6Yo Wetting Bed Again

Maybe he has a bladder infection? Or has he has any traumatic experiences in the last few days? I would sit him down and talk to him. If it seems he has UTI symptoms, take him to the Dr. If he has had something happen that has been traumatic for him, help him work through it. Good luck--this sounds like it would be frustrating.

I would suggest taking him for a bladder infection test, since it started for no obvious reason. If that is negative, I would research what is happening emotionally within him.
Good luck!
Nancy

Sometimes kids get really, really tired and start to sleep through their bladders. Has he been really busy the past week?

Our son gets very stressed, and he has issues with this. If there's been a change, or a stressful event, he'll sometimes wet himself a bit.

On a side note: an easy changing item is to buy a protective sheet (we have one that is nice---it doesn't feel/smell like vynil) and we make the bed twice. Make it once, and then put the second sheet protector down, and make it again. Then, in the middle of the night, you don't have to remake the bed again. Just pull the top set off, change the boy, and off you go. The next day, slip a new set on, making sure the bottom set is dry. It's SO HANDY in the middle of the night.

I went through this with my daughter. Doc said "heredity- she'll out grow it" but neither my husband or I had any issue with bedwetting and she didn't outgrow it by 8 yrs. I tried allergies, acupuncture, chiropractic, but it wasn't until I learned there is a hormone that controls night time bladder control called Vassopressin(sp?) and that sweet potatoes help your body make and balance your bodies hormones. I knew she wouldn't eat sweet potoatoes so I found a wonderful nutritional supplement that contained "yams" and it worked!! I'll be happy to tell you more if your interested. My email is ____@____.com.

J.,
I understand this is a big issue. I have a son who wet the bed every night until I took him to a chiropractor at age 13. He was cured after the 2nd adjustment, although he did have adjustments 2 or 3 times a week for a month. He has never had another accident. This is where you should go after getting checked for childhood diabetes. I wish you the very best!

Sometime they will wet their beds if they are having dreams where they are going. And they will be dreaming that they are actually going in the potty. You might try getting your child out of bed early to go to the bathroom. That might help.

Hello J.,

It is possible that something has changed in your son's life (or his thinking) that is stressful and leading to bed wetting. In order to get your son to open up to you about it, I recommend reading, "How To Talk So Kids will Listen and Listen So Kids will Talk," by Faber and Mazlish. Once you better understand what is happening in his world, you can support him.

~T.

My son started wetting the bed again also. He is 6.5 and I think it has to do with a growth spurt and all day kindergarten. I have begun to have him take the sheets off his bed and make his bed with clean sheets. I think that has made him more aware of when he has to go. He is still having occasional accidents, but when it happens he just gets up and puts his bedclothes in the washer. In my opinion he is just so tired at the end of the day he sleeps so hard and doesnt wake up.

I'm interested in responses becauses my 4 (almost 5) year old boy wets the bed almost every night.

Hi J. - my 5.5 yo just did the same thing - he went 6 nights in a row where he completely soaked the bed. We took a wait and see attitude and chose to treat it pretty matter of factly with him so that he didn't worry about it. During this same time, he was on vacation from school and had 2 weeks of swim lessons plus lots of playdates with his same-age cousin that kept him up later as usual. We decided it was because he was just one tired kiddo. Once he started a more normal schedule the bed-wetting has subsided.

Also, if you want to reassure yourself about the diabetes possibility, you might consider what his output is during the entire day and how that compares to normal. You might also watch his level of thirst. Also, at your local drugstore or pharmacy, you can purchase ketone/glucose test strips that you simply run through the urine stream or dip into a cup. These are the same one a doctor uses. Your 6 yo will probably be excited to comply if you ask him to pee on something! The indicator at the end of the strip will change color in the presence of ketones or glucose which can be indicative of diabetes. The color comparison chart on the bottle tells you how much he might be releasing. A jar of 25 can be purchased for under $10.

I would take this very seriously and check with your pediatrician. I hope this is not the case for you but my son who was potty trained for years wet the bed out of the blue when he was 7. I took him into the pediatrician and we discovered he was a diabetic. One of the signs of the onset of diabetes is frequent urination due to the excess sugar in the blood stream. This is how the body tries to get rid of it.

