Bed Wetting - Houlton, ME

Have you tried limiting what she has to drink. I remember my mom wouldn't let us have anything to drink after about 7pm at night when we were small. If we really needed a drink, it was no more than a sip, about an ounce to satisfy the thirst.

With that, when mine were younger, I also got them up to go to the bathroom just before I went to bed (between 10pm and 11pm). Just a quick trip in. Because she is sleepy, you need to stay with her. If she can't go on her own, letting the water run in the sink will usually help. Don't know what the psychology is behind it, but it usually works. :)

Good luck.

My 11-year-old 5th grade son still has bedwetting problems. He's so used to it, it hardly phases him; we try to not make a big deal of it. Although in the last year, it has started to bother him.

As background, we've used the Malem bedtime alarm for years(!) with limited success. For most kids I think it works well, but it has been discouraging to still be doing a ton of laundry. He sleeps SO hard! So, a couple months ago, we talked to his pediatrician and came home with a prescription for Desmopressin.

We were all excited and created a chart to track the number of pills he took, hours of sleep, liquid intake after 6PM, and size of wetness spot in the morning. In the first week he had two dry nights and we were thrilled. However, the success has not continued. It is now a couple months later and we've only had 8 or so dry nights. So, I'm ready to talk to the doctor again.

My spin on this is that Kellie Y. might really be onto something here. However, the dryallnight website appears only in Scandinavian languages, not English, from what I can see. : ( (NOTE: Kellie updated me with the right web link...http://www.nobedwetting.com/. THANKS!)

I'm convinced our son's wetness is more of a sleep issue. He has always slept like a rock. There is also an emotional component to it, too, I suspect. He has been stressed about school for a couple of years now and is on the borderline of ADHD. We're about to start some family counseling to help him deal with some of the latter, but suspect it will help with the wetness as well.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try to get more info from Kellie Y. about the program they used. It sounds very on target at first glance!

Hi B.,
Have hope! I know your pain, as does my son who is now ten and finally dry all through the night. First of all, never use an anti-depressant or any other drug for that matter. We decided to use a program based in Minnesota that utilizes biofeedback techniques to help children (and adults) to break their deep sleep cycles. The program is built on the belief that most ongoing bed wetting issues are a symptom of a sleeping disorder. I believe this completely and the program worked for our son, who was nine when we started the program. He watched his younger sister who was born 3 yrs after him potty train early and never have night-time issues and his twin siblings were on the verge of potty training and he could not have beared being the oldest of four and still in pull-ups at night. The program is expensive but, for us, it was worth every penny. I think the website is www.dryallnight.com but I could be wrong. If you write back, I can give you more info. I could also give you suggestions on how to apply the techniques yourself but it is better with a counselor guiding you by phone. We needed the structure. On an additonal note, my son formally started developing ADD type issues in that he had trouble staying on task at school and following through on projects despite being very intelligent and off the chart for math. One important observation & research the creator of this program found was that 85% of children diagnosed with ADD or ADHD also were bedwetters. She believes the lack of oxygen taken in at night might contribute to this problem. By the end of this summer, my son had finished the program and was suddenly far more alert--looking into my eyes, doing the task told on the first request, and in school he has been completing all of his work this year. I am telling you all of this because there are answers but don't wait for your daughter to "grow out of it" because her bladder is not developing at night when she is urinating and it stops growing at age 16. Please act now and tell your daughter you are going to learn the exercises, get the right alarm, etc.
Best,
K. Young

Hi B.,
I am an EFT Practitioner and have successfully cleared this problem before. You can go to www.emofree.com and search bedwetting to read some case historys. It would be worth trying before going the anti-depressant route. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can contact me through my website-www.eft-ayurveda.com
Best,
Stephanie

anti-depressants? for bed wetting? are you kidding me? that is not a good idea. If she doesn't have any health issues (UTI or Kidney Infections ) don't make a big deal out of it she will outgrow it in time.

The more she or you get upset over it the more she will do it.
Tell her it's ok to have an accident it's not her fault and when she get's older it will go away. There is a certain amount of shame and embarrassment that goes with bed wetting.

I would think something is making her anxious. Is she having problems in School? Are there concerns at home? Is she drinking too much water before bedtime?

Good Luck and I hope this helps you.

