Bedwetting at Age 7 and A-half

We ended up buying the alarm. My daughter was really excited about the alarm and finding ways to stop bedwetting. The first two night were long with us all getting up to take her to the bathroom when the alarm sounded. Then she "lost" the alarm. We found it a couple of days later and asked her if this was something she wanted to try again. She said yes so we sgreed to try it a couple of more nights. That night was the last time she had a accident!! We kept the alarm on a couple more nights but it was not needed again.

Good luck!

Hi S.! I’m M. Francis from the GoodNites NiteLite Panel. Mamapedia is partnering with GoodNites through September and your question is definitely relevant to what I talk about with the NiteLite Panel so I wanted to chime in! I noticed it’s been a while since you posted; how are things going now? Have you gotten any more information from your doctor?
Even if it turns out that a medical condition is not the culprit, I wanted to reassure you that nighttime wetness is still pretty common at your son’s age. One of my sons experienced bedwetting at your son’s age, and in addition to what you’re doing, you might want to try using a waterproof mattress pad to help protect his bed and have him wear GoodNites Underwear. There’s more information and advice about bedwetting at GoodNites.com.

Hope things are going well—please update and let us know!

Hello, I just want to say that I was a bedwetter when I was a child. Back in those days the parents tried things like threatening and spanking or embarrassing the child. I can tell you that none of these work. I would lay in bed afraid to go to sleep, until I would just go to sleep, and then probably as soon as I did fall asleep, I would wet my bed. My husband and I had four children. Two were bedwetters. We never made a big deal out of it. We covered their mattresses with plastic protectors. When they were old enough (maybe about your son's age) we made them responsible for stripping their bed and depositing the bed linens and blankets on the washer. Eventually, they both outgrew it.
Now you have the overnight pullups for older children. I would just get some of those, if you can afford it. The more you stress, the more your son will feel it. It is just part of growing up for a very large population of children.
Good luck with your precious little son.
K. K.

I have a 7 1/2 year old son too, and a few months ago we started using an alarm. We love it! Well, love might be too strong a word:) But--it has helped him tremendously!! I think his progress would have been even better if we didn't have to deal with back & forth issues with his original dad. He doesn't want to take the alarm with him when he sees him. SO--in spite of the interrupted efforts, we are seeing definite improvement. We've handled it factually, not emotionally, and I try to praise the process more than I praise the kiddo. That helps him remember that it really isn't a performance thing for him; just his brain being trained to wake up in time. Feel free to message me if you have questions. We got it from the Bedwetting Store, and it was one of their priciest ones, but worth every penny. We picked one in a color of a Football team that he admires.

There is medication that can be prescribed until he outgrows this. I would cut out all juice, sodas and especially applejuice way before bedtime because they make you go. My mind is tired, so I can't come up with the word. What is he drinking during the day?

If this is something 'new' he just started, I would talk to his pediatrician. Sometimes this can be a sign of Type 1 Diabetes in kids. No bedwetting for a few years then all of a sudden, bedwetting. At a recent conference I went to on Juvenile Diabetes, that was one sign that a lot of doctors just ignore and say 'they will grow out of it' when in reality it's a sign of something they need to check into and take care of. Good luck and hopefully this is NOT the case!

I just wanted to say I'm glad my 7 yr old isn't the only one still wetting the bed. It'll be interesting to see what other people say!

I had to stop giving my daughter sweet drinks, as I notice she would wait to long during the day, and then wet a lot during the night. She only gets one 4 ounce thing of juice in the morning, and then milk or mostly water during the rest of the day... You might try limiting his sugar drinks. or talking to him and telling him that if he does wet, you will take them away. He is old enough to respond well to bribery... =)
Good luck
R.

That is funny strange that you post this question. I just spoke with our Pediatrician about this. He said that his own daughter wet her bed up until she was 9 years old. Both of my younger kids were late in the night bladder control. We got them night time pull ups. They have a few brands that are almost like real underwear and they work well. If you know what time your son has to get up and relieve himself again, then just wake him up right before that time and have him go. Set an alarm for you so that you remember. This is very normal and I had posted here too when this was happening with my son when he was 6 1/2. He finally stopped when he was a little over 7. Hang in there.