The pediatrician will do a simple urine dip to test for excess sugar. I would definitely start there as soon as possible to rule it out.

Let us know how it goes! G.

J. I wonder if you notice that he might be snoring a sign of sleep apnea, many children that bed wet have this and it also has been related to ADHD. I would check with your dentist about the possiblity of a a narrow airway or enlarged tonsils causing this problem. What happen is when they are startled to wake up by the loss of oxygen they void. Hope this helps Love mamajoy!

My son had that same challenge a few years ago. My Pediatrician helped me realize even though it is an inconvenience for me and an embarrassment for him. If he is not doing it every night he will grow out of it and it is probably not a medical issue. I guess it is more common for boys and can last until age 9-10 with less and less accidents. My son did. I learned not to make a big issue out of it. He just took the sheets off and put them in the laundry, I put on clean sheets not much was said. I felt as though it helped both of us from the situation getting worse or putting more pressure and stress on him. Yes it was a pain for me but job security with the additional laundry. He can be stressed about something, video games, what is he watching in the evening before bed, going through a growing spurt where they truly sleep very soundly. He will stop when he starts getting to the age of sleepovers and cannot go to a friends or grandma’s, or does not want to have one at his home.
There is something we used not sure if it is still out there but it is called the potty pager. It wakes the kids up from a sound sleep during the accident. It helped Kind of weird but recommended by the pediatrician, it helped and he is now a teenager.

K.

Just wondering if anything has changed in your son's life. New school, new sports or new friends? Any problems at home? Anything to change the way he thinks about himself or change his self-image. Seems to me that there might be something new bothering him.
After reading other responses, I agree with Tia. Read the how to talk to kids so kids will listen or how to listen so kids will talk is a good choice. Good luck on figuring this out.

this is a very common response to stress, even good stress. I'd start w/looking for causes of stress. my son had occasional at the start of kindergarten this year after being dry at night for a year. my mom taught for 30 years and said that the first 2 months of school, kindergarten and 1st grade, particularly boys, always had issues.
besides limiting liquid in the evening, you might try having him pee when you go to bed. our son doesn't even wake up - we carry him to the bathroom, stand him up, and he goes. we zip the jammies back up and carry him to bed - he's usually snoring before we get him tucked back in.

A lot of times there is something stressing them out, or they are feeling insecure. I'd check with him to make sure there isn't a bully at school or at someone making fun of him. Find out from his teacher if she has noticed any changes in his behavior at school. Build him up at home. Even in the midst of the wettings.

I too have a son who wets the bed and he is 8. He was potty trained and did very well, until he was hospitalized for his Asthma. Doctor explained to me that the hospital stay was a traumatic experience for him which caused him to wet the bed again. The Doc also said that he has an immature bladder. Bed wetting is very common especially for boys. My suggestion is be supportive, have him help you change the bed, 2 hours prior to bedtime no drinks, and if you want which is what I do set your alarm for 4 hours into his sleep and then go wake him to go to the bathroom. This way you can train him to automatically wake himself to go to the bathroom. Good luck.

My 5 year old started doing this--during the day, as well. When I went to the doctor the first thing she did was take an x-ray of his stomach. She said the #1 reason a previously successfully potty-trained child suddenly becomes "unpotty-trained" is a back up of stool in the colon. Sure enough he had a problem. We started giving him Miralax (half a capful once a day) and have not had a problem since.

It is not uncommon for boys to wet the bed until age 10. They sleep very soundly and have undeveloped nerve endings. Michael Landon made a very touching movie about this problem and how the boy's mother would hang his sheets out the window.

Has your son suffered an emotional poblem of late - a death in the family for example? If the problem continues see a pedatricican as their is medicine but usually given until age 10. Do not embrass him regarding this problem. Buy pull ups and be supportative to your child. I know it is frustrating as my son had this problem and my daugther's third son has it. He also has a small bladder. Be sure your son is getting enough to drink during the day a case of dehydration is not fun either and is taxing on his kidneys.

I am a grandmother of 10 ten and I taugth school for 25 years.

Be patience and handle with love. Good Luck. L. M.