Try those pee pee pads that emit an alarm when they get wet, they are made just for this. When my brother was about the same age he had the same problem and this cured him in about a week. It will wake everyone up, but if it's for a short amount of time and it works, it's probley worth it. Antidepressants for bedwetting! That sounds crazy to me. I would be very weary of that. She'll get through this!

I have a 9-year-old niece that is going through the same thing. My sister tried the nasal spray and she too did not see any results. She is now using a device (not sure what it's called) through prescription... it has a scensor that clips onto my niece's underwear and a voice box that's attached to her top. When the scensor detects moisture in her underwear, the voice box goes off (you can record anything on it... my sister recorded "wake up pumpkin") and wakes her up to go to the bathroom. It's non-invasive and my sister is finally making progress. My niece is no longer wearing pullups. Talk to your doctor about this before turning to drugs.

I've heard acupuncture can help. My friend's 9year old boy was wetting his bed and they tried the nasal spray too. It wasn't until she had him go through acupuncture that it stopped completely.

B.,
I don't know if it's much of a suggestion, but maybe just some reassurance. Bedwetting is far more common than people admit to and very resistant to treatment. Bedwetting at age 8 does not at all fall into the category of unusual. I truly believe it is simply a matter of development and patience would be the right route. Reassure your daughter that she is definately not alone. I regularly wet the bed until age 10 and sporadically until age 12. I definately do not wet the bed now! I believe some people simply do not wake up at night until they are much older but I doubt very few enter adulthood as bedwetters! I would take your daughters concerns seriously and help her develop strategies to live with her condition for the time being. I would not resort to medications,however trying the usual things,I'm sure you've already tried,may be helpful.(no drinks after 6PM, getting her up to pee before you go to bed or if you wake up to pee at night) Have you tried the alarm? Personally I do not think it works but seems harmless enough. And of course make the bed in layers like a hospital bed so removing the wet upper layers is quick and does not disrupt her sleep (also easier for you to wash the next day)
Good Luck!
J. L.

My son is also 8 and struggling with the same issue and he too was really motivated to do something about it. Just before Thanksgiving, we purchased the bedwetting alarm which basically trains their body to wake up when they need to use the bathroom. We are still using it, so we can't say what the end result will be but the bedwetting continues to lesson. Before he used it he would be wet every night, sometimes even going through the pullup, but now he has about 3-4 wet nights and only once in the night does he wake up. We weren't sure it would wake him up because he sleeps like a rock. We could throw a party in his room and he wouldn't wake up. So we have to wake up with him and make sure he is fully awake before he goes to the bathroom. It takes a lot of patience in the middle of the night to help them and you suddenly feel as though you have an infant again, but hopefully in the end it will be worth it the fact that the bedwetting is lessoning as he continues to use the alarm helps him feel more confident that the end is in sight. Hope this is helpful.

My daughter is now 10 and she also had a bed wetting issue. We did not use any interventions at all. My pediatrician did not feel it was needed. We did make sure she went to the BR before bed and did not drink too much 2 hours before bed time. It stopped about 1 year ago. This is very very common. I'm hearing more and more from people that they had the same problem with a son or daughter.

On a side note, if it is really bothersome to her, my girlfriend's son had this problem and he is now 10. In June she took him to a Chiropractor and sure enough it worked after 3-4 visits. I don't know anything about chriopractors, but it helped him. He also had some anxiety issues that caused some GI issues... and they did some scan on his first visit and those areas were evident on the scan that he had bed wetting and GI issues etc. Weird, but it worked for him!!

Good Luck!

Hi B.,

My son, who just turned 7, is going through the same thing. He just can't make it through the night without wetting his bed and he also wears a pull-up at bedtime. My son's pediatrician simply says it's just a matter of time for the body and brain to get in sync with each other, and there really isn't anything we can do to speed up the process. She did offer the use of a medication (can't remember the name, unfortunately) that we could use for a special occasion (like a sleepover), which will temporary keep him from peeing during the night. However, it's not something to use all the time...just for special occasions, so your child doesn't feel embarassed about having to wear a pull-up. I do agree with you about not giving an anti-depressant to an 8 yr. simply for bedwetting. I understand your frustation but I think all you can do is just be patient, and offer whatever support your child needs regarding her anxiousness about wearing pull-ups. Good Luck! L.

I wet until I was nine years old. I feel for your daughter, my mother took me to the pedi and I received pills for bed wetting and she bought me a box of stars and every night I was dry I put a star on the calendar. I was freed the month of October. I cant recall how long I was medicated I just remembered it work!!! There are other meds keep looking. I am now 45 and still remember placing that last star on the calendar.

