how to stop bed wetting?

Question

my 4 yr old son still wets to bed everynight we do put pull-ups on him for this reason but isnt he old enough to know to go to the potty we stop his drinks at 7 p.m. he goes to bed at 9:30 hes made to go pee before he goes to bed an it does no good what do we do?

Answer 1

Bedwetting can be very normal up until about age 9 years. Did mom or dad wet the bed as kids? Bedwetting often runs in families.

Don't pressure him and don't punish him. His body may just not be ready to be dry all night yet.

Have you talked to your ped/family doc yet? Doctors tend to not even begin to worry about bedwetting until at least age 5 years. You can talk to the doc about having a urinalysis and an ultrasound done (to make sure there are no infections and all plumbing is in working order) but most likely they won't encourage this or referal to a urologist until 5 years.

Get a vinyl mattress cover if you don't have one already.

Consider trying chiropractic and/or DHA supplements. (More on this below.)

We are still dealing with bedwetting with our 7.5 year old so, even though our girls (3.5 yo and 5.5 yo) have been night dry for ages.

Here is my son's story -

Our stuggle with enuresis

Keithen turned 7 years old in February and still wets the bed at night and sometimes has accidents during the day. Here is a little about our journey with enuresis.

When my son turned 5 he was bedwetting every night and having at least one, usually more, accidents each day. Our family doctor did a urinalysis to make sure he didn't have any infections or anything and that came back normal. He referred us to a urologist. The urologist put him on Ditropan. He also ordered an u/s. I filled the perscription and waited a bit, unsure if I wanted to give it to him. We decided to wait on the u/s, feeling pretty sure that this was not physical but instead a discipline one. (Didn't care if he was wet...wouldn't stop what he was doing to go...engrossed in play...we saw a pattern to when accidents happened...etc.)

That wasn't working so we tried the meds - I think we did a total of 3 doses of Ditropan. He HATED it. There was no pretty color or flavoring to it to make it palatable to kids. It smelled very strong and tasted nasty. The side effects were horrible. He would get dizzy and he fell asleep in the middle of the day. With the start of Kindergarten coming up soon, I felt the side effects were unacceptable. I didn't want him getting sleepy like that when he was in school and he was simply not himself on the medication. We stopped them - like I said I think we tried 3 doses. We struggled through the rest of the year on our own.

Around his 6th birthday, someone on the Mothering boards suggested chiropractic to me as a treatment for enuresis. We were open to the idea and decided it was worth a try. Through a network of local mothers, we found a chiropractor with special training in treating kids.

We started treatments 3 times per week. This did seem to help. The first time that he woke up dry, I honestly cried. I was so happy for him to see that he was making progress. And I was so relieved that maybe we had found an answer. At our next appointment I had to choke back tears of joy and relief as I told our chiropractor our good news. I even asked to give him a hug because I was so deeply grateful for the help he had given my son.

Shortly after staring treatment, he was waking up dry about once every two weeks - a huge accomplishment compared to how things had been! And his number of daytime accidents decreased. Around this same time we had a checkup with our family doc and with his urologist. We refused to try the meds again because of the side effects. We reported that the chiropractic treatment was helping and agreed to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound came back normal.

As his chiropractic scans got better and his accidents decreased, his visit frequency decreased. After a couple of months of chiropractic treatment, our chiropractor suggested that we try DHA supplements. These made a HUGE difference for us. This was probably the point that nighttime accidents went down to once a week or so. Daytime accidents at this point were reduced to ones that seemed undeniably behavioral (only wetting while playing on the computer). We were doing so much better!

You may wonder why the DHA supplements were recommended and how they help. Children with enuresis have increased levels of prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandin E2 and renal nitric oxide. Bed-wetting children have an underdeveloped region of the brain that controles nighttime micturition (as noted by their inappropriate startle response). Omega-3 fatty acids play a critical role in the development of and function of the CNS including micturition control and startle response. Nations with the lowest prevalence of bed-wetting children consume more than double the fish/seafood as compared to the nations with the highest prevalence of bedwetting children.

A week before his 7th birthday, I was frustrated once again. He had backslid. He was no longer cooperating with taking his DHA and he was wetting the bed almost every night. (He still wears pullups to bed.) He had been having a daytime accident several days per week again. I still think those are mostly behavoral - tied in to computer/gameboy/etc. - activities where he is super focused. Chiropractic visits are now only once every 2 weeks as his body looks good, so I don't think the increase in accidents was due to a physical problem.

We have gone through periods of taking his Gameboy away waiting for him to go a week with no daytime accidents. A month after he turned 7, things seemed to be looking up. He was having occasional dry nights and was having more dry days than wet ones.

