my 5yo still wet the bed! HELP!

Gen - posted on 01/02/2010

I have had this problem with 3 out of 5 of my children. I was very concerned & thought that maybe there was something wrong with my children. When I talked to my pediatrician, he made me feel so much better & helped me understand the most common root of the problem. Children go through stages of sleep. Some kids sleep deeper than others & that is when they are more likely to wet the bed, because their bodies don't send the message to the brain to wake up & go to the bathroom. It's actually a lot more common than what society thinks. There are also different factors that could be affecting this cycle as well. Talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. Many of these kids grow out of it as mine did.

Roberta - posted on 01/02/2010

Unfortunately, everyones bladder is different. All my children are potty trained however bedtime wetting is different. Some kids just simply do not wake up because they are heavy sleepers. My daughter has not peed the bed since she was 4 but my boys were older. Their dad was almost 12 before he didnt wet the bed at night. All the comments you recieved about not drinking a couple hours before bed and stuff are very good...definately try those, they may work but if they do not you may just have to wait it out. I know its not good advice but i just wanted to let you know that there may not be anything wrong with your child...it just may take a little longer for him to stop.

Karie - posted on 01/01/2010

My daughter was 5 and still wetting the bed, in pull-ups, and feeling bad about the whole business. She also suffered from a severe dust allergy, that was diagnosed at about 5 1/2 yo. Once we got her allergy under control, the bed wetting stopped. I mentioned this to her dr., and she said there is a connection between the two--go figure!! I know this doesn't apply to every child, but it was such an easy fix, it's worth checking out--Good luck!

Stephanie - posted on 12/31/2009

thank you every one! i am going to start waking him up around 10pm again and see if that works! i dont let him have a drink after 630 but i have caught him in the bathroom drinking out of the faucet! but i will try everything that was suggested and thanks again!

Penny - posted on 12/31/2009

Don't rush him! Leave it up to nature, his body may not be ready yet. My daughter is 5 also and still wets at night. We put her in a pull up, and she is responsible for cleaning herself up in the morning. Every child is different, don't pressure his body to do something its not ready for.

Anita - posted on 12/30/2009

We went through a stage where my now 7yo was wetting the bed when he was aged between 4 and 5. What we did was send him to bed each night making sure he went to the toilet first, then before I went to bed some hours later I would gently wake him and take him to the toilet again, sometimes just a trickle is enough to get through the rest of the night. I did this for a few weeks and he just stopped wetting the bed. I also discovered that he didn't like being cold, his doona (quilt) was not warm enough so I bought him a new doona much warmer and hey presto! It worked. Out of all four kids he was the only one who loved being swadled in all those blankets they swaddle new borns in in hospital, the other three tried to escape the swadling, hated it. Good luck

Julie - posted on 12/30/2009

my son was 10 when he had his very fisrt dry night, we tried everything from the fluids, tablets, alarms etc... nothing worked until one night he just didnt do it anymore!
He is now 11 and half n has 3 wet nights since april 09...it happens when it happens im afraid x

Beck - posted on 12/30/2009

My son did not fully toliet train till he was about to start school, at the age of four I had stopped my studies to ready my son for school because while I studied he had to attend day care, and his toliet training was inconsistant, he would still wet his bed through out this year though, and I used toliet training pants for him as you are, then when I take them off thinking he may be ready he would wet it again, so either they are really absorbant or I was just unlucky. Many nights woken and broken sleep to finally get this corrected, but eventually it all passed and luckly he stopped just before starting school. here are some tips that got us through it

*Make sure your son doesn't have any thing to drink right ontop of bed (except a milo or milk)

*use a matress protector

*Have him go to the toliet right before bedtime

*While he is in bed, read a story to him 10-15 mins, then ask again if he needs to go to the bathroom

*make sure he is warm

*use a very dim light in his room along with a hall light to the bathroom, so if he does wake and needs to go, he isnt to scared of going out in the dark

*and tell him if he wakes up and needs to go, that its ok for him to wake you for assistance.



Good luck with it :)

Morgan - posted on 12/30/2009

I know his fluid intake my not be the problem. But try not giving him a lot to drink or nothing at all an hour or two before he goes to sleep. And have in tee tee before he climbs in the bed. And if he says he is thirsty give him just enough to to make him happy. I hope maybe I could help.