8 year old that still wets the bed.

[Bubblesh]

Hi I have a daughter that is almost 9 years old. The problem is she still wets the bed every night. She has to wear goodnights and I truly can't remember the last time she had a dry night. Is there anything that I can do? I have tried meds, nothing do drink after 6 you name it I have tried it. She hates and would like it to stop as well. Please Help!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There is a percentage, albeit small (approx. 5%), of boys and girls who have not achieved dryness at night by the age of nine. So this is not unheard of by any means. The condition is referred to as primary nocturnal enuresis. Relative to intervention, at her age it makes sense to have a thorough medical/urological workup to be sure that structurally there is nothing amiss. In addition to anatomical abnormalities, physical causes can include neurogenic bladder, insuffcient antidiuretic hormone, and untreated diabetes, though only a very small percentage of children who display nocturnal enuresis have any medical abnormality. Now, if she is dry during the day (and I'm assuming she is), you can pretty much be sure that from a medical perspective she is fine (otherwise you'd likely observe daytime, or diurnal, enuresis as well).Behavioral plans (usually involving some variety of contingency incentive system - never punishment), several medications (imipramine, DDAVP, e.g.) and wet alarms can be useful, though none are absolutely guaranteed to be effective.

[Bubblesh]

Well unfortunatly she has problems during the day as well. She will have the urge to urinate so quickly that she can't move or will pee on herself. So I would say she has an accident during the day about 4-5 times a week. Do you think it is something serious? She has been on the hormones you talked about with no help. You mentioned diabetes, could that be the problem?



Thanks.

[acm]

Your daughter sounds a bit like my son. He was having accidents during the day and was wet at night.  About two 1/2 years ago we bought a bread making machine and eat home made bread instead of bought bread. Within two weeks he stopped wetting the bed and day accidents were reduced to the point that as long as he went to the toilet on a regular timetable accidents could be avoided.  I mentioned this to his pediatrician and he said it was a coincidence. Then about nine months ago our bread maker broke down and we started buying store bread. After 3 months he started wetting the bed again and having more accidents in the day. We got the bread maker fixed, and went back to home-made bread.  Within 4 days of this he stopped wetting the bed and within a week the day wetting improved. I personally think it is the preservative in the bought bread that caused the problem.  I don't know if it would work for you but you could give it a try.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The fact that frequent diurnal enuresis accompanies the nocturnal enuresis makes it more sensible to pursue complete urological workup if this has never been done. You can confer with your daughter's pediatrician about referral to a pediatric urologist.

[tdmw]

I myself was a bed wetter until age 11. My son was also a bed wetter until 12. It seems to me that when puberty starts the bed wetting usually subsides or quits altogether. A bed wetter does not know that they are wetting the bed. The good nights are a wonderful item,i wish they were around when i was a kid and for my son back then.

                    It takes alot of patience. If a person was never a bed wetter its hard to understand and they think the person is lazy etcc... That is just not true.

[WORRYDAD]

this all sounds so much like my situation with my daughter.  she is a deep, deep sleeper.  she also has extremely sweaty hands and is having problems with both night and day accidents.  i heard about enuresis at night, but was unaware of the day time type.  i thought she was suffering from the symptoms my wife and her mother had which is frequent urination and is just one which inherited this trait.  i used to ask her about the problem and stress the issue that i love her dearly but the behavior is what i was angry with, but that didnt gain any ground.  she is six now and still has the accidents during the day and night.  we had her checked for diabetes and urinary tract infection and both were negative.  her pediatrician suggested it was brought about by the birth of our son, but he is two now.  reading this has made me realize that we have a fairly normal child more importantly is not suffering from some deep emotional issue.  thank you all for sharing your stories, it has helped me and my family greatly.