Any thoughts on 4 yr old- still not dry at night?

[Boons]

He's my firstborn so I have yet to really tackle this issue:). The Dr. says he is very healthy he could have a weak bladder but I am not sure. He goes to the bathroom fine during the day, we cut out all liquids an hour 1/2 before bed, and we have him use the toilet right before he crawls in to bed for the night. He has never stayed dry one time yet, though. Now my 1 1/2 yr old is already staying dry at night LOL so I am a bit at a loss for what to do.

Is this just something completely normal that will run it's course? Some mornings he wakes up barely wet but other mornings he is literally soaked. Occasionally during a nap he will wet as well. He's gotten to the age where it's really starting to embarass him. So any advice would be appreciative.

[RCT]

My first born, a boy also, who will be 6 this August, still has the bed wetting problem... at least 4 nights out of 7....unless we wake him up to go to the bathroom.... around 11pm every night before we go to bed, one of us will gently wake him and take him to the bathroom, then he can stay dry the rest of the night.......the pediatrician said its more common in males and not to be too concerned until they are around 6 or 7.....we tried the overnights and that took all his self asteam away...he wanted to know why he had to go back into diapers....

I also have a 3 year old daughter, who has been night dry for almost a year now....she still has the occasional scary dream accident, but nothing like the everynight stuff with ds.....I sympathize with you and want you to know your not alone, and its seems to be quite common in little boys....

[KarlaB]

My ds will be 4 in April and still wets at night, too. He does have a drink before bed and I haven't gotten to the point yet of cutting that out. I have also heard not to be concerned until they are 6 or 7 and that this is more common with boys. Some are just really deep sleepers and/or have bladders that mature slower. My little brother used to have lots of accidents (I can't remember when they stopped) and my parents eventually bought that "alarm" system that would go off as soon as it felt any moisture. After doing this my mom said she wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I have heard others say the same thing. I don't see dry mornings in the near future for us either - just know you are not alone and if you find some magic way to get him to wake up dry be sure to let me know! :)

[Mickey]

Boons, here's some interesting info on bedwetting:
http://www.drgreene.com/980122.asp

If you click on the link towards the bottom, it takes you to more info and links:
http://www.drgreene.com/bed_wetting.asp#bed_wetting_genetic

[Edited by Mickey on 03-21-2001 at 10:48 AM]

[Boons]

I appreciate the answers sooo much:). I'm glad to hear I am not alone and Mickey super thanks for the links

[kat]

Boons,
Just wanted to let you know, like the others have already said, you're not alone. Been there, done that. My oldest wasn't dry till he was 5 and 1/2 and started kdg.(thank goodness), but as a kdg. teacher I know with boys it can go a little longer. As a first time mom I worried about it. My mom was also telling me if he wasn't completely potty trained by two, it was just awful. Eight years later with my 2nd I just decided I wouldn't let it bother me and he was dry at 3. You really can't push something that their little bodies aren't really ready for. Every child is different.
Hang in there!

[Diane]

I have a day care boy (5) who still wets during the night. He'd be terribly embarrassed when he'd wake up in the morning with a wet bed so she put him back in the pull-up's... but only for the night. If he woke up wet in the morning then he took care of them himself by throwing them in a little garbage bag his mom set out for him... and that way nobody had to know if he had wet or not. (They really did but he didn't realize that... LOL) That at least saved her on having to change/wash all of the bed sheets/blankets every morning. It is a very common thing with boys... so I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Good luck! :)

[Amy2]

A friend of mine recommended this to us and it worked really well. We would wake ds up just before we went to bed, usually around 11:00 or so. Then I would go in sometime during the night (whenever I got up to pee) and take him in to the bathroom. I guess the theory is that you wake them every two hours, but we never needed to do that. At first we were literally carrying him into the bathroom, standing him up, etc. Then we would gently wake him in his bed, help him stand up and guide him to the bathroom. It took about a week (though for some it might be longer) before he "learned" to wake up at night. For a while he would wake up just as he was peeing, calling out and not knowing what to do, so I would come in, guide him to the bathroom and bring him a new pair of pjs. Eventually he just started waking himself up. And though on a rare occasion he may still wet, it's usually not enough to soak the bed (just his pjs) and he gets himself to the bathroom.
I have also read that the pull ups aren't a good idea if they are getting close because they will get used to having that security and not learn to wake themselves up to pee.

[coulie]

I just have to respond to this because my ds used to attempt to go at nite but he somehow always remained asleep. He often wound up poised right at my pillow thinking it was the toilet. One nite I left him with a sitter When I got home she recounted how my ds had attempted to find the toilet.
Apparently he saw a laundry bucket in the hall. One of those buckets you can buy at Costco with the rope handles.
Anyway it was full of clean white sheets. He thought it was the toilet and just cut loose. The sitter had kind of fallen asleep with the kids so she couldn't stop him in time. It was pretty funny. We went through strange nitetime bathroom issues with both of our kids for years. If your ds has had a physical and checks out healthy rest assured he will outgrow this. Mine did.

Good luck

Coulie

[MaryL]

I can totally relate, also! My oldest ds never had a night time wetting problem. (Must have a big bladder!)...Younger ds has just turned 5 and still has accidents at night. We wake him up between 11:00-12:00 and take him to the bathroom...it seems to work for him because he never wakes up wet if we take him during the night. We do limit his drinks at night, but only somewhat. Our pediatrician also told us that this is very common, and because he is otherwise very healthy, not to worry about it at this time. So...we're not! We don't use the Pull-Ups....