Almost 4 Year Old Still Urinating in Bed @ Night

I would get him a plastic slip cover for his bed. Then if he does have an accident the mattress would be protected.

My son will be 5 in Feb. and has been potty trained for 2.5 years but he still has accidents. When my husband and I go to bed and when we wake up in the middle of the night, we take him potty. When we do this, he never pees in bed and it's not hassle for us since we're already up!

Boys usually potty train later and some boys actually have issues into the age of 12. To help aleviate the issue do not give him any thing to drink half hour before bed and ask him to sit on the poty before bed. (running water will help himgo) But the more you make a big deal out of it the more stressed he will become and the longer it will go on. Just have him put those trainers on at night before bed after his shower.

"almost 4 years old" is still pretty young in the grand scheme of things. My own son was a night-time bed wetter also. It isn't a matter of him knowing better, or not wanting to wet the bed enough or anything like that. He is ASLEEP. My son was (and still is) such a deep sleeper that he just wouldn't be aroused enough by the urge to wake up. And his bladder wasn't large enough to hold it throughout the entire night. I would wake my son up about 2 to 3 hours after he went to bed for the night, and carry him to the potty, then let him go back to bed. He still, from ages 5 - 9, would have intermittent bouts of wetting the bed at night. It seemed like cycles.... he would be dry for weeks or months, then wet the bed 3 times in one week. Then he would go for a while again, then have another couple of nights where he wet. The spans in between would get longer and longer... and finally, now that he is 11 years old, it is a RARITY.

I have heard many times that bedwetting runs in families... did you or your husband have problems with this as children? Ask your parents... you might be surprised by what they have to say.

Always remind him and make sure that he goes to be JUST before getting into bed - even if he just went 20 minutes ago. Just make it a rule. Last thing before bed - go potty. Then try taking him again after 2 to 3 hours... As long as he isn't drinking a big glass of water within the last 2 hours before bed... that should eliminate MOST of the problem.

You might also try encouraging him to drink lots of water earlier and throughout the day. Often, even as adults, we can forget to drink enough and let ourselves get a little dehydrated throughout the day.. then try to "catch up" late in the day/early evening. If he stays well hydrated all day, he won't feel like he needs that last drink of water before bed QUITE so much... :)

To give you an idea of how deep they can sleep --- just last night, my son SNEEZED about 7 or 8 times.. within about 10 minutes, and was still SOUND ASLEEP. He also talks in his sleep fairly often.
hth

Well my advice would be the most obvious first which you said that you already tried, but when you say limiting fluids do you mean you do not allow him to have any fluids after a certian time or just giving him less. As far as the pull ups go sometimes traumatic experiences make it worse or help if you tell him he will have to wear them until he can learn not to make a mess in bed. Where is the bathroom from his room, sometimes that can be a little scary at night by yourself. Do you have any nitelites so that there is light for him to see his way and not be in the dark. Just some ideas and I know some sound mean just suggestions.

when I cannot figure it out I turn to YokaReeder.com- I love this lady and the common sense advice she gives- just wasn't common to me!
best,k

Hi! My son did the same thing - seemed to be getting the hang of getting dry at age 3 but then was wet every night. He finally became dry at night at 7 1/2 years, & this is evidently very common, so don't panic. Hopefully he won't take that long, but they each grow & mature differently & he will eventually be dry. In the meantime, you will do lots of laundry! Good luck, take deep breaths, & stay sane the best you can -

Oh my gosh, just turning 4 is VERY young to be not wetting at night. This is completely normal. Most kids don't develop that sense and wake up or hold it until older. My daughter potty trained early and still wears a pull-up at night and she is 4 1/2. I don't try to force anything on her, it will happen when the body matures and develops enough for her to recognize the urge at night. I think that even drawing attention to it as a 'problem' can make some kids feel inside as if there is something wrong with them or they are inferior. I would put a zippered plastic mattress cover over your mattress and buy a box of pull- ups and let him be. When he goes 2-3 months with all dry mornings, then he's probably only going to have infrequent accidents after that. Right now they aren't truly 'accidents' as he's not developed enough to stay dry all night.

