atWhat Age Should a Child Stop Wetting the Bed?

[ChefBeckyD]

My DS is 4.5, and still has to wear a pull-up to bed. Occasionally he has a dry night, but only occasionally. We limit his drinking after dinner, and he goes potty just before he goes to bed.

Once in a while he will half-way wake up in the middle of the night, crying and thrashing around. This means he has to go, but isn't awake enough to get up and go. I have to get up and lead him to the toilet, and then lead him back to bed.

I'm just curious, because on another thread someone said their 3yr old had started wetting the bed, and it got me to thinking that mine has never stopped!

 

[raebates]

Since my little one is now 22, it's been a while since we had to worry about potty training. However, I do know that every child is different. This might be a good discussion to have with your pediatrician at his next visit.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Since my little one is now 22, it's been a while since we had to worry about potty training. However, I do know that every child is different. This might be a good discussion to have with your pediatrician at his next visit.

I will, but his next scheduled visit won't be until October for his checkup.... (unless he gets sick or something)

 

[amy07]

I have the same issue with my DS (5) - the pediatrician said that if it is still happening consistently after age 7 we will discuss "options". I think 7 is entirely too long for me to wait, but it isn't up to me. For our situation, he can go 4-5 nights being dry, we switch to underpants, then BAM! back to pull-ups - after 4-5 nights wet.

 

[janetupnorth]

Yes Becky, talk to a pediatrician about the specifics. Many kids have issues well into the elementary years, bladders develop differently. I can tell you that at EVERY kids camp every year, I have at least 2 bedwetters on average still in youth camp (ages 8-10).

 

[AnnieBee]

Becky, it truly depends on the kid. One of my identical twin nephews has still not been dry consistently through the night at age 8! They have just recently started using a wetness alarm to try and help him with it (and my BIL is a family practice Dr - knows when to be worried!).

There can be alot of issues, from bladder size and control to how deep a sleeper they are. Kids who have sleep problems can also have bed wetting issues because when they do finally get to sleep they sleep so soundly they don't wake up when they need to pee.

Luke is FINALLY (4 in a week!) starting to be consistenly dry in the am, but he wakes really early usually. He had a pretty long time where he was almost always dry, and we were about to stop the pull-ups, then he went back to being almost always wet, even with leaking pull-ups.

Abbie, however, was dry through the night before she was properly day-time potty trained. That girl has a HUGE bladder! She goes a long time during the day without peeing, and she drinks plenty.

When I mentioned Luke to my pediatrician, her only concern was because he *had* been dry at night for a while to check that there was not a bladder infection, but developmentally she was not worried at all, but you can check to see what yours thinks... 4 1/2 doesn't seem abnormal, even if *most* kids are dry by then, there is always a large range of "normal", if you see what I mean.

GOt to run, nice talking!

Annabel

 

[ChefBeckyD]

See, I was a bedwetter until I was 8, but mine was because of a medical condition that had to be corrected with 2 surgeries.

I'm not sure if he could even have the same condition I had, to even be concerned about that, so I was wondering what was "normal" for other kids.

 

[babywings76]

I would ask your pediatrician. My nephew is 8 and he still wears Good Nights. He sleeps really heavily and has a hard time waking up on his own during the night to go to the bathroom. My sister has asked about it, and her Dr. said it is common for boys. That they eventually grow out of it. She has several friends with kids having the same problem, just a lot of people don't talk about it. My son will have accidents rarely, but he gets up once every night to go--he's 7.

 

[Chef Kearns]

I have the same issue with my DS (5) - the pediatrician said that if it is still happening consistently after age 7 we will discuss "options". I think 7 is entirely too long for me to wait, but it isn't up to me. For our situation, he can go 4-5 nights being dry, we switch to underpants, then BAM! back to pull-ups - after 4-5 nights wet.

Becky I was going to say that you shouldn't be concerned about development until at least age 7. I know you are frustrated though!! I know you are ready for the child to be D-0-N-E with that, but it seems like it will take him a little longer for his body to work it out.

Good luck honey!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Becky I was going to say that you shouldn't be concerned about development until at least age 7. I know you are frustrated though!! I know you are ready for the child to be D-0-N-E with that, but it seems like it will take him a little longer for his body to work it out.

Good luck honey!!