Info: "Bedwetting is common. More than 5 million children in the U.S. wet the bed at night." and "especially children under the age of 6 years. About 13% of 6-year-olds wet the bed, while about 5% of 10-year-olds do." and "Although the problem goes away over time, many children and even a small number of adults continue to have bedwetting episodes."

My oldest daughter NEVER wet the bed after being potty trained. My youngest daughter wet the bed maybe twice after being potty trained. My son? Wet the bed every night FOREVER! As he got older it became less frequent, like every other day. by jr high, it was maybe once a week. He's in high school, and he still does every once in awhile.

You can buy night time underwear - that can be washed and worn again. It's a little more effective. We only used the overnight pullups when he was away from home. Because they were a little more discreet and he could toss them in the trash. by the time we got to jr hi, we quit using them and just changed the sheets.

There is a medication, ask your dr. We just chose not to take it except when he was away from home.

Be patient.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bed-wetting/DS00611/rss%3D1

http://www.bedwettingstore.com/Briefs/briefs_childrens_gr...

My son had the same problem. He also had a bladder test where he drank lots of water-and then had an ultra sound and then peed and then another ultra sound. he saw a urologist too....he had nothing wrong w/ him at all. i bought the Miren alarm and 2 weeks later no more pee nights, ever!. 100 bucks was a lot of money-but....I sold it on ebay. so-you might try buying one there.

Here are some links, for a recent article on this from Parents magazine:
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/sleep/bed-we...

http://www.parents.com/goodnites/?sssdmh=dm17.436672&...

http://www.parents.com/parents/quiz.jsp?quizId=/templated...

I had also recently read, that bedwetting can occur up to 10 years old.
Typically 7.

Use a waterproof bed-pad under him, that's what I do.

All the best,
Susan

Ok my daughter wet the bed until this year and she will be 9 on the 25th. It is a hereditary trait, usually on the fathers side. Alarms can help, but does not cure! There is no cure!! It is actually a sleep disorder, there are 3 sleeping patterns you through when you sleep. All i know is the REM (rapid eye movement) part of the sleep pattern is skipped in the children who still wet the bed. That part of the sleep pattern is where the bladder and the brain speak to eachother but since it is skipped in children who wet the bed, the brain and bladder do not speak!!! As long as you have made sure your child has no bladder problems or any other problems resulting in her wetting the bed, than it is probably the result of what i just explained. I bought my daughter one of those mattress pads that soak up water so the mattress doesnt get ruined. But then she hated waking up wet, so she started to wear sleep pants, and liked that better. It also has nothing to do with the bladder not being mature enough or smaller than what it should be. It doesnt matter if he stops drinking at 5pm, it will not help!!! It doesnt matter if he uses the bathroom before bed. Good luck

Have you been to a specialist. Most ped's deal with the problem as though it is just a developmental milestone that your child is behind other kids. Many times it isn't within the child's control because there is actually a medical issue. Did you, dad or any other family members have this problem? My hubby's kids with his first wife ALL had the same problem. Their mother and her sisters had it too. See a specialist before you start spending lots of money on programs and pills.

I wet my bed untill i was about 13 yeaars old i was very unhappy my mom just made sure the bed was very well proecteded and that i had a change of clothes evetually i out grew it im now 86 anddoing fine in fact we are now in singapore for 2 weeks relax it will go away A. no hills

hi
it may in fact be something he can't necessarily control on the way you think he should or can. I read about bedwetting when my child was having accidents on a regular basis, turns out... and it seems so obvious. but some people do in fact smaller bladders than others.. hence, the reason some children might be more prone to accidents...
consider cutting off fluids maybe 2 hours before bedtime and see if that helps.. also, as for the holding it in the daytime until last minute, my child still does that.. especially IF he is busy having fun and doesn't want to be interrupted.. that aspect perhaps your son needs more coaching on, but in terms of the nighttime accidents, I would try the limiting of fluids..
my child did eventually outgrow the bedwetting but not until he was 6 1/2 years old.. also. do you think your child might be under some kind of stress that is has not verbalized to you? something to think about.. best of luck