cause (rather than a result) of unhappiness.
Parents often think that their child has a different, deeper sleep pattern than other children. There is no scientific evidence for this. The problem is more a difficulty with waking - the sensation of a full bladder is not enough to wake the child.
Occasionally, a medical condition such as a urine infection is responsible.

S.,

I would take her to the ped. I probably know a little more about the urinary tract than most because I suffer from Interstitial Cystitis (my bladder has decided to eat itself from the inside out). If the pee smells bad, that is usually because there is something going on. Try to reduce acid intake because acid, specifically cranberry juice, will cause cells to break away from the lining of the bladder (I found this out after I was diagnosed and I had been taking cranberry to try to get better because they always say cranberry for healty bladder, NOT). Juices that have a lot of acid are, OJ, cranberry, apple cider, and some grapes. Those that are less acidic are pear, white grape, etc. The thing about these juices are that they do have a lot of potassium in them and potassium can sometimes cause problems as well. My best suggestion is to water down the juices half and half and see if that helps. Cut out cranberry or versions thereof altogehter.
Good luck.
L.

S.,
I'm going to have to keep checking the responses that you get because my husband and I have noticed that same thing with my son. (the smell) He's 4, still uses pull ups at night, and in the morning it is such a strong smell. We too, have been wondering why that is. I'm glad you asked!
J.

I WAS ALWAYS TOLD THAT IF YOUR PEE SMELLS OR IS DARK YELLOW THEN YOU NEED TO DRINK MORE CLEAR FLUIDS LIKE WATER OR SPRITE...WITCH DOESNT HAVE CAFFINE :) TRY GIVING HER MORE CLEAR FLUIDS TO STOP THE SMELL.