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Extreme, yes. But the need for these "solutions" is certainly understandable . . . especially for the parent of a kid who is among the 5 percent or so of 9-year-olds who won't stay dry overnight unless they are taken to the bathroom during the night.
My 6yo is still wetting at night. We have been doing the 'get her up in the night to use the bathroom' run for a few weeks now. We have had stretches of 5-6 days straight where she is dry, and we thought we were really done with diapers, and then she will be wet again for several days. The doctor recommended that if she is wet every day for a week to just go back to the diapers. My older daughter was out of diapers at night when she was like 3, so this has gone on much longer than we expected.
My son was a bedwetter until he was 10 or 11. The pediatrician told us that almost all boys outgrow it by the time puberty hits, and that's exactly what happened. We never tried any type of training/drugs/alarms... it's not a behavioral thing, just a physiological thing for some kids. Just get a good waterproof sheet or two, and deal with it with no shaming and a "no big deal" attitude. I never wanted my son to feel bad about something he couldn't control, and I'm pretty sure he didn't.
I have a 9yr old bed wetter. We have never shamed him for it or made a big deal about it. But! Thