4yrs. old and still bed wetting??

Question

My 4 yr. old son often wets the bed. He goes to bed with a sippy cup, and i've tried everything to take it away, but its like a security thing! If i take it away, he cries and wakes up a least 10x, in the middle of the night asking for it!! before the last hour he goes to bed i make him go to the bathroom, 3x! What can i do?? This si makeing me crazy!!

Answer 1

Take the sippy cup away. It might last for a few nights, or even a week, that he gets up all night asking for it. But you need to struggle through and get him over it. Eventually he will stop, it wont take long.

Wake him up atleast once in the middle of the night to pee. The same time every night. Eventually his body will get used to that routine and he will wake himself up to go potty.

Its normal for toddlers bladders to not grow at the same rate as their bodies. It doesnt help that he has a sippy cup with him all night.

You just have to buck up and get through it. He doesnt need that sippy cup, he doesnt need a crutch to sleep. And he doesnt need to sleep so sound that he wets himself every single night. A mistake here and there is one thing, but every night is not okay for his development, it takes away from his self confidence that he's a big boy.

You can do it.

Answer 2

there are a few options you can try:
1. tell him he needs to wear a nappy / pull up if he goes to bed with the cup, explain that it is because he wets the bed and mummy can't always wash the mattress. This way, he has to make a choice. Most 4 yr olds would not want to wear nappies. Ensure you explain this in a factual way, it is not meant to be punishment but rather preventative behaviour. If he chooses the nappy, go ahead. He will change his mind before too long.

2. Reason with him about the cup, tell him he can choose a teddy or something else instead. Read a story containing a bed time bear, tell him he can choose one in the shop.

3. Ask him why he likes his cup so much. Is it just the drink? He could still take the empty cup to bed as a security thing if he chooses, but the drinking gets done in the kitchen prior to bed.

4. Put a potty next to the bed and / or leave a night light on.

5. Wake him up in the night for a toilet call.

6. Talk to him calmly about how you feel, tell him why he can't continue wetting the bed. Ask HIM to think about ways HE can stop wetting the bed. Give him ownership of the behaviour. He might surprise you.

I know it's hard. Some children are not night trained until 6 yrs of age or older, so don't panic. I would try the nappy last by the way! A mattress protector is a great thing too.

I didn't list these in order of preference either, just as I thought about them. I would do number 6 first..

Answer 3

Many children wet the bed till they are 8-10. It is not a good idea to let him have the sippy cup, for several reasons. I know it is hard but to get that away from him you are going to have to be strong. Pick a time when you can afford to be up for a night or two and just tell him sippy cup is gone, no more taking it to bed. The first couple of nights will be horrible, but then it will get easier. Every time you give in it makes it harder to ever get rid of it, and you don't want him going to college that way.

Answer 4

Alot of kids wet the bed at that age. But probably the main reason is because you letting him to go bed with the sippy cup. Let him have the sippie cup an hour before he goes to bed. And make sure he goes before he goes to bed. Tell him that he is a big boy and doesn't need a sippie cup to go to bed.

Answer 5

Don't worry about it - my son is 5 1/2 and he still wets the bed.

It was crazy and I tried making him go without a diaper but here are two problems.

Firstly, he is always thirty, so I can't refuse him water at night. He drinks gallons of the stuff during the day and at night all he wants is one last drink before he goes to sleep.

Secondly, my son has a severe dust mite allergy - so he doesn't get a good nights sleep because he is so congested. This makes him a heavy sleeper and he doesn't wake-up easily to be able to go to the toilet during the night.

So we went back to wearing pull-ups and I am sure that as he grows older he will eventually stop wearing a diaper before bed, but I have heard of people who have 7 year olds who just can't do it yet.

My daughter on the other hand is 2 1/2 years old and she goes to bed without a diaper, but she is able to wake-up during the night and go to the potty, so we recently bought her a big girl bed so we didn't have to get up at night to take her out of her crib.

My point is, that clearly there is nothing wrong with out parenting skills and it's no one persons fault. It the nature of the child's physical predicament.

Answer 6

4 years old and still wetting the bed is completely normal. i was a pre school teacher for some time and it happened to one child or another on a daily basis. you have to remember, they didn't become potty trained THAT long ago, and sometimes they still don't recognize what their body is telling them (especially while they sleep)!!

if the sippy cup is his "security blanket" there is no need to take it away from him. in fact, he probably doesn't even drink out of it in the middle of the night, he just likes to have it there.

you could always try pull-ups at night also. many parents sent their children in to the preschool with pull-ups for nap time. other kids were completely unaware because they are so thin. it helped them a lot and they didn't have to wake up wet! Good luck!

Answer 7

It is normal to wet the bed at this age yet. Although it sounds like his is directly related to the sippy cup in the bed. Not only is the bedwetting an issue but if he goes to sleep with milk or juice his teeth are paying for it too. The sugar content will decay his teeth, so if you are not already try using plain water in the cup. Then eventually wean it from him and replace it with some sort of "lovey" like a stuffed animal or blankie, something.

Answer 8

Ok who is the parent? Let him know that he does not go to bed with the sippie cup. If he cries it is ok no one ever died from crying. I have three kids everyone went to the bathroom at there own pace and never had accidents once they were going regulary. He is wetting the bed because he is having something to drink way after he needs to. I understand he wakes up then ignore him. It is called conditioning you have to condition your child for your life style not there's they are not the boss you are.

Answer 9

The sippy cup does need to go. It's something you can do to help the situation. It's common for 4yo to wet the bed. Do not for one minute believe that it is a behavioural problem or he's doing it on purpose. Just limit his drinking before bed & use pullups for toddlers for a bit longer. It's one of those problems that will fix itself in time.

I was a late bed wetter & I was so grateful my mum didn't make a big issue of it. I know I didn't do it on purpose because I was too lazy to get out of bed etc.

Answer 10

try introducing a bed time routine
let him have his last drink from the sippy cup about an hour before he goes to sleep. tell him hes a big boy now and big boys dont have sippy cups at bed time. also during the day try let him use a proper cup ( plastic not glass). this might make it easier to take away the cup at bed time.

read a story before bed or do something to take his mind away from the cup

try to wake him from his sleep and take him to the toilet during the night maybe once or twice

gd luk