I'm not a fan of asking them at night at all. I think it's just an extra burden for the child and the parents and doesn't teach anything... You can't really rush something that relies on physical maturity.... Just the same as you couldn't force him to eat solids to early, etc I also have heard that with holding fluids is not a good practice. Kids, and adults, should have fluids at all times of the day and even sometimes at night if thirsty. Again, it's not going to change how quickly his body matures, and could result in other issues since fluids are so important to our health, especially in FL!

I know what you mean about the stigma behind wearing a pull-up, a friends son went through the same phase of not wanting to wear one yet not being really ready to be without one. They just had to change their whole presentation of it and change why he thinks that it is babyish to wear one and why he thinks it's wrong to wet at night, etc. They realized they had made him think it wasn't normal to wet so they really explained that it's normal to do that still and that he wouldn't get his cool sheets, blanket, bear, PJs etc all wet if he wore one. They let him pick them out and made it super fun. It saved them tons of laundry and headaches in the long run and now he has no issue with wearing one. My daughter knows she doesn't want to mess up her pretty heart bedding so would probably freak if she didn't have one on :-) she has a younger brother too (in diapers) and knows hers are different for big kids just for night time. I honestly think that once you get past the negative association with the pull-up it will be easy to just let everything else go, let him be to mature at his own pace with no worries or negativity about his rate of progress and one day you will notice that he's dry every morning. It will happen without forcing it or all the extra steps.... He's still very very young :-) best wishes!

Please don't worry :) I know its hard not too...

My son who is almost 8 wet the bed at least 50% of the time until about age 7. He has always been a very heavy sleeper. We stopped fluids 2 hrs before bed, always go to the bathroom right before crawling in bed, etc. And one day it just stopped. And it will stop for your son too. I bought a mattress cover that keeps the mattress dry, and I must say not ONE drop seeped through, ever....and let me tell you it sometimes looked my son drank a gallon of water! I bought it at a store that just sold mattresses and its well worth the investment. I don't remember the price. If you would like me to see if I can find the brand on the one I have, please let me know. Just be patient, never look at it like its a mistake. Like most things, this too shall pass...Take care!!

My 4.5 y/o little girl is still wetting the bed every single night. I know, it is so frustrating, but sometimes I think there isn't much we can do. :( I limit fluids at night too and even talked about how pull-ups are bad for our planet. Know what my daughter told me? "We'll deal with that when I'm 5, Mommy." I feel your pain. :)

Hi Noelia,

Is your son afraid to get up in the dark at night to go to
the bathroom? Ask him. Also, I have read about children feeling stress when Mom gets another baby, jelousy brings insecurity and fear. You might have to reassure him that you love him just as much as his brother and that nothing will ever will ever change that.

You sound like a super mother, very caring.
God bless you all,
D. P.

Many children (especially boys!) have a difficult time with night-time potty training. Even though he seemed ready almost immediately after daytime training, his body may not be yet. Some kids are very heavy sleepers and have trouble waking or feeling those "urges". My almost 5 year old was a late bloomer with the potty also, and even though we limit evening drinks, cut-off liquids 2 hours before bedtime, and make several pre-bedtime potty trips, he still needs a pull-up most nights. Don't get discouraged- it will happen when he's ready! In the meantime, you may try bedtime-only training pants and a reward chart with stickers for staying dry overnight. That will also help you to see his progress and better know when he's ready to leave the pull-ups behind.

Hi my son is now 12 and we still have accidents. Is your son on medications? They told me it was the medications my son was on for his asthma and allergies. He is a deep sleeper. We have gone to the urologist and they gave him pills to help dry him out, but that still didn't work. My son would go weeks being dry then back to wetting every night.It is not there fault, we did not punish him for it. We would try waking him in the middle of the night and he had no idea where he was or what he was doing. They told me he would grow out of it. He has not had an accident in a while. The only thing you can do is keep lots of sheets around and cover the mattress with vinyl covering make sure its the plastic vinyl not just the pad made of cloth, that didnot soak up the urine. Good luck hope this helps.

