Bed Wetter

[ecgsmama]

My 8-year-old still wears a pull-up at night. We've tried a lot, but...any suggestions?

[mom21ofeach]

I feel your pain. My ds (now 15) was a bedwetter until he was 11. If you have not already taken him to the doctor to find out if there is anything medical going on, I would suggest that first.

My son checked out fine at the doc, so they have us some pills to try. Neither of the two kinds worked.

We finally ordered a pad to put under his mattress. At the instant any dampness hits the pad, an alarm goes off. It even went off when he got hot and started to sweat, so it is super sensitive.

The alarm alone does not work. The reading material we got with it states that the child needs to get himself up, use the restroom, change the sheets, and put the dirty ones in the washer. This is not easy as a parent to have to enforce, especially in the middle of the night. Expect lots of tears and drama. However, in less than a week, he was cured.

It is important not to view the sheet changing as a punishment. It is a logical consequence and trains their brain to hold it or wake up.

Good luck! I have been in your shoes and it is not fun.

[brennasmom]

Time.

My DD was a night wetter until 9ish. Our Dr. said that some children are just slower to develop the part of the brain that wakes them up when they need to use the bathroom. We tried everything with her too... waking her up to go to the bathroom, limiting fluids before bed, etc...

He will outgrow it...

[Ali Lee]

From all that I have read, a child can't help the bedwetting & it's hereditary. My oldest was a bedwetter till age 12 & it magically stopped. Why? I have no idea. I tried the bed alarm. I will say it helped some. At least it gave me an idea about how many hours after going to bed, she was wetting. Strangely, it was about an hour after going asleep. Then I did the setting of MY alarm & getting her up thru out the night. I was tired, she was tired. I tried no drinking after supper & remember all the yelling if I caught her drinking--don't do that, wish I hadn't. I pinned leaf size garbage liners on her bed for mattress protection. Didn't have pull ups back then. But now you can buy pads & full size plastic mattress covers. She never had any overnights or did she sleep over. I remember a lot of changing & washing sheets. The room smelling of urine. But there's Febreeze now. Maybe that would help.
So I guess my suggestions are... be patient, call the company of the pull ups & ask for coupons, change the sheets ASAP to keep the smell down, have extra pj's & sheets, make sure your child doesn't leave the house smelling of urine, (a fear of mine) tell him/her it's ok to tell a "little white lie" if another child asks constantly for a sleepover, realize you're embarrassed & the child is really embarrassed..then.. sit down with your child & tell him/her "this" is not an intentional act. That it's passed on in families & if it's yours-share. Work together on a plan of action-I think @ 8 yrs they can give output. Do you want to try getting up @ night? try no drinking after supper? who sprays the Febreeze? & do not throw wet pj's under the bed, etc. You see I've "been there, done that". Most of all, that magic day will come, hang in there.

[frugalwarrior2]

my cousins child was wetting the bed and it was found to be a bent urethra tube. A quick ultrasound and a simple surgery may change everything.

[daylily]

I would like to suggest a milk allergy. 3 in DH's family (2 boys and 1 girl) were bed wetters until around 12-14 and all three turned out to have milk allergies. Sometimes kids grow out of the allergy, sometimes not but will usually grow out of the bed wetting. The allergy will just manifest itself in a different form. Worth checking on.

[dancemommy]

We had a bedwetter. My husband was one and so was my dad and my brother so we weren't surprised. When my son turned 5 the pediatrician said we could try the Wet Stop system. We were very skeptical, but it worked!! Within 2 weeks our son no longer was a bed wetter except for when he'd get a high fever and sleep deeper. It was a rough first week using the system, but after that things got much easier and it worked. Google search wet stop. Might be worth a try!

[2ndGenGranola]

I agree on checking out a milk issue. Take all milk products out of the diet for a couple months (and no one will die from lack of milk).

[ecgsmama]

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. A few we have not tried and will look into. It is probably most helpful to hear that others have been there and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ironically he had a dry night last night. I only woke him up once around 3:30am.

Thanks again for everyone's responses!