Have you had him tested for diabetes? High blood sugars cause frequent urination even if you are not drinking anything. Just call your pediatrician.

I used to work for some pediatric urologists. Another thing to consider is what he is drinking. You need to cut out all caffeine; no pop, no chocolate milk, chocolate, etc. That only exacerbates things. Also, try having him double void. Have him go, and then about 15-30 minutes later have him go again. This also could be in result of something stressful in his life, so take a look at that too. There also may, of course, be somehting anatomically wrong. Of course, I'm not a doctor or an expert, but these are a few things that may help.

J.,

Take your child to the doctor to determine if his bladder is simply not growing as fast as it does for most kids. Children who experience this slow bladder development generally develop full growth to the bladder by at least age 13. Do not torment your child about this nor allow others to do so, either.

Even sisters and brothers can be extremely mocking and cruel to a sibling who has slow bladder development. Don't blame the child, yourself, for something that is simply physical and which will change over time.

Having had a god-child with this condition, I am aware how frustrating it can be for parents. Still, check this out with your physician so you can gain the newest and latest advice for this condition. Be kind to your child. L.

Get him checked for a urinary tract infection. My daughter wets the bed when she has one and never wets when she doesn't have one. It is difficult for them to control their bladder when they have an infection. Also, her only symptom for a urinary tract infection is bed wetting and a weird odor in her urine.

I noticed an earlier comment that mentioned diabetes. They are also absolutely right. When the doctor doest the test for the urine he can also test the glucose levels. You may want to give your son a candy bar or other high sugar food about a 1/2 hour before the test. If he's diabetic the urine test will detect the sugar in his urine. My daughter is diabetic and they caught it early because of a urine test done for a UTI. Hopefully it's just the infection or a growth issue although diabetes is definitely not the end of the world.

Have you talked to your pediatrician about this problem?

When my three-year old got a bladder infection, she started ignoring the signs that she needed to go potty because the infection made her feel like she always had to go. She'd dash to the bathroom and nothing would happen. After a while, she stopped heading to the bathroom when she had the urge and an accident usually happened. Once we got the infection taken care of, she resumed her usual good habits.

I've also heard from the doctor that sometimes the kid's body outgrows the capacity of their bladders to hold a lot of liquid. It doesn't last, but the bladder does need some time to catch up. There may be options, like medications or methods of helping him, available to you from your doctor if that is the case.

Well, this is coming from a bed wetter that has 3 children that are bedwetters. There are a lot of things that could be contributing to your 6 year old wetting the bed. Maybe he is upset about something that is going on in his life. Is he in school and someone is upseting him? Teacher? Friend? Maybe he is coming down with something. I know that when I was not feeling well, I had a tendency to wet the bed more frequently. I know that with me, I am first a very heavy sleeper and second, I have a very weak bladder. Through pregnancies my bladder has gotten stronger, not weaker like most women. Maybe he is sleeping a lot more soundly because he's going through a growth spurt.

Those are just a few reasons that I have for what is causing this in your son. I personally say to get out the plastic sheet (he can say that he has it for allergies so that no one knows that it is for bed wetting) and stock up on laundry soap. There are the "Bedwetters" that stores sell that I have heard are great. Inconspicuous and comfortable. Like a mini Depend. I don't think that it is medical but your could consult your pedi to just rule it out.

Hi J.,
There can be certain medical conditions that contribute to night time enuresis (medical term for wetting). Do bladder infections occur with his wetting episodes? Might your son currently have a bladder infection? It would probably be wise for you to make an appointment for your son to see a pediatric urologist. There are diagnostic tests that can be run to verify the cause of the night time enuresis. Also, your child may just be a deep sleeper. If that is the case, you can try wetting alarms. Hop on the internet & do a search for wetting alarms. The minute a drop of urine hits the alarm, it will sound & hopefully wake your child to alert him to use the bathroom. Also google "enuresis" on the internet & there may also be some helpful hints as to how to handle what is happening with your child.
Good Luck.

I had the same problem with my daughter and finally got an alarm. It's called DRI-sleeper and I got it online for about $50. I think my daughter wet the bed because she slept so soundly and just didn't wake up in time. My daughter just turned 9 and I got the alarm last fall.