6 Year Old Wetting the Bed

I've got a nephew who did until he was 9 yrs old and what got him to stop was not having anything to drink up to 2 hrs before he went to bed. He stopped shortly after that. Good Luck

Hi J.. My almost six year old has the same problem. My doctor says she probably has a spastic bladder. Which causes her to go often. He suggested medication. But I hate the thought of that. I find she does better if she is not overly tired but trying to put a five year old in bed that isn't sleepy is not pleasant! We are just hoping she out grows it. Until then I'll keep my fingers crossed and the washing machine going.
L. N.

The first thing you need to do is take him to his pediatrician and find out if there is a physical problem -a bladder infection or a food allergy, for example.
If your pediatrician can't find any physical cause for it, then start looking for environmental causes: a problem at school, fights between you and his dad, a new baby or pregnancy. Anything that causes a major disruption in his life that my be upsetting him but that he doesn't feel like he can tell you (or may not know how to articulate it) can cause him to wet the bed.

I understand your frustration. First of all, I would check with the dr to make sure that there is nothing physically wrong. After that, if he says everything is alright and you know that 100% then not letting him drink before bed and going to the potty before bed, I am not sure if there is anything that you are seriously capable of doing.
I hope it all goes well.
Merry Christmas

The best thing to do would be to talk to the doctor and be sure there is no physical problem present. It mighto give you some relief to use diapers that are available for problems like this.

I had the same problem with my now 15 yr. Old. She was and still is a very deep sleeper. That is why she wet the bed for so long. Try putting a water proof sheet under him and cover it with a towl to help with the sheets. Please keep in mind that not all bedwetters are sick or unhappy. mine was just a deep sleeper, If your son is a deep sleeper that does not mean he has a sleeping disorder either. He is probley as stressed out about it as you are. as bad as you want to pull your hair out dont let him know. just make sure he is healthy and happy and chances are he will out grow it..

You haven't said whether this is a new thing for him or not, so it's difficult to know what advice to give.

If it's something that has just recently started with him, I would look to see what changes have been made recently with his environment. For instance, if you are divorced, separated or widowed now and weren't then. If you have brought a boyfriend or new husband into the home...a big change to a child's routine can lead to bedwetting. Pay particular attention to any new man around your son. Sometimes, and I am not saying in this case in particular, but sometimes a child who has been molested will suddenly begin wetting the bed.

But don't get all freaked out, this could be simply a matter of your son drinking too much within a few hours of bed.

Get an electronic timer and set it each evening for at least one hour before your son's bedtime. Tell your son that, when the timer goes off, he can no longer drink anything. Have him go to the bathroom 15 minutes before his normal bedtime, and then again right before he gets into bed.

If this doesn't help, then wake him up right before you go to bed yourself, and make him go to the bathroom. I had to do this with my daughter for a long time.

If that doesn't help, then invest in some of the largest sized pullups, or the smallest size overnight depends, and have your son sleep in them until you can get an appointment with your pediatrician.

It might not be even related to a kidney or bladder problem, it could be a sleep problem. He might be sleeping so deeply that he cannot wake himself up even to go to the bathroom, so make sure you talk to his doctor about a sleep study for him if everything else is ruled out.

Try putting him to bed an hour earlier than his regular bedtime. It may be that he simply isn't getting enough hours of sleep each night, and so, when he gets to sleep, he is exhausted. Each of us require different amounts of sleep to feel rested. I have to have at least 8 hours, while my husband thrives on 5.

Good luck. Would love to hear an update! Happy Holidays!

My brother went through this when he was 12 yrs old, bedwetting is quite common, and I wouldn't stress too very much about it, but I would call ur Dr, see what he has to say about it. Good luck and God bless!

Wow- what you wrote could have been me writing! My son, who is also almost 7, wets the bed almost everynight. I don't really have a solution for you, but maybe it will help you feel better to know you are not alone.

We did talk to a psychologist about the problem about a year ago. He had us use a water sensitive pad that we would put under him at night. When it got wet it would beep VERY loudly. But my son was such a sound sleeper it didn't wake him up-- it just woke me up and I'd go get him and by then it was too late really. The psychologist didn't seem to think the bed wetting was cause for concern and, if I remember right, I think he said it's not uncommon for boys to struggle with bed wetting up to the age of eight.

