5 year old son and bedwetting

**LanaBear** · 03-18-2010 03:43 PM

*sigh* He's been potty trained since he was about 2.5, for a boy, I definitely cannot complain as I've heard they are more difficult.

Night time has ALWAYS been an issue. I had him in overnights for a while and figured it was just pretty much counterproductive. But he has an accident EVERY night. We've gotten down to one, but I'm tired of washing washing washing sheets every night.

I mentioned it to his pediatrician at his last appt and he said with boys, there's really no concern about bedwetting until about 7.

I'm all ears for suggestions.

**WildChild** · 03-18-2010 05:49 PM

Dealt with this for a while past 7, it runs in families. There is a hormone that control the night time concentration of urine, until they have enough of it, there isn't much to be done. Another factor is sleeping too heavily to wake up, active kids will really zap out.

No liquids a couple hours before bedtime, make sure he uses the bathroom right before bed and is taking enough time really empty his bladder. You may try getting him up to pee before you go to bed - it may not solve the problem but might reduce your laundry burden.

**LanaBear** · 03-18-2010 07:05 PM

Ah - I had wondered if it was hereditary. I guess hubby had a problem when he was younger. Plus, my 5 year old is an EXTREMELY heavy sleeper and will sleep through anything.

I try to hold back on the liquids, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. They both drink tremendous amounts during the day. I could probably go broke from milk consumption, they easily drink about a gallon a day, plus tons of water.

I guess a work in progress...

**PJhavinfunagain** · 03-18-2010 07:57 PM

No advice but here's a {{{{{HUG}}}}

**LanaBear** · 03-18-2010 08:18 PM

Thanks!

My oldest didn't really have this problem. Intermittent accidents, here and there. Not this one...

Hubby and I did agree this morning that if either of us wake up during the night (and it's usually him) to use the restroom, that we'd try and wake up super sleeper too. So, we'll see how that goes. He did do better last night and went until 6am before he woke up with an accident and thankfully went back to sleep too after we got everything changed and in the washer.

**WildChild** · 03-18-2010 08:42 PM

It's hard on everyone. Embarassing for the child, frustrating for the parents. It will pass, sometimes it can take years. You just have to be patient.

**MissMeSha810** · 03-19-2010 11:28 AM

Hey Lanabear. I have to get my daughter up in the middle of the night to go potty (lol) because she sleeps like a hibernating grizzly!!! A 747 could crash into her bedroom and she wouldn't wake up until the next morning asking, "what happened?" She is 14 now. I've taken her to the doctor and there are no concerns about weak or small bladder, she just sleeps hard! At his age it should not be a big concern but if you start to worry, take him to the doctor just to be sure. Otherwise, you may just have a grizzly bear in your house like me! No liquid after seven and potty before bed helps sometimes.

**Hopeless Dork** · 03-19-2010 12:09 PM

My son was HARD to potty train, he fought it tooth and nail and pull ups were holding him back as he was so comfortable after he peed that he didn't care lol.

So i got rid of the pull ups in the day time and he finally got sick and tired of bathing and changing clothes every time he pee'd that he potty trained by almost 3.

He still wet the bed at night... being a single mom , working a full time job, I just couldn't deal with the entire wet bed incident every morning to I let him sleep in a pull up. (Lazy mothering, or just the only way I could cope - you make the call :P)

He would have many dry nights but more than a couple times a week he'd have a wet pull up. I never made any issue of it. By the time he turned 5 he started to be embarassed when he wet the pull up in the morning and would hide it and pretend he had a dry night despite the fact I never made him feel bad for wetting.

I had a talk with him about the drinking before bed and how anyone, even me... if I went to bed after drinking lots of water it would make me have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He understood and we stopped drinking any juices or sodas before bed.

Somewhere inbetween 5 and 6 he just stopped doing it all on his own, after a few weeks of dry pull ups we went to underwear and never had another incident.

My doctor told me that boys have a biologically harder time with their bladder waking their brain than girls do and sometimes it takes longer for them to make the connection and not to worry.

I'm sure your lil guy will come around just fine

**LanaBear** · 03-19-2010 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by Hopeless Dork

He still wet the bed at night... being a single mom , working a full time job, I just couldn't deal with the entire wet bed incident every morning to I let him sleep in a pull up. (Lazy mothering, or just the only way I could cope - you make the call :P)

Oh please goofball!

I had mine in overnight pull ups up until a few months ago. Thinking, oh, once these are dry over night, I'm golden! Nope, he don't care, lol. 5 out of 7 nights, those darn things leaked anyways so, wash wash wash we go. I figured since I was washing anyways, we may as well see what just regular ole under gets us. He is such a solid sleeper though, he goes non stop all day long.

So, last night, he had nothing to drink after 7pm, which he thought he was going to die. Anyways, they go to bed between 9-9:30, so they went up, brushed their teeth, yada yada yada. He pees and goes to bed. Hubby went in at about 11pm I think got him up to pee, he goes. Then we go to bed. Hubby got him up at 3am, already pee'd the bed, didn't even wake up. So we changed sheets and mattress protectors, put everything in the wash and went back to bed. I woke him up at 7am and he'd already pee'd AGAIN and again didn't wake up. Patience is golden.