How do you stop bed wetting?

Question

My son is 8 and we've tried what seems like everything. The DR. put him on a 10mg. dose of IMPRAMIN (didn't do a thing) then upped the dose to 25mg after 2 months. Little effect. What now? He is extremely embaressed and self concious now.

Answer 1

I also have an 8 year old bedwetter. Chiropractic and DHA supplements made a HUGE difference for us! Then we ran out of money for the chiropractor. :-( Give chiropractic a try. Find someone who is used to treating kids. And start him on DHA supplements.

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. This 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. He's had a couple of accidents this year in 2nd grade as well. 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 is 11 and has Sensory Integration Disorder and wets the bed just about every night. He wears pull-ups and we all deal with it in a very low-key manner - no big deal. He is a very deep sleeper and waking in the middle of the night was useless. We tried the drugs and they didn't work at all after the first night on each dose (we upped the dose four times). We even went to a physical therapy specialist in bedwetting who had some very sound suggestions. Although they didn't succeed, you might try some to see if it has an affect:

Bedwetters are often constipated, so make sure your son's diet is high in fiber. Milk is a bladder irritant, so maybe some for breakfast, but not with lunch and dinner. Spicy foods and chocolate should be limited. Definitely drink a lot of water during the day, but limit liquids after 3:00 pm and nothing after dinner. Most of all, don't make a big deal over it. When boys reach puberty, they will secrete more of an anti-diuretic hormone that will shut down their bladder when they sleep. That is often the root cause of bed wetting. But do let him wear pull-ups until he succeeds in being dry - it will save both of you a lot of grief! Good luck!

Answer 3

I know how he feels its not good and makes the situation worse. As a kid i didn't stop wetting the bed till 10 tried all the drugs the doctor could give me, not drinking after 4pm, the bed mat that goes off when it gets wet, hypnosis and what feels like everything
Mum went out and brought an alarm clock sat it beside my bed to go off three hours after i went to bed and it woke everyone else in the house up but me
So the last and most successful attempt was breaking up my sleep she tried waking me up the same time every night 11:30pm and again at 3:30am it took about a month of doing this but it works and to this day i don't remember getting up and going to the toilet but my husband says i still wake up at those times to go to the toilet but i haven't wet the bed since the age of 10 1/2.
So try waking him up throughout the night to go for a wee and your persistence may become routine
Just be patient and don't make him feel bad about it he really cant help it.

Answer 4

I would try the moisture alarm, anythings better than more meds....
I wet the bed until I was about ten and took lots of meds, and techniques to try to stop...It was humiliating & I missed out on many sleepovers. I just outgrew it I guess...
My older and younger sisters also wet the bed...and the only one of us that stopped at an early age (I think 3 or 4) was my little sister...She slept on the moisture alarm that beeped when she peed. She quit wetting the bed in about a week and never wet the bed again after that. Good luck!!

Answer 5

The Alarm Clock Training is The Only Best Solution For Stopping the Habit.

Set Multiple Alarms At Night and Take Your Kid on those times for a month. It will Gradually Decrease and Stop

Consuming Less Water at Bed Time Should too work.

"Behavioral treatment is often more effective and certainly is safer than medical treatment. While behavioral treatment may take somewhat longer to show results, the improvement usually continues indefinitely. There are several methods that may be helpful:

Retention Control Training: The child is asked to control urinating during the day by postponing it, first by a few minutes and then by gradually increased amounts of time. This exercise can extent the capacity of the bladder and strengthen the muscle that holds back urination. Parents should always check with a doctor before asking their child to practice retention control:

Night-lifting: This procedure involves waking your child periodically throughout the night, walking your child to the bathroom to urinate, and then returning your child to bed. By teaching your child to awaken and to empty his or her bladder many times during the night, it is hoped that he or she will eventually stay dry.

Moisture alarm: Moisture alarms are considered a useful and successful way to treat bed-wetting. Medical research has shown that moisture alarms have helped many children stay dry. This treatment require a supportive and helpful family and may take many weeks or even several months to work. Moisture alarms have good long-term success and fewer relapses than medications.

An alarm consists of a clip-on sensor probe that attaches to the outside of bed-clothing. An alarm is set off when the child begins to wet the bed. The alarm wakes the child, who will then go to the bathroom to finish back to sleep. This slowly conditions the brain to respond appropriately during sleep to messages from the bladder.

Hypnosis: Hypnosis has been found to be a very effective form of treatment for bedwetting. By repeated listening to a hypnosis tape, the brain is re-programmed so that the child will be able to respond to a full bladder while asleep the same way he or she does while awake."

Answer 6

DEAR his little bladder has not quite growing because he still growing and some do not grow right until latter there are alarm pads for the bed that you set up just like a baby mortar you have one in your room and one in his and there are water proof matters praetors you put it on the mattress and the a mattress pad and there are good nights under wear for things like this he does not need to be hurting are any thing it is not his fault OK in time he will out grow it OK happy new to you and your family OK.

Answer 7

bless his heart. the moisture alarm is great!!! we tried other methods for over a year. within 2 weeks of getting the alarm she was dry. the doctor explained it like this: she is a very deep sleeper--i knew that--the nervous system of the bladder fails to signal strongly enough to the very asleep brain. the brain has to be trained to recognize the signal from the bladder that it is full. that is where the alarm comes in. follow directions carefully. when you hear it go off, go shake the child and say: your p alarm is going off, wake up and lets go to the bathroom. make him wake up and have him turn the alarm off and go p. then have him help change the bed. the first night, even with the alarm going off by her ear, my daughter didn't wake up until i shook her. each night, it tooks less to wake her. then they will wake up themselves and turn the alarm off. for my child, 1st night bed was flooded, next night not quite so bad, 3-4 night much less,next few nights, just a small spot, then she started waking up as she started to p. within 2 weeks, she was dry. i think once or twice in the next year she would regress when she was sick, and i would just put the alarm back on the bed. then, it took only 2-3 nights to resolve it. it really, really works and it is not his fault. but believe me, i know how frustrating it is. good luck

Answer 8

Well...besides medicine...I am not sure what else you have tried...but I would talk to him about his insecurities and reassure him because stress may make it worse...Then, I would try to regulate his schedule...I would restrict liquids atleast 1.5 hours before bed...I would have him use the bathroom at several check points throughout the day...(for example: once every hour or 2 hours)...and do the same thing to him at night... have him wake up every few hours to potty for a week or so... Maybe he just needs to teach his body a routine... Help him form habits of getting up during the night to go to the bathroom...

Answer 9

Get up in the middle of the night and get him to the bathroom. Stop all liquids past 5:00pm. Watch what he eats, salty and greasy foods increases the thirst. Sodas also increase the thrist (sodium...that's why they are called "soda") and that is why after you've had one you're still thirsty. Put a plastic mattress protector on his bed and teach him how to do the laundry so that when he gets up and has wet sheets he can help out by washing them.

Answer 10

Setting alarms is a great idea. Make sure that he goes before he goes to bed, too.

Always reward dry nights, and make a big deal out of it to build up his self-esteem.

In the meantime, though, get a mattress cover.

Have you talked to his pediatrician about him perhaps having an underdeveloped bladder?

Answer 11

I assume that he goes to bed earlier than you and your spouse...

So, wake him up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. He'll fall back to sleep easily. His bladder most likely hasn't developed to a size sufficient to last throughout the night.

Also, if you wake up earlier than hiim, wake him up again. Once he gets used to the routine, the wetting may subside. Hopefully his bladder will grow quickly, and no more need to worry.