For now, the best thing for us seems to be to wake him around midnight to go pee. He is a little disoriented but he usually is able to focus enough to quickly pee and then gets right back to bed. For me, I think waking in the night is worth it too not have all that laundry!!! Belive me, I know what you mean about washing the bedding all the time.

I will be reading your other responses to see what others advise. Thanks for posing the question!

my husband and I were both bed wetters and both grew out of it but it was a question of growth, our bladders were too small and it was impossible to hold it all night until we hit puberty and then it just went away. Your best bed is cutting off liquids at 7 pm and buying him special sleep underwear. It is a lot less stressful to do that than to put him thru the doctors exam at his age. good luck

i would discuss it with your doctor also i would ask about the bed alarm it worked for my daughter

I had the exact same problem with my stepsons.I even woke one of them up in the middle of night and fought with him to go potty till he did and he still wet the bed that night. We tried the same things (no drinks after 6 or 7 and going to the bathroom before bed) The dr said that their bladders were immature. I also learned that if their is a family history of bedwetting it is more likely to happen. They put both of my them on a pill that they take before bed called DDAVP. It really helped till their bladders matured enough. I hope that this helps.

Have you had him tested for any food allergies? I know it sounds wild, but some moms I have talked to have noticed an improvement in this area once they eliminated things they found their child was allergic too. If this is something new, I would probably talk to his pediatrician and see what they have to say.

Until then, someone said they use to put a plastic sheet on the bed, then regular sheets, then another plastic sheet and regular sheet. This way if they peed the bed, they only had to strip the bed and there would be a fresh set on the bed. Then the next day they'd wash those sheets & put them back on again.

I hope you find an answer soon.

My 6 year old son wets the bed as well. We have found that Goodnites work wonders. They do keep the sheets clean, and are well worth the investment. Don't put too much pressure on the kid...it's a phase that is completely normal for most children, I had a childhood friend who also wet the bed when she was younger.

Call your doctor immediately - there is help - your son can't help it -

He may be having bladder problems. I would ask my doctor about it and see if he needs to be checked for any kind of infection or control problems. In the mean time, I would purchase some good nights underpants. They can be a WONDERFUL thing. GOOD LUCK

My daughter did the same thing when she was little. She wet the bed from birth to five years old. She wouldn't even wake up when she wet the bed. We tried everything, even setting a clock alarm for the middle of the night and I'd hear it in the other room, but she wouldn't. I took her to a urologist when she was five and my miracle started.....he said that some kids pituitary gland doesn't mature as quick as it should and it isn't telling her kidneys not to make urine while she was asleep. He then proceeded to give us some nose Spray....DDAVP Nose Spray. We would spray each side of her nose at bedtime and she never wet the bed again....unless we forgot the nose spray.

She came off of the spray when she turned ll and we never had a problem again. She is now 24 years old.

Hope this helps.

K.

I would see your doctor. You could be dealing with way more than a bed wetting issue. You could be dealing with a sleep disorder if he is sleeping so soundly that he does not know he has to go.

J.--Talk to your sons dr. There is a medication your son can take that may help put an end to the bedwetting. I can't remember what it is called but I believe it is in pill form and I think you only take it once or twice......(I was given it when I was young). Part of his problem could just be deep sleeping but most likely it has to do with his bladder (might be referred to as a spastic bladder?). I'm sorry I can't be more exact on any of the names but it was a long time ago that I had to deal with it. I would also recommend talking to your sons dr. without him in the room just so he doesn't get embarrassed about the situation, I'm sure it is something he already feels self-conscious about.
Good luck!

I have the same problem. I took my daughter who is 6 almost 7 to the doctor. They gave me a liquid medicine that I give her every night and every morning. I also have started the alarm clock methond I wake her up every two hours each night which I will have to do this for one month it gets her used to waking up in the middle of the night and going to the bathroom. They said she has an overactive bladder. Which runs in her father's family and mine as well. My best advice is to talk to every one in your family and see if any one has the bladder problem cause it is hereditary