It's like you are writing my story. I totally feel your frustration. My youngest son is going on 6 and we have been battling this problem since he potty trained. I've done the taking him at night before I go to bed. I do my best to restrict his fluids two hours before bedtime. He refused pull ups and "night time underwear". I used to go in and put them on him after he was asleep. It goes in phases. He'll do so great for a while and then it's back to peeing in his sleep. I believe it is a combo of his bladder growing slower than he is and he is a very heavy sleeper. I know they sell rubber sheets to put under the regular fitted sheet but I have never found one. I have resorted to putting a naptime mat on his bed with a towel over it. It keeps me from having to wash the sheet every day. Just hang in there. I appreciate you sharing your story as it is truly a relief knowing I am not the only one experiencing this.

My daughter is 7 and still has accidents most nights. I saw one poster say it can run in the family and I think that is true. I remember both of my sisters would wet the bed at night, I think until they were like 10 or 11! My daughter is a VERY deep sleeper and she does not like wearing pull ups to bed and she hates the fact that she has accidents every night :-( It makes me sad that she is sad about it. I have heard (and read about) these bed wetting alarm things. Maybe look into that. But your son is still pretty young. I hope he grows out of it soon:)PS. sorry I didn't have much advice. lol

He is still very young. Our doctor said that it can take kids up to 5 to stay dry at night and I have a pediatrician friend who said it can be up to age 6 before you should be concerned. If at 5 he was still wetting the bed I was going to invest in an alarm that attaches to the front of the undies. But he's just turned 5 and been doing great. He still has accidents sometimes though like all kids. We have a routine-potty before bath, after bath (in the earlier days of training), right before bed and we were taking him right before we went to bed.
My suggestion is to invest in a good waterproof mattress cover and use something at night so he doesn't wet the bed (be it pull-ups designed for nighttime or we used cloth so we had a cloth option-no spending $$ every time you turn around yeah!) We always told C that his nighttime pull-ups were his special nite nite undies. AntsyPants are a cute nighttime cloth option. Or SuperUndies pull on undies. They are really cute and come in super hero colors.

I saw this too late to really answer, but just hang in there are keep doing what you are doing. My daughter peed the bed off and on until 4 and then she just suddenly stopped. We bought her plastic sheets and showed her how she could help us change her sheets and wash off the plastic ones when it happened. The biggest thing was being supportive of her and letting her know that it happens. (We also had one that was starting potty training at the time too) My 9 yr old son's friend who is the same age still wet the bed occasionally up until a few months ago. For a long time he wouldn't sleep over because he was embarrassed to be wearing goodnights. I gathered his mom was too. I finally convinced them that it was nothing to be embarrassed about, it happens. He slept over several times after that. Just hang in there. It's frustrating and tiring, but it's survivable.

Well Noelia,

I'm a mom of an 8 year old (potty trained before age 2 and no bed wetting), but a sister to someone that wet the bed for years as a young child until age 10). The doctor finally said she had a weak bladder, but there were other things that could be done to help the process. (On a side note, my child has a friend that's 2 yrs older than her and still wetting the bed. She told me that she doesn't like to get out of bed to use the bathroom....so needless to say....she can't stay the night at my house anymore....that's called laziness/nastiness.) So, back to my sister and hopefully your son. We stopped all drinks after 6 pm (not sure what time you put your children down for the night). Anything after that could not be associated with water at all (ie, watermelon, oranges, popsickles, etc)...no matter how much he ask (run an ice cube over his lips if you have to...just like the hospital). The Peds doctors say the child should urinate out as much as he/she drank before bed. Anything left in there, will be on the mattress. Next you need to invest in a couple (nothing less than 2) of wet/dry mattress covers (sold at Linens & Things.com, Bed and Bath, or just about anywhere). Having at least two will save on laundry. Third step is to go back to "a" pull up...and here's the tactic. He doesn't want to be treated like a baby, so you will have to make him prove that he is a big boy. Children are very resilient and if you under-estimate him, he will always have the upper hand. You tell him that he has to wear the pull-up until he can prove to you that he is a big boy, by not wetting the bed at night. You show him that his sibling doesn't wet the bed. You can even fake him out, but putting a pair of his underwear on the baby (over the diaper), and show him the dry baby mattress the next day. If you make him use the bathroom at least 4-6 times before bed, you should be good for the entire night. The job is to empty the bladder down to the void. Just a food for thought for yourself...some of us tend not to completely empty our bladders during bathroom call for whatever reasons (rushing)....that creates a nice place for infections to occur. So out of good practice, we should always empty to a void..nothing left in that at all (dripped completely dry). Back to son...It's one thing to sleep wet in the summer, but not in the winter...makes for getting sick. Get dad on board with you and it's time for some tough skin. He's going to be okay with the imposed strictness.....otherwise, open up the mattress piggy bank.

