My son is nearly 13yrs and for the last 8yrs he as been wetting the bed almost every night.?

Question

He's been under the Dr. and under the hospital were he as had
tests and they can't find anything wrong.He's had the alarm that wakes you and many other gadgets that have not helped.He can never have sleepovers are go on school weekend trips like is brother. Can anyone HELP US! PLEASE

Answer 1

I see you have posted this question under "mental health", but you have not addressed whether you have sought any psychological help for him. If not, this might be the way to go; it could be symptom of latent anxiety, buried so deep that your son doesn't even realize he is anxious. Good luck!

Answer 2

Stop the doctors - your son has a very common problem that thousands of young men suffer from, and so do young girls. Have you not seen the commercials for the underware that he can put on at night? I believe they are similar to "depends" which no one knows your wearing. He can put a pair on just before he goes to bed under his p.j.'s. I know this is hard on you, but you must try and not make a big thing out of it. The more attention paid to "bed wetting" the longer it lasts. I know, I was married at 19 - my husband 22- and he still had the problem, within less then a month, he never suffered from it again and we are now retired. I stake my life on the fact that I did not make a "big' thing of it, I told no one, and my husband stopped being afraid to go to bed at night and the bed wetting ended!Buy your son the underware I mentioned, give him a couple of weeks, tell him to invite a buddy over and have a sleep over - his friends bring they sleeping bags, everyone sleeps on the floor - they we have a good time, and your son will relax. The more often the stress is taken away from bedtime, the quicker this will end. One thing you could check is to take (if you haven't) your son to a specialist - a Urologist - it is possible that your son has a"blockage" and during the waking hours he can go to the bathroom, but at night when he is asleep - the "sphinter" muscle is relaxed and the flow of liquid (urine) is released. If this is the case, surgery and it is Not major surgery - can fix the problem. Let us know - good luck - and I sincerely hope I Have Helped you but definitly Your Son.

Answer 3

I had a similar problem when i was a child. I started wetting the bed when I was about 6 or 7 and continued till I was about 14. There was nothing physically wrong with me or psychologically as far as I am aware.

I used to stop eating and drinking at 8pm. This may sound silly but I also used to say 'I must wake up and go to the toilet' 3 times before I went to sleep. Not sure if this helped but do know if I didn't wake up and go to the toilet I would still wet the bed. I very rarely sleep all night without going to the toilet.

He needs to train himself to get up. You might have to try waking him up and making him go through the night.

Answer 4

Hi,

since you have everything physical checked out and have tried probably all the obvious things, i would start to think more mentally about this issue and ask yourself why he started wetting the bed at 5 years old? Was there a time when he didn't..and then he started? Something may have happened around that age to trigger this. I don't mean to worry you and if you approach your son please do it with caution. I am sure he feels vulnerable enough, espcially after having gone to doctors etc....but perhaps exploring the past could help..have you considered seeing a counsellor, even just for a session or two..nothing too heavy.

It could also be something he mearly grows out of..many children wet the bed into their teens and then stop...i myself did...it is an unfortunate thing for many children when it comes to having sleep overs and going away on trips but he is not alone

Best of luck

x

Answer 5

It sounds as if possibly something, maybe traumatic, triggered the beginning of this habitual problem.
(This could have a 'traumatic' as something 'happening' in his first school year? Doesn't necessarily have to be really 'awful'...just relative to a 4/5year old... Obviously something that Doc and the like have not got to the bottom of -- has he been referred to Psychologist? Counsellors? I guess so)

You COULD try a hypnotherapist (maybe your Doc knows one?)

Or some practical things -- which you should be doing -- like no liquid intake at all for at least the three hours prior to bed time.

Ensuring that he has emptied his bladder as proficiently as possible not just once but going at around half hour before bed - then again at least once more within 5 to 1 minutes of bed time.

You could try a period of enforced awakening - maybe 2 hours after going to sleep -- at which time he would be required to go to the toilet. This might have to be done manually to start and maybe an alarm could be used after (this would possibly work best if the problem is known to occur around a certain time as opposed to indiscriminately at any time of the night)

Anxiety, which he may well be suffering from as a result of his problem, is potentially a major factor - and you can find some advice about anxiety and panic management, and natural non-drug treatments, that could prove useful here: http://www.gonando.com/panic-attacks.html

Answer 6

Don't make a big deal of it if he isn't wetting himself in public. What kinds of stress are in his life could he have been molested. If he has wet for 8 yrs and is 13 he wets for a reason. Has there been a big change in his life like amove or a divorce. Mostly just love him and if he wets and you know it then just get him into dry night clothes and blankets and let him go back to sleep.

Answer 7

Pull-ups do work for this age kid too.

Consider spending a few sessions with a counselor - there could be something that can be resolved for him, since he was not wetting the bed at 5. And mom, once the introductions are completed, let him speak with the counselor alone -- just do your 5 min. together at the end.

Answer 8

sometimes people (kids included) sleep so deep that they don't realise they are bed wetting.

Usually, this is associated with alcohol, i.e., someone drinks so much they bed wet but don't know til they wake up.

However, this isn't always the case.

I slept on the bottom bunk..... I woke up but my elder, bed wetting sister didn't. Not attractive..

She grew out of it though. I don't think he has deep rooted problems or anything I reckon he probably sleeps deeply.

Hope that's all, good luck.

Answer 9

Enuresis (nighttime bedwetting) is more common than people think.

I'm surprised that the alarm did not work - it is highly effective. Did you do it for an entire month at least?

Avoid beverages after dinner, avoid anything with caffein, and go back to the alarm.

Write me privately, and we'll talk more.

Answer 10

My eldest son had the same problem (not rare in boys) the GP gave an hormonal nasal spray and within 48 hours he was dry. Really, it worked that quickly. Dont fret, its more of a taboo than a problem.