Bedwetting - Satsuma,AL

Updated on July 10, 2009
C.J. asks from Satsuma, AL
10 answers

My DS is 4 1/2 and is potty trained...has been for over 2 years. He still wets at night and I know that this is normal and developmental. My brother occasionally wet the bed until he was 10 or 11. So I'm not truly concerned about the wetting that occurs while he is asleep. What does bother me is when he wets his pull-up while he is awake just because he doesn't want to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. I am currently washing both his bedding and my bedding because of this. I think his sheets are wet b/c he overflowed his pull-up at night (probably b/c he wets in it before he goes to sleep even though we send him to the bathroom before bed). So, he got a fresh pull-up in the middle of the night. Then this morning he crawls into bed with me (he's allowed to do this as long as it is 'daylight' outside). Anyways, he was in and out of sleep while I was nursing the girls. Then while I was showering he came and told me that he got my bed a little wet. Well, needless to say, he had soaked it! I guess I'm just looking for tips or ways to discourage him from using his Pull-up while he is awake. He went through a phase where he kept his pull-up dry at night. I'm wondering if it is time to put him in underwear at night and then just use pads on his bed. Anyone go through this? Any ideas?

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J.H.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I cant help you with boys and training, but you can find the large-size pads in the adult undergarment section at Walmart pretty cheap. I went thru quite a few of them when my girls were babies. :]

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H.H.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Hi C.,
I wouldn't worry too much about the wetting (although it IS a pain!)... what would worry me is that this may be a subconscious call for attention - and could set up a pattern for later in life that you'd rather not have to deal with. Since you have new twins (and are probably completely exhausted) he probably isn't getting the kind of attention he is accustomed to getting and is a little confused. Diaper changing time is always a fun time for one on one with my son... and maybe that's what he's craving. Maybe you could reward him for dry times with more one on one time, more attention? Reward him for the positive things instead of giving him attention when he does something he shouldn't, and you should be reinforcing the idea that it's good FOR HIM that he doesn't wet the pull up.

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N.V.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I have two boys - almost 4 and almost 6. I got so fed up with my 5 yr. old peeing in his pull-up as I was reading his bedtime books - b/c he was too lazy to get up, that I finally said "no more!" The next night, he said "hey, i don't have my pull-up on" and i told him we were through with them - couldn't waste the money on two a night anymore just because he was too lazy to get up and go. I had no idea he was ready to go without. That was probably at least 10 months ago and he has had all of 2 accidents since then. The first few weeks, I would take him to the bathroom before we went to bed. He would be so out of it and clueless - i would have to either sit him on the toilet or support him under the arms while he went, but he would go. We quit doing that and i think he sometimes gets up in the night to go and sometimes sleeps all the way through. We just bought a new pack of pull-ups for my almost 4 yr old. I think when they're gone, we're going to try the same thing with him...too expensive! Good luck.

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C.P.

answers from Tulsa on

Well, our son is 4.5 and he still wets the bed about 5 nights a week. We use Goodnights, not the boxers, the others. They do not leak! However, before we got those, I was using a "potty Shield" as my son calls it! We got one of those leak gruards from a medical supply store. It's the one that they put under elder people who can't get up. It works. Then when they pee, that is all you have to wash.
Now, as for the wetting it when he is awake. Well, our rule is if you are awake you do not have it on. We take him to the bathroom right as he is going to bed. He pees and then we put it on, if he gets up in the morning to come in our room to lay with us. He has to pee first and have underwear on! Now, our Dr. said it's normal for some kids to do this. If you feel that he has and can do it, I would try it! You have new babies and maybe this is his way of handling it! Good luck and keep me posted. I am trying to get the Night time pullups to go away!

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K.W.

answers from Biloxi on

My 2-year-old will pee in a pull-up every time. He doen't even try to go, so we put a mattress protector on the bed and put him in regular underwear at night, too. It was tough going for about the first week, now he rarely has accidents. I think that the pull-up is just to easy to pee in. If you really don't want to make much of a mess, you could buy training underwear and Vinyl pants to go over them. I think the only placed I have found them down here is in K-Mart. Good luck!

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L.W.

answers from Tulsa on

My comment is more support than advice. I have a 4 1/2 year old who was so easy to potty train over 2 years ago, but we are really struggling with night time. We use diapers as the pull ups were just terrible for us. He wet them too much in his sleep and I was changing sheets daily. He doesn't pee in them while awake thankfully. He still occasionally wets during naps, so I'm hesitant to take the diaper off at night.

What I did notice last week was that he fell asleep (bedtime) without a diaper and woke up a couple hours later and saying he had to go potty. The next morning he woke up dry. So I am thinking of trying night time w/o a diaper to see if he starts waking up. Maybe it's because he knows he has a diaper so he doesn't have to worry.

We do tell him frequently that at naps he doesn't have a diaper on so he can't pee in his sleep, and if he's on the couch napping, and starts moving around, I remind him he's in his underwear so he needs to get up to use the bathroom. That seems to help more than anything too.

My other suggestion is based on my nephew who was too lazy to use the bathroom. He would ask if he was in a pull up or his underwear, and then pee/poop in the pull up. He was not used to being wet or dirty as my brother & his wife were quick to change him. They became so frustrated that they made him stay in his wet pull up for a little while (maybe 30 mins-one hour) and that was the last time he wet/pooped purposefully.

Although he doesn't drink a whole lot in the evenings, we haven't limited fluids terribly drastically because it's hot and we don't feel that's a great idea in the summer.

I wish you the best!

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K.C.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We had similar issues when my son was 4. He had been slow to potty train ( very stubborn) but had been completely trained for a year when he started wetting at night. I was so frustraited that his dr. had us put him in pull-ups to avoid the confrontation and mess. We think, in his case, that it was something he started for attention. It may not have even been something he thought about but it started after his sister was born. We think he just craved the attention she was getting. We just had to praise him when he was dry and ignored the rest all together. It was soooo hard. He finally stopped wetting after a few months and has never had another issue with it. I know sometimes, especially if you think he has more control over it, it helps to do a reward chart. Give a small reward or extra time with Mom by himslef if he gets so many checks for being dry, etc. Hope it improves soon.

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E.B.

answers from Baton Rouge on

My little boy just turned 4 in June and that's when we started to put him in his big boy underpants to go to bed in. At first we would take him to the bathroom before we went to bed and then I would wake up again at about 3 a.m. to take him again. I bought a plastic sheet from Walmart and put it on his bed for accidents, but he rarely has them, as long as we take him to the bathroom before we go to bed now. I suggest gettting rid of the pull-up all together, and keeping him in underwear all the time. He will probably have accidents at first, but that's what the plastic sheet is for. Good Luck!!

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G.B.

answers from Tulsa on

Save yourself time and just use the overnight pull-ups. New babies in the house and he is still kind of young. Some kids wet the bed until they are teenagers. In your bedtime ritual make it the last thing you do before he lays down to sleep. Don't make it a more stressful time. Don't worry about limiting drinks, or waking him up to go during the night, he will grow out of it and will stop when his body is developed enough.

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L.

answers from Mobile on

C.,

I agree that it would help to have him out of the pull-up until just before sleep and immediately in the morning. He clearly doesn't need a diaper during the day in any case! If you try without altogether, let us know how it goes!

Good luck,
L.

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