Hi B.,
My son is six and still wetting too. I have heard of several people who have had success with the alarm that wakes the child up as soon there is any moisture. One step ahead/Leaps and Bounds sells one. My boy saw it and asked what it was and he very much wanted to try it. I can't imagine it working for him as he cannot wake up to go when I wake him up. But I would think it would work for an older child. If she is willing to get up and go when you wake her I would try this.
Good luck!
M.

Please do not use the anti depressant!!! My daughter was almost 11 before she stopped bedwetting and we went down every road to try to stop it. We woke her several times a night to go to the bathroom, we limited fluid after a certain time (which isn't good either, especially during warm months they can dehydrate), we used DDAVP which is a drug given to diabetics because they urinate more frequently than normal with diabetes and it slows the kidneys production, we also used the anti depressant!!! I made myself aware of the side effects and didn't tell my daughter what they were. She was not herself. She was tired all the time, she had no appetite, she had no more spunk. After just a few days I took her off. The doctors assured me that the side effects would lessen the longer she was on it, but I wanted my daughter back and nothing was more important than that. We even contacted a company in the paper who guarenteed success. They came to our house and wanted 2500 dollars. Luckily we did not agree, and within 6 months of their visit my daughter stopped on her own. Your daughter will also out grow this when it is time. I don't know for sure if this had anything to do with her stopping but it was right around the time that she started waking to an alarm clock on her own. You see part of the reason that she bed wet was that she slept like a rock. The entire house could fall down around her and she would not know it. So when she was waking to an alarm clock on her own she was actually training her body to wake to something all on her own. I think that may have had an effect on her. Good luck and stay positive!

I just went thru this with my 9 yr old.. it's not an antidepressant, more like a dehydrator of sorts.. it makes the body retain fluids for a period of time.. The only problem there are is that a - it can increase their sodium levels so their bp has to be checked periodically and b - if they aren't ready to be pt at night, it won't work.. That's where we are.. it wasn't working after increasing the dosage twice so I stopped it. We'll try again in about 6 months.. sometimes, their bladders just aren't ready yet. Nothing will help that. I've tried having her wear underwear inside the pullups, and that didn't work either. Sometimes, it just takes time.

Hi. This won't sound very good for you but it sure helped my brother. My brother had a problem with night time wetting and my mom took him to the doctor and he said that he was just a really heavy sleeper and wasn't waking up to his body's nature call. He suggested (this is the part you probably won't like) that my mom set her alarm for every 2 hours and get him up every two hours and make him at least get to the bathroom (whether he went or not) so it would help reprogram his body and subconscience. It only took two weeks with my mom's dedication and he never had another problem. That is it in a nut shell. Simple and without any medication, just time and effort by my mom. I hope this helps.

Dear B.,
It's not that unusual for kids at age 8 or even older to still wet the bed. My 10 year old son had the same issue. However, I've never heard of using an antidepresent to stop it and I really would shy away from that advice. I'm surprised your doctor didn't recommend one of the more common suggestions such as a bed wetting alarm, or bed wetting medication.
We have used the bed wetting alarm and we find it works REALLY WELL. It's a little expensive (about $100), but to be honest, it's worth it for you child's peace of mind and confidence - and for your own sanity and to eliminate so many loads of laundry!
The alarm is easy to use and very effective. It attaches to the childs underpants with a tiny clip, and then the speaker part attaches to their night clothes up near the shoulder. When there is the slightest drop on the underpants, the alarm sounds loudly enough that you, the parents, can hear it. Which is good because kids can sleep right through it sometimes! The child learns to get up when the alarm goes off, remove the alarm, go to the bathroom, change their underpants, put the alarm back on and get back to bed. It seems like a lot to do in the middle of the night, but if you don't make sure they get up, their little brains aren't trained to react to the feeling of peeing by getting out of bed.
It worked miracles for my son. It took about 3 weeks for him to completely stop wetting, but after 10 years, that was nothing! Now he's confident at sleepovers and I'm doing a LOT less laundry!
The alarm that we used is the Malem Bedwetting Alarm. It comes in a couple of version (one audio tone, or eight - we just got the one with one tone and that worked great). You can purchase it online and it comes with instructions and a very helpful little book with some tips, etc. I highly recommend it.