Think of the money we could save on pull-ups!

 

[amy07]

what is really hard for us, is that our 5 year old is the size and weight of an 8 year old (seriously) and it is difficult to find those sizes for him. The boxer styles are nice, but they do not always absorb as much.

 

[AnnieBee]

PS I guess you can always ask your pediatrician if there are any other issues you could/should be watching out for, that might have bed-wetting as one symptom, so you can keep an eye out for the other signs... Does that make sense? For instance, in case there is a bladder infection you should look out for A, B and C. Although I really doubt he has a problem, you'd probably have noticed other signs of an illness, and again, 4 1/2 does not seem abnormally old to be still wet in the morning. Now I'm just rambling... Hope this helps, not trying to freak you out or anything!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

what is really hard for us, is that our 5 year old is the size and weight of an 8 year old (seriously) and it is difficult to find those sizes for him. The boxer styles are nice, but they do not always absorb as much.

Mine's a skinny little guy - he's tall - 3 feet 7 1/2 inches - but he's only 34 lbs. He is still wearing a 3T-4T pull up.

It's good to know about those boxers though, I wondered how absorbent they would be. Sometimes he is SOAKED in the morning!

 

[amy07]

mine is over 4' tall and 65+lbs. When he's 10 I think I will have to stand on my tippy toes to be eye to eye with him. or maybe even standing on a stool

 

[jrstephens]

Luke still wears pull ups to bed too. Most nights he wakes up dry. I keep saying we are going to stop but I dread having to change the sheets in the middle of the night!! Does that make me a lazy mom?

 

[chefsteph07]

My stepson, who is now 12, wet the bed until he was 10, it went on and on every night. It was heriditary, ran on his mothers side and my husband...He outgrew it, and that's what I've heard, they have something in their pituitary glad that turns on when you sleep at night, causing the bladder to kind of "shut down". Sometimes it is underdeveloped. It does mature with puberty.
Now, my 5 yr old has been night trained since she was about 3 and has only had about 3 or 4 accidents in that 2 yr span. I also know that boys are more prone to wetting the bed than girls.

I'd give it a little while longer before thinking it's a medical issue and just do what you are doing, limit drinks, etc. It might help if you get him up when you are going to bed to go to the bathroom.

 

[PChef_ang]

2 of my four have issues, my 3rd daughter 8.5 and my son who is 4.5. I had read heard about studies where if one of the parents was a bedwetter there is a 30%chance their child will be and if both parents were, the percent jumps up to 70. It wasn't until my DH went into the army that he stopped. Nothing like the fear of army guys finding out to cure you. With my daughter I was at my wits end, the endless washing of sheets, it was so frustrating!! We have a good communication with our pediatrician and he felt that her issue was an immature bladder, so we tried some medications. Her issue was particularly stubborn so we have a combination of two meds that we use together. She used to take 3 of one and 2 of the other, but we have found she can take 2 and 1 for 3 nights and then be off for one night and still be okay. She has tried to go without the meds, but to no avail. She is also ADHD, though I don't know if that has anything to play in it.

Our little guy, I don't know what's going on with him. We were at a point where he maybe had an accident once or twice a month, now it seems were lucky if we get 1-2 dry nights a week with him. I've been trying to track and see if something has changed, but haven't quite come up with any bright ideas....

 

[chefsteph07]

Kids aren't supposed to be on those meds all the time though, right? I had heard they were a short term solution?

 

[DebbieJ]

My son turned 5 in December and he still wears the Nighttime PullUps to bed.He's also a rail--only 39 lbs. He wears the 3T/4T Pull Ups size.

 

[BethCooks4U]

My son was a bed wetter and it was really bad because his younger brother wasn't and he took it out on him. We finally switched pediatricians and he put him on a med to retrain his bladder. Within months he no longer needed the pills and he was dry all the time. Call your doctor.

 

[kcjodih]

My son turned 11 in November and FINALLY hasn't wet the bed in a few months. Until then it was at least once a week and sometimes 4 times a week UGH! The family doctor wasn't concerned in the least. Said there wasn't anything to warrant testing, alarms or meds. There wasn't a consistent pattern. Limiting liquids (to nothing but a little water after teeth brushing) and he's STILL wet the bed even with going to the washroom right before bed. For a while I'd wake him and take him at midnight and he'd STILL wet the bed. Other times he'd have a drink on the way home from hockey (9ish) go to the washroom and then NOT wet the bed even after having something to drink so late!