I think I do need to get him back on the DHA on a regular basis as the drop in the DHA levels in his body may be creating some of our problems (at least the night-time part). I may have to find ways to sneak it into his food if he continues to avoid taking the pills. We had to stop seeing the chiropractor back in April because we couldn't afford it anymore. He has definately regressed since then. :-( I wish we couldn afford to go back to regular adjustments.

In Kindergarten he only had 2 or 3 accidents at school all year long. Last year, in first grade, I think he had 2 or 3 accidents at school which were "giggle pees" when he was laughing too hard with a friend in gym class and at a class party. This year (2nd grade) he has an hour bus ride each way. He's been back to school for around 2 months and did come off the bus wet once. WIth an hour long ride, he's out of luck if he forgets to go before he leaves for home.

I'm relieved that it hasn't been a big problem for him at school. I remember that my cousin was "that kid" in grade school who was always being sent to the class for clean clothes. I remember the stigma that it can carry to be the "stinky kid" who wets his pants. I am thankful that he doesn't seem to be dealing with that at school.

I hope our experience helps some other families out there who are struggling with this problem. I know I am eternally grateful that we found chiropractic and the DHA supplements to help our son instead of going the traditional medical route with the prescription drugs.

Answer 2

My son just turned 8 and still wets the bed sometimes. It drives us both crazy. Every year at his physical, I ask the Dr about it and they always say its normal and will run its course! Not very helpful.
In the mean time, what I have learned is to try and keep him warm. He always pees when he is even a little bit cold at night.
Basically, its a waiting game. My sister wet the bed till she was 12. I don't think I can deal with it that long, let alone my son!
I know my sister started using some nose spray from the Dr that made her stop wetting, maybe you could ask your doc.

Answer 3

I was told by my doctor that children don't have the ability for bladder control in the middle of the night until they are about 6. Some take a little longer. But he told me that 6 was a good age range. They are unaware of the sensations to need to use the restroom while they are sleeping.

I know it's frusterating, and pull ups can become a great expense. But your son is on par and the only thing you can do is what you're doing now. The no drinks after 7:00 is a good idea. I do this with my son still and he's 8. Be patient with him, it's prossibly equally frusterating for him as well.

Answer 4

His body is just not yet developed enough to go the night without urinating. He is not misbehaving or being lazy, he is just not mature enough yet. Many children are not night-time potty trained until 5 or 6 and that is perfectly normal. Just keep putting the pull-ups on him and check him first thing in the morning. Eventually he will begin to wake up dry some times. Be sure to praise him when he does. There are some children who are bed-wetters when they are older. Again, it is not a misbehavior, it is something they can not help. Your son needs positive reinforcement and encouragement. Don't be frustrated with this as he will eventually be able to go all night and wake up dry or get up to go in the night when he needs to.

Answer 5

Don't worry--my son was in Kindergarten before he stayed dry every night. Keep using the Pull-Ups, and remember that most boys take a WHILE to learn this skill. Also, don't make a big deal out of it--it'll only make him embarrassed and nervous. Use sheet/mattress protectors and just know that this too shall pass!!

Answer 6

my two sons have both been late at going through the night dry. with my first son we had to keep checking through the night, as soon as i found him to be wet i woke him up, sat him on a chair, changed the bed and then washed him down before putting him back in bed, this made him more aware of what he was doing and after doing this routine for two weeks he stopped after bet wetting until age six!!!
my second son now four was a bit easier, he has now been dry for three months, we used a simple sticker chart with rewards at the end a full chart.
i guess this means that they are all diffrent, but at four it is not that bigger deal.
good luck

Answer 7

First of all i would go to the doctors and check for a simple medical solution like a urine infection.

I would try and make sure you don't get too stressed when this happens as if the child feels anxious about it, it may make the problem worse.

Also check there is not another problem that is making the child very stressed.

If there seems to be no underlying reason go back to the doctor again.

Answer 8

your going to have to take him to see his doctor's maybe their is more to his problem? when my brother was that age he had to be put on pill's for this very same thing. woudnt hurt to go ask his doc. my brother was 12 when he finaley got it under control,let's just say he never went to sleep over because of it,he was scared to death he would have an accident. i was a mean sister always makeing fun of his,sigh i wish ii could go back and fix that,suport him and not try to tear him down over it : [ im 4 year's older than he. : [ tc

Answer 9

I say give it a little more time. But a doctor may be a better one to ask. But I think the doctor would say the same thing at this point.

Answer 10

Ask your Dr. He could have a physical problem or this could be emotional.

Answer 11

take him to the doctor have him check and besides this is normal for children that