Good Luck and let me know how it goes...I have more ____@____.com
(p.s. forgive me for not proofreading my message...tired.)

No real advice. My son will be four in December also. He has been 100% daytime potty trained since September of last year. 14 months later he is no closer to being nighttime potty trained than he was then. I think that you ever had him PT'd at night is great. I am sure then change in going to school had some effect on his new wetting. I would buy a waterproof mattress pad-found ours at Ross I believe for around $10.

I would talk to him about the night time wetting, waking up wet and using diapers at night. I would explain to him since he is wetting the bed at night, he'll have to go back to wearing pull-ups. Not because he is a baby, but because his bladder isn't really ready to hold all that pee all night long.

I've heard five is the average age to be nighttime PT'd.

well i would not let him have any drink after 6pm except right before bedtime give him like a sip a water then have him go to the bathroom and see how that works. as far as the ebd goes you can by plastic matress covers that zip and go over the whole matress and that will save the matress.

Just a side thought I wish I knew earlier....have his blood sugars checked by the dr. if he is also thirsty all the time and hungry all the time as those two with having to urinate all the time (and bed wetting) is a sign of high blood sugars. I found this out too late and now my son is on insulin. That doesn't mean this is the problem, but I would have him checked by a pediatrician just in case.

You can also buy the fabric at JoAnn's, get the coupon in the Sunday (delivered) Paper for 40% off and it will only be about $5.00 for 2 yards! I bought 5 of them at 2 yards each. Our sons are in a twin bed, 2 yards covered it very well. I have 3 here at home, and sent one to stay at Gramas and one to stay at Pap Paps house. If you want to get multiple ones and benefit from the coupon on all just have them cut a slit every two yards but keep it one length and cut it when you get home. I wish I knew what the proper name for the fabric is, but if you ask one of the fabric ladies there for a pee sheet, or the fabric that has rubber in it to protect the bed - they will know where to go :)

Good Luck mamma - OH AND BY THE WAY - THERE IS AN AMAZING spray to get rid of ANY smell and most ANY stain you can get- It's called Totally Toddler - I buy it at either Kmart or Toys R Us. Its great to get rid of pee smell :)

Don't stress over the night time bed wetting, that's what my dr told me. Both of my boys wet the bed until they were 5 or 6, both were potty trained by 2 during the day. We tried everything from waking them up at midnight to go to the bathroom, to fluid intake restrictions, etc. They did out grow it. My dr. told me if it is still a problem after age 7 then we will talk more about it. Quit stressing, let him wear a pull up to bed at night, get a mattress pad and soon he will quit. Also, did your husband wet the bed, my doctor asked me, and the answer was yes, until he was 7 (per his mom).

Both my girls were potty trained when they were just over two but for nighttime they both wore a diaper till they reached exactly 5 years. The Corpus Collosum matures in the brain at 5 and that is usually the magic age. If it continues, check out his Spinal Galant Reflex which should have been integrated under one year of age but many children don't integrate and they need some help. PIck up a great book called Reflexes, Learning and Behavior by Sally Goddard Blythe or look up the information online. Type in Primitive Reflexes and learn about them.

Hi Noelia my son is 5 and still wets almost every night in his pull-ups he is a very deep sleeper, I am hoping one day he will not need them pull-up's they are so expensive, I too limit his fluid intake, if you find a way please let me no, that person that said it could be up tp 12 yrs. of age really stressed me out saying that but I guess it can happen hopefully not with ours? best of luck, G.

