7 yr old and bedwetting

[imanaddict]

My 7 yr old son is still wetting the bed at night. He has to wear pull ups, so I buy him the kind that look like boxer shorts because my stepson makes fun of him. I'm really worried that something is wrong. I have tried everything from not letting him have anything to drink past 6:00, then 5:00, then 4:00. I make sure he goes to the bathroom right before he goes to bed every night, but it still happens.

Could this be a medical condition? Anyone have any suggestions on some things that I haven't tried?

[StepDad]

Can you change his school. He will be pick on from now on. My brother had to chance. My nieces school. Because she was being called all kinds of names and the happened. last year and it carried over to a new class year. She was 8. The school did nothing to stop it. So my brother and his wife took her to a different school. Now she is fine has new friends and is well adjusted. She also had a friend from her new school who stayed over and the little girl wet the bed. My sweet little niece said, don't worry it our secret.
I hope you can do something about your son from being tortured like that.
Kids can be so mean.

[imanaddict]

Thank you so much for your help, advice and stories!

Last night, my son told me that one of his friends at school (my son has spent the night at his house a few times) will ask about his bed wetting in front of other kids at school. My heart just breaks! My son is horrified that now his school friends know on top of his stepbrother who already makes fun of him. I get so irritated with my stepson for that, and he gets in trouble for it, but I can't do anything about the kids at school. I hate feeling so helpless when it comes to my children!!

[ellie1973]

I'm sorry your son is going through this (and you as well, it's stressful for parents!).  I was a bed wetter until I was 11 and it looks as though my daughter might be going the same way.  I don't let her drink too much at night and I take her to the bathroom right before I go to bed at 11:30 or so, about three hours after she goes to bed.  If I forget to do these things there is a chance she will wet the bed.  I think the reasons could be many, from weak bladder, to deep sleeps, to phycological factors like fearfulness.  I tell you this because I was a child with an extremely active imagination and the dark terrified me and I believe was part of me subconciously not wanting to wake up.  My youngest daughter is the same.

[StepDad]

my stepson who is 12 wet's the bed. I go to bed pretty late around 12-1 am and wake him up and send him to the bathroom it helps. But, some night he is already wet. The strangest thing tho. he has sleep overs at a buddies house 4 times a month and he has yet to wet the bed.
We had him checked out and his Peddy Doc said nothing his wrong..
Now that he is old enough he take care of changing his own sheets.
he was waking us up at all hrs of the night to tell us he wet the bed.
Well now that he is old enough he has to change it himself and put the Solid sheets in the machine. So it does not stink up the house. And he showers every morning before school. He is a popular kid.
I would hate to see him get trashed because he smelled like pee.
He also Wets the bed more at his dad house. His dad looks down on him  for it. We just say don't worry it happens. you grow out of it.
the only real problem is buying a new Mattress every couple of yrs.
he is on his 6th. Also you mentioned you stop him from drinking after a certain hour well we tried that too and the little bugger was
drinking water from the bathroom or when we where not looking.
My wife took the cups out of the 4 bathrooms we have and he was sipping from the faucet or using his hand.
Well good luck. just don't let your other children pick on him for it that will give him a complex and make it harder for him to stop or create other issues.

[imanaddict]

I think I've tried just about everything. I've taken away the pull ups and put towels under a plastic sheet. The plastic sheet ending up tearing (I think my youngest son got a hold of it) and I have found that doing this only creates a heck of a lot more laundry for me to do (that I don't have time for with 4 kids in the house). I don't get upset or mad at him for it, I know he can't help it. I don't want him to feel ashamed or embarrassed because of it either. His stepbrother does enough of that for everyone and it really makes me upset. My dad told me he wet the bed up until he was 12 and it took him having to sleep with the t.v. on at night to get him to stop. Something about it lets your mind not fall into as deep of sleep or something. I've tried that too and the only thing it does is he'll stay up watching t.v. all night..LOL! The little stinker!! I've tried turning the t.v. on AFTER he falls asleep, and I'll be darned if he didn't wake up in the middle of the night and come get me to tell me he was scared because some scary movie was on.  Again, the little stinker!! LOL! I may try that approach again this weekend and next week since they will be out of school on Spring Break and see how it works. Thanks everyone!

[Lonelymom]

My niece still wets the bed and she is 12 years old, but she is also very overweight. The doctors gave my sister a nose spray that she has to do at night and it helps her not wet the bed.

The doctors told my sister that children wet the beds because their bladders are still developing and as soon as it does she will stop. Now that she is 12 they are blaming it on her weigh but if you saw my niece you would understand. She does desperatly need to lose weight.

Try taking him to the doctor and getting that nose spray I was telling you about.

[margypops]

Remove the pullups they are enabling him to wet the bed, best to put a plastic or rubber sheet under and wash the top sheet, try not to feed into it as this will cause anxiety and make it worse, cutting back fluids in the evening is good and check he is not upset by anything and all is well at school.

[wowsimgirl]

Well this is not uncommon I mean I wet my bed right up until I was twelve years old.  My parents tried everything from a buzzer on my pants which I slept right through to medication I was given this sweet sickly stuff called Tofranil.. which never worked.  I was tekn to a childrens hospital my haemoglobin was checked I had an ultrasound and they found out that I was just a very heavy sleeper with a weak bladder.  At 8years old I was taught pelvic floor exercises.  The bedwetting did not stop however decreased slightly.  I kept on doing these exercises and still so from time to time when visitng the toilet totally unaware that I am doing it simply due to the fact that it became as normal as eating and sleeping.  My auntie found out about this homepoathic medicine called arsen.alb which comes in 6mg and 30mg.  Now I do not know why this medicine helped however I do know for definite that it worked as byt the time I reached 12-13 I had stopped completely wetting the bed.  Please do not chastise your child for this I was never punsihed for it but I know someone who was and it just made her ten times worse.  Patience is the key and it may work itself out then again it might not.  Best to have it checked out by a medical professional to see if their is anything wrong.  Is there any other factors in your childs lifestyle does he drink plenty during the day because according to some researchers if you don't give a child plenty to drink during the day this is why some wet the bed.  Is he being bullied at school or in the street where he lives?  My son is 6 and has recently stopped wetting due to the fact that I get him up at 12am to take him to the toilet and now he does this on auto pilot sleeping or not.  He has plenty to drink through the day as well.  Thats one thing I can at least be thankful for.  Don't make a big deal about it with your son because it may already be embarrasing enough for him as it was for me no matter how much I washed it seemed as if the smell of urine stuck to me so get lots of deodourants and cologne to make him feel better becuase hey we all worry about our appearances and how other people treat us.  And give him all the love in the world at this difficult time.  I hope you find a solution.  Good Luck