any parents of betwetters out there?

[RCT]

well, after dealing with this with ds, who stopped around age 6....we are still dealing with our dd....since we are going off track again this in two weeks...dd has asked that we stop the overnight pants...and try to get into a routine of not needing them....just wondering if anyone else has been through this with girls....I had lots of people tell me it was a boy thing....well..not so.....tia

[AnnW]

My dd has never been dry. We were going to do the alarm last summer, but got very mixed reactions to it. Just now my pedi is starting to get concerned.

[RCT]

I have heard mixed things about the alarm too...when ds was going through this....dd wears the "goodnights" most of the time...and when she asks to go with out ....I say ok....but usually end up changing sheets around 3 am... I feel for her....she was doing great right before we moved...but since the move....no go....

Ann is your ped. suggesting anything? or just concerned? our Ped....says she will outgrow it...and just be patient....

[KarlaB]

Both of my boys are/were. Oldest ds just stopped within the past year. Youngest ds wets, but I think a lot of it is due to how much he drinks before bed. I'm not worrying about it yet. My little brother wet for a long time and my parents got the alarm system and hated it. My mom now says she wishes she hadn't invested the $$ in it and had just waited it out. I think she felt like it just made it that much more embarrassing for him.

I really don't have any answers for you. Just want you to know you're not alone! Good luck!!

[RCT]

sorry your both going through this too...but it is comforting to know I am not alone....no one around me has ever experienced this, so they say.....and I feel that talking about it in front of dd would be embarrassing to her.....thanks for responding off to wash another load of sheets ;)

[AnnW]

Not sure exactly, he was always kind of "we won't worry about it till she's 9, some just have immature bladders" well, she is 9 next month! LOL She is really very cool about it and has taken some flack for it too, but just sort of blows it off.

[Jeff]

Originally posted by RCT
well, after dealing with this with ds, who stopped around age 6....we are still dealing with our dd....since we are going off track again this in two weeks...dd has asked that we stop the overnight pants...and try to get into a routine of not needing them....just wondering if anyone else has been through this with girls....I had lots of people tell me it was a boy thing....well..not so.....tia

Our oldest goes through stages. Weeks to months she is dry then for a week straight I am washing sheets everyday

Not sure what to tell you other than you aren't alone.

[darlene]

Ds has been a bed wetter for years now. However, in the past 6-8 months he has hardly wet at all. We totally restrict his fluid intake after supper....milk if anything. Make sure he goes to the bathroom right before being tucked in. I have found a connection with ds with his chronic constipation.....if his bowels are empty he usually doesn't wet the bed, but when he goes through a "blocked up" stage, he wets often.

As a side note....and I can hardly believe I am telling you this....I was a bed wetter until I was approx 13yrs old. I hated it and my mom accusing me of doing it on purpose!!!! Don't ever do that to your dd.....believe me it isn't done by choice! I just grew out of it.....however I still can't make it through a night without getting up to use the bathroom! It's a real pain when we are camping! :lol:

Oh yah.....I find if my feet are warm then I can last longer in the night...try wearing socks on her.

Good luck and have patience!

:)

[MaryL]

When my boys were trying to stay dry thru the night, we would wake them up (well..."get them up") right before we went to bed to take them to go to the bathroom. Didn't carry them, or anything. Made them walk...held their hand, etc. We always said the same thing, "*****, it's time to go potty.". We were very gentle about it...didn't want to wake them up completely. I'll admit that it was a PAIN...but it paid off. After 6 months (yep...it took that long!)...we got brave enough to try a night w/o waking ds up. In the morning...he was dry. After a week of dry nights, we realized that we had it licked!!!! I think ds2 (who especially had this problem between ages 5-6) needed to be trained to wake up if his bladder was full. He didn't do it on his own. Now, there are occasional nights when he'll simply wake up...use the bathroom and go to bed. It's worked great for us. ("Dry Night" sticker charts and rewards didn't work for us....I simply believed it was a "maturity"/training issue.)

[Fern]

dd was a bedwetter, we did all the restricted fluids, waking up in the night, nothing helped, our dr. said the same as Ann, wait till she's 9. Well at 9 they tried a few different meds, nothing worked, they said she would just have to out grow it. Well unfortunately that "outgrow" took till 15.

[JAK]

My ds occasionally wets the bed and I finally figured out what triggers it for him. During sports seasons on the days that he has a game or practice he was often wetting the bed- but it's always very close to the time he normally wakes up. Being wet has never woken him up! I realized that on those days he's just so extremely worn out and tired that NOTHING will wake him up. I just remind him each and every night to go before he goes to bed and he's been fine. We had a few accidents when b-ball first started this season and that's when I figured it out. After that, no more accidents! :)

It sounds like quite a few children have this issue. I hope they all outgrow it soon!

[Linda/NE]

Three out of my 5 are/were. My dd #1 actually had a severe UTI and through further testing discovered that she had a reflux problem. She was on Bactrim (to prevent against future infections) and DDAVP (or something like that -- my mind is blanking out on it right now).

Ds #2 also had an UTI, which is rare for boys and he was on the same meds.

It worked great but if they missed a night or more then they'd wet again.

DD #2 also wets but we never went the med route.

We finally just stopped the meds and try to monitor the liquids, etc. With ds, he discovered that if he put his clock radio on sleep (where it would play for about an hour and then turn itself off) he was able to keep his mind off having to go the bathroom and get to sleep. It was a mind game.

I think they will eventually grow out of it (I hope! )

[RCT]

wow, and here I thought I was the only one up changing sheets most every night......sorry you all in this with me...but I must say it feels GOOD TO KNOW I AM NOT ALONE....

I agree Darlene...my BIL said he was a bedwetter until he was around 13 too....no shame....I am usually quite when I come to change the bedding.....although its not easy.....she never really says anything...usually is pretty sleepy still....

thanks for all your input and sharing...

[angie r]

I am just getting ready to take 7 yo ds to the doctor for a well check and this is on my list of things to talk about!! I wet the bed until my late teens. I have a niece that takes med and does great. I was hoping for a magic pill!! I don't want my kids to go through what I did.

[Lynda-WA]

Two of my cousins (sisters) wet until they were older. I'm thinking one of them was maybe even in middle school. I know they tried all kinds of things. I babysat them and had to make sure they went to the bathroom prior going to bed. There were also some emotional upheavels (messy divorce), that were attributed to some of the problems. On DH's side, his brother did until he was fairly old as well. I was a little worried since I've been told that bladder size can effect bedwetting and that is inherited.

[Jeff]

As I reread this post I just recalled something that a kidney specialist told us when we took our youngest in to check on kidney function etc. after she was born. Somehow it came up that oldest daughter was a bedwetter. He suggested when she voids her bladder to put her feet on a stool so her legs don't hang off the ground. He had us lift our legs off the ground while we were seated and I can see where that would restrict flow and not allow the bladder to completely empty. I don't think it helped much in our case, but maybe it would in some of the others. Good luck.,