My neighbors is also having problems with her child. I spoke to several professionals on her behalf and received numerous ideas. For one. Take him to a chiropractor, they can adjust his spine so that the message gets to him while lying down. A crooked spine could have pressure on that one area that delivers the message that his bladder is full, thus him wetting the bed.
Or two: Take the little man to a urologist and have a Dr. see what if anything tilted or pinched ex just to name a few.
Once medical issues are eliminated as possibilities then you can start the reward method. Throw multi colored Cheerios in the toilet at night. Let him know that are in there. If he aims at the Cheerios (Pick a color) for the night and "gets it" reward him something. Money $1.00, a toy, extra t.v. time what ever he likes. Hopes that helps.
I used to work in a hospital and know that these things can happen.

I don't want to boast or anything. My daughter was trained to go potty since the age of 2 and never wet the bed. I am not saying this will happen with every child, but with girls I had other reward methods and it seemed to work.

Good Luck,
Andrea

Dear Noelia,
1st of all dont limit the fluid intake since it can be terrible for your child. We all need an adequate fluid intake so that our kidneys function properly. Believe me...enuresis (bed wetting at night) is nothing compared to the risk of having a child dehydrated or with organ malfunction. Sometimes when the child has a smaller brother/sister, they regress to a previous stage of development. Sometimes it can be that they need attention, but never forget THE WORST THING IS TO PUNISH the behavior like this. The bed weting is unintentional for your boy. The only thing you can do is go with him to the potty before bed, and during the night and buy a protection for the mattress in case it gets wet. Never let him stay in your bed, if you have to do the bed again HIS BED, change the linens and make the bed again. Assure him is ok, accidents happen, and be patient. Good luck!

Sometimes bedwetting runs in families (as well as beds LOL). For some kids stress is a factor. Something that may help (and definitely WON'T hurt)is giving him probiotics --yogurt, kefir, and capsules or chewables. Also cranberry juice is good for the bladder.

Good Luck and Love

My kid is almost 4.5 and we get her up 2 hours after she went to bed to go pee. I was a bed wetter as a child probably from sleeping soundly, so my parents got me up, even when I was 7. It's worth it. your child's bladder will get big enough some day...

I have three kids, ages 9-7-3. My three year old will be 4 at the end of Dec.
This is normal for him to still pee the bed at night.
Every child is different.
He feels bad everytime he pees the bed. He only wants to please you.

He just started school, OMG!!!!!!!!!!
He is stressed out with all of the changes.

You CAN NOT punish him or make him feel bad when he does pee the bed.

I can't believe you didn't go to Wal-Mart and by him a water proof mattress cover for this.

= (
So everytime he pees, you are allowing his matteress to get stinky and smelly.
That's only going to make him feel worse and this will continue.

I just can't image pushing my 3 year old to do someting like this.
I put a reg. diaper on my son for night only, just in case. And during the day he wears reg. underwear.

You (as mommy) needs to make him feels like this is not his fault and when he gets bigger this will go away.

He is scared to go to bed at night, in fear of peeing the bed. He doesn't want you to be mad at him. He can not control this.

He is just way too little. You need to talk to him and make him feel comfortable with wearing a pull up or a diaper at night.
Tell him that when you was a little girl you needed to wear something extra at night, so that you could sleep all night long and not have to worry about going pee pee in the bed.

Everyone will sleep a lot better.

Please, don't be in a hurry to push him to grow up.

4 years old is not a big deal, not by a long shot.

if its really a concern to you, then start setting the alarm every 3 hours and get up and take him to the bathroom, before long, he'll stop. I would not limit his fluids, to any great extent, no, I wouldn't let him eat a bag of popcorn at 8:00 as it will make him want to drink 16 oz of fluid, but cutting out all fluids after 6:00 is cruel, after all, he's not drinking water purely for enjoyment, if your thirsty that is your body telling you, it needs to be hydrated.

Get a plastic cover, remind him to try to wake up, encourage him and don't make a big deal out of it.