I feel your frustration and I thought it would never end! The doc's only comment was if he heads off to college and still has problems then we'll talk!???

Keeping my fingers crossed we're done here! Good luck Becky!

 

[PCJen]

I have a bedwetter too, my son is 9. Never had any problems with my daughter.

 

[sherid]

My 7 year old son is a bed wetter also, but my almost 11 year old never wet to bed. I don't put pullups or anything on him, I just change the bed when he wets. I don't want him to feel like a baby.

 

[pjpamchef]

My DD is 8 and we have been dealing with this since she was about 18 mos old. At that age we discovered she had Reflux, where the little flaps don't fit right. She's always had trouble with accidents. Last spring we took her to a ped's Urologist. Among many things he said was not too worry about nite-time wetting. The main thing to work on during the day, according to him, was getting her to the bathroom every TWO hours. With a goal of keeping the bladder as empty as possible. Then, she gets to know better the difference between full and empty. Once that happens, everything else will fall into place.

 

[Crystal Patton]

A hint for night time sheet changes:
Buy a plastic fitted mattress pad, put that down, put down the bottom sheet, then the top sheet. THEN put down a plastic non-fitted mattress pad, bottom sheet & top sheet and blankets.
Now when you have an issue, bed wetting, mid-night throw-up, etc. all you have to do is strip off the top layer toss on the old blankets (IF they weren't a casualty too) and put the clean kid back to bed.:thumbup:

I don't remember where I read this, but it works really well!

 

[tlag1986]

My oldest DS wet the bed until he was 12. We tried all the meds and finally waited until he stopped on his own. Nothing worked with regards to the meds and alarms. He was very iron deficient and was very difficult to wake.

 

[gingertannery]

My oldest boy had problems wetting the bed.. up until 9 or so. We talked to the DR and he suggested a company that dealt with bed wetters. They came to the house and talked to us. They said Kyle was not sleeping correctly.. sleeping too deeply too long. They set him up with an alarm.. a metal pad attached to a battery that alarmed as soon as it got wet.(very loud) Kyle was to wake up when it happened and clean everthing up himself.. it sounds mean but it was to break the sleep pattern. He was to also to put cool water of his face to assist in waking. It was about a week and he was cured. Completely.. forever. It was so hard before because he was so embarrased to have anyone sleep over. It really helped him emotionally! This is devestating to some to not be able to control this. Your doctor may know where to point you. I think it would warrant a call soon to the Dr. Talk to the nurse first. I wish I had known about this treatment much earlier.. Oh and another thing.. we were also restricting fluids before. They told us that was the wrong thing to do.. to actually offer more.. it helps the urge to go be stronger.. helping to wake him. He is 21 now.. so it was 10 or so years ago.. things might be different.. but it was magic for us.

 

[twinkie10]

I would ask your pediatrician. My nephew is 8 and he still wears Good Nights. He sleeps really heavily and has a hard time waking up on his own during the night to go to the bathroom. My sister has asked about it, and her Dr. said it is common for boys. That they eventually grow out of it. She has several friends with kids having the same problem, just a lot of people don't talk about it. My son will have accidents rarely, but he gets up once every night to go--he's 7.

My daughter is 9 and my son 7... and THEY STILL wet the bed!!!! I can't wait until they grow out of it. My doctor has said the same as Anne, but it drives me crazy b/c I am wasting so much $$$$ on Good Nights!!!! They are deep sleepers! My husband was the same... I'm telling you it's in his family genes. He never wet the bed regularly, but I remember him telling me he had accidents up until he was 13. Lord, please have mercy on me!!:cry:

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Okay - after reading all of your posts (and thank you so much!) I've decided to just chill out about it, and not stress myself and DS. I'll mention it to his Ped. when he sees him next, but I won't make a special trip to the Dr. for it.

*sigh* It would just be nice to not have to spend the $$ on pull-ups.



(oh - and I had that machine that senses wetness and makes a horrible noise when I was little. I quickly learned to sleep right through it. My mom would have to come in and turn it off, but by that time it would be too late, and I'd already wet the bed.)