Bed-Wetting at age 7

[seemfrog]

Hoping for some thoughts

ds2 age 7 has occassionally continued to wet the bed since potty training.

It is not very often, maybe around every few weeks on average.

But when he does, he completely soaks himself (and everything around him).

He wakes up and comes in to tell him he "got sweaty"

He is what I would call a deep sleeper...

struggled with potty training, both while awake (almost 4), and for a long time at night.

I try to talk to him at bed time about trying to "feel" if he starts to pee and get up quick to use the toilet.

a few times this seems to have happen (where just his underware is a little wet, or the bed a tiny wet but him mostly dry) - and I get excited thinking we are getting there, but then the next night will be a major soaker.

We have him use the bathroom right before saying goodnight.

I have also told him that I remember as a kid (older than him), having a dream that I got up to sit on the toilet, then started to pee, realized I was in bed and stopped...

we have a plastic mattress cover as a result.

have to change sheets a lot more frequently than I would like.

I worry that he will never be able to go to a sleepover (until this stops happening).

This summer we traveled and visited several family members, I think he may have wet the bed at each place, very embarrassing for us, potentially ruining mattresses, causing extra work, etc - at some point we started putting a towel under the sheet/top of the mattress.

Thanks for any thoughts on things to try, on whether or not we should be more concerned about this, etc

[Neera]

Originally Posted by seemfrog 

Hoping for some thoughts

ds2 age 7 has occassionally continued to wet the bed since potty training.

It is not very often, maybe around every few weeks on average.

But when he does, he completely soaks himself (and everything around him).

He wakes up and comes in to tell him he "got sweaty"

He is what I would call a deep sleeper...

struggled with potty training, both while awake (almost 4), and for a long time at night.

I try to talk to him at bed time about trying to "feel" if he starts to pee and get up quick to use the toilet.

a few times this seems to have happen (where just his underware is a little wet, or the bed a tiny wet but him mostly dry) - and I get excited thinking we are getting there, but then the next night will be a major soaker.

We have him use the bathroom right before saying goodnight.

I have also told him that I remember as a kid (older than him), having a dream that I got up to sit on the toilet, then started to pee, realized I was in bed and stopped...

we have a plastic mattress cover as a result.

have to change sheets a lot more frequently than I would like.

I worry that he will never be able to go to a sleepover (until this stops happening).

This summer we traveled and visited several family members, I think he may have wet the bed at each place, very embarrassing for us, potentially ruining mattresses, causing extra work, etc - at some point we started putting a towel under the sheet/top of the mattress.

Thanks for any thoughts on things to try, on whether or not we should be more concerned about this, etc

I can understand what a struggle it is. I don't have any advice but I know my nephew still bed wets and he is 8. He was potty trained probably early or on time, definetly before 4.  So I don't think it has anything to do with the late potty training. It's supposedly just a boy thing. Another perspective is dd who is 5 + got the night training first and fast and the day time took her longer. I think one of the things that helped her to be aware was that she wasn't dead tired when going to bed. My nephew always is - really, really done.

[queenofchaos]

I have 8 kids and this has been a problem for 4 of them (so far, still have the twins to potty train!). I have asked my dr. about this and he asked me if there was any history of my husband or I wetting the bed as kids, and there was, my husband wet the bed until he was nearly 12. My understanding is that 12 is usually the limit for nighttime bedwetting and beyond that there is cause for concern. Though in my experience they seems to start out growing it by age 8. I have two that outgrew it by 8, and my son who turned 8 in July is waking dry more and more often. My 6 yr old that is wetting the bed was actually potty trained by two and dry at night until she was 3 and there was a major upheaval in the family and I think it touched it off. She wakes up dry about 50% of the time. I have found that if I wake them up sometime before midnight, say between 10 and 11, and have them go potty, then they usually stay dry all night. Problem is it is hard to stay consistent with this as I go to bed around 8 or 9 when the children do, and would have to set an alarm to get up and I am not much for that! May not be ideal, but if you know you are going to be spending the night elsewhere, either bring a matress cover, or use Pull-ups or some other disposable nighttime diaper. Not sure if that would be feasible for your son, but better than ruining someone else's mattress and also have to deal with urine soaked clothing and whatnot. You can also buy these underwear looking things that are highly absorbable and washable. They are spendy, like $15 a piece, but they seem a lot less like diapers than the disposable Pull-ups, don't make a papery rustling noise (can be mortifying for the child if others discover they are wearing a diaper), and more environmentally friendly. As far as reasons for bedwetting go, I have read that there is a part of the brain that when we sleep produces a chemical to reduce urine output and in kids that wet the bed it is less because that part of the brain is lagging a bit in development. Not too sure about that since I have one child who was dry overnight for a year and now isn't. I have also read that there is some connection between bedwetting and ADD/ADHD, and I tend to think that is true as my husband, son and one of my daughters have ADD and all have wet the bed. Again, that could have something to do with the brain maturity, I don't know. Anyway, I thought I would mention that. I thought if I could uncover the reason behind the bedwetting, then I could address that and *cure* it, but it seems like there is no solid reason for it. Even though it is not his fault at all, have him be responsible for changing sheets and making sure wet stuff gets in the wash. Make sure he understands there is no shame in it, it happens. Try waking him a couple hours after he has gone to bed to use the potty and see if that helps. Hopefully he will grow out of it soon!

[Red Pajama]

one of my twins still wears a pull up to bed. He is 7 1/2.  He potty trained well before 4, but has had maybe 6 dry nights ever.

I know there is a history in the family, so I'm just being patient.

[kayleesmom]

My girls still wet the bed ages 8 n 5.5 yrs n my son age 3.5 hasn't even started training yet.. the girls wet the bed maybe 1-3 times a month but sometimes i wonder if it is stress related.
Edited by kayleesmom - 10/16/12 at 12:08pm