Seeking Mom's Who Have Older Children with Bed Wetting Issues

I know what you are going through not only did both of my girls do that, I myself did it until I was 11. Come to find out in two of the three cases it was due to allergies, but with my youngest daughter it was stress. She did it until she was 8. She is 11 now and hasn't wet the bed since. The doctor said it was the changes that went on in her life, she wasn't dealing with them very well. And she actually liked the "night time pants" as we called them. They didn't seem to bother her either.

I wet the bed till i was 19 :( that includes a year and a half into marriage :/

Like another poster here said, bed wetting and nutrition go together. My sister-in-law was a nurse and had me try a few diet changes.
I stopped drinking anything but water between meals and nothing caffinated after 7pm. I changed to a complete veggitarian and do alot more exercise.

But...
Bed wetting can also be blamed on mental health. I was molested when I was 8 years old ( shortly after that I started wetting the bed every night instead of just sometimes).
I had been a dry sleeper for a long time till I was raped. But once I started seeing my counciler, I havent wet since.

Try the diet thing. If she still wets the bed, speak with your doctor about letting her talk with a counciler. I'm not saying she has been molested or anything... small things like, getting called a name at school or not being picked first for a game can be just as tragic to some children as being molested.

good luck with this ;}

ps..
note from my heart: please do not punish her in any way for wetting the bed. my mom used to get mad at me and it hurt so much to have to say sorry for something i had no controll over.

Hi K.! I have a daughter who turned 6 last December, and she still wets the bed every night. It does not matter what I do, she will not wake up in the night, and she wets her pull up near EVERY night. I also talked to the pediatrician, and she said there is nothing to worry about, you just have to wait it out and eventually she will be able to hold it longer. I have noticed lately she is not going AS MUCH at night, so hopefully we are getting to that point soon. Anyhow, there really isn't (as far as I can tell) anything we can do but wait!!! I am anxious to see other's responses though, glad you asked!!!

I'm not too familiar with the nutrition factors and bedwetting, but I know caffine can cause you to loose some bladder control since it's a stimulant. I have to be careful myself with caffine. Pop, tea and hot chocolate can be some of the biggest culprits. Hot chocolate has more than pop.

I don't know what she's drinking throughout the course of the day, but maybe this could be a possibility.

Dear K.,
I was a child who wet her bed until older.
I can remember that I had "accidents" at first, but several times I knew I had to go (I would wake up) but I was just too lazy to get out of bed! And I didn't have diapers on! If she has diapers and her case is the same as mine when I was little, you are making it easier for her to not want to get up... So, here goes a suggestion - take her diapers off and cover her mattress with a plastic sheet. You will have to wash the bed cover a lot in the beggining, but
I can garantee you that she will feel wet and uncorfortable and then she will realize that being lazy is not the best for her in this situation...
Cris

Hello K.,
I have 2 childern who wet the bed. They are 10 and 11. They don't wet the bed every night now but they still have not out grown the problem. From what I understand (from the doctor), the bladder has not matured enough to send a message to the brain telling them they need to go to the bathroom. Have faith, she will stop wetting the bed when she is ready. Same with my boys. Untill then, I protect the beds with plastic covers (I got mine from Walmart in the bedding department). I have taught my boys to remove their wet bedding if they wake up wet. We then wipe off the plastic cover. I know this is more work then a night time diaper but I found my kids don't like waking up to wet sheets. We try not to make a big deal out of it (I was a bed wetter growing up and my mom was very harsh with me about it. That only made the problem worse. I was afraid to go to sleep at night, afraid I would wet the bed and then be punished for it). So give her and her little body time and when she is ready she will stop wetting the bed. I hope I have helped. Good luck and remember, you are not alone.
S.

I have a 10 yr old that still wets the bed EVERY night. I have talked to her doctor about it and have even taken her to a urologist. They say it is something they just have to grow out of. And it could take many years. The only thing I can really suggest to you to help is to wake her up several times during the night to have her go to the bathroom. Good luck.
D.

I have a son who wet the bed every night until he was 7. When it started bothering him, we got a bed-wetting alarm on the advice of our pediatrician who told us exactly how to use it. Some people think that an alarm won't work because the kid would sleep through it...that isn't the point of the alarm. When the alarm goes off, it is the parents' responsibility to get the kid up...make them physically get out of bed, walk to the bathroom on their own, and WATCH them go to the bathroom, then walk back to their bed. It is important that they are fully awake. What this does is train the child's body to learn how it feels when they have to go, then trains their body to wake up when it feels that way. This takes a lot of commitment on the part of the parents, but it's worth it. It took about 2 months, and he hasn't wet the bed since...he's 12 now :)

Stop using diapers. I know it is easier but she knows she can pee and it won't make a mess. My son wet until he was 8 or 9. When he started showing he was trying was when he was waking up in the cold wet puddle.

Get a zippered plastic sheet to put over her mattress (I got mine from J. C. Penney's) that way it will be safe. I would have her help you change her sheets and do some of the laundry (help start the washer, help put the clothes in the dryer etc.) That way she is taking some responsibility for herself.

Has her doctor had you measure her urine output? Wait until she really has to go and have her pee ina cup. That will give you a good estimate of how much liquid see can hold. I forget how much at what age is best, but ti would be something to discuss with your doctor.

At age 6, she still has plenty of time to outgrow this. I really know it can be frustrating. I had a babysitter yell at me because hse was tired of washing peed clothes. But it will pass. Really.

hi kim. i have a total of 5 kids ages 27 to 7 years. several of them, the boys mostly, had bedwetting issues. the oldest wet the bed until he was almost 9 !! no matter what we did, it didn't help. both my brothers also had probs until they were older. with my boys i finally learned alot of it may be hereditary, and all you can do is wait it out. your daughter may be acting like it doesn't bother her, to cover up her real feelings. deep down inside she may be having some serious issues with it. self-esteem, ect. try to be patient, as hard as i know from personal experience, as it can be! good luck!

C.

Hi, my daughter is 7 and still wets the bed. Our Dr. also didn't seem to be concerned when we went for her 7 year, and said that some children wet for awhile. I know my daughter is a VERY heavy sleeper, her dad wet the bed until he was 18 so it's hereditary for her, and she also had a bad kidney infection a few years ago, so she has a few things against her. I did all the research, and stopped the liquids, and she's always had good eating habits, tried waking her up in the middle of the night (which I don't recommend), and everything else, and finally just decided to let it run it's course.I've heard that there is now a nasal spray that you can use that is supposed to help with the amount of urine they have at night, that I plan to ask my Dr. about when we go for her 8 year check up, and there is also an alarm you can by that goes on the bed, and goes off when they begin to pee (which won't work for me since a train could go through her room and she wouldn't wake up!) But, she doesn't seem to be bothered by it, it hasn't effected her going to sleep at friends houses, or anything else. I know I havn;t given any advice, but I just want you to know you're not alone!

My son turned 6 in March and still wears a diaper to bed at night. Alot of it is due to not realizing he has to go in the middle of the night and the other half probaby is diet (but he's so picky and won't eat anything) I figure he's healthy and happy so I'll deal with the diapers as long as I have to it isen't hurting anyone. I would ask your Dr. if there is anything you can do.

Hi K.,
It is not a commonly known fact that bedwetting and nutrition go hand in hand. I know of a lady who was a bedwetter until 21. She, like you, had tried everything she knew to do - and probably more than you since she became an adult with the problem. She learned that nutrition could make the different, tried it and has never had the problem again. Please contact me off site if you want information about what she did. ____@____.com
Best of luck to you and your daughter.
S.

Hi Kim,

I just talked with my DR. about my son's bed-wetting problem (6). She informed me that there is a hormone that takes effect at either 3,6, or any year thereafter up to puberty that signals the bladder from emptying at night. We have our son on a nasal spray that is beginning to help with the problem! His wetting has decreased significantly to the point where we are going to try him at night w/o pullups on. The spray is called desmopressin (generic). Maybe this could help your daughter, as well. There is also a pill form.

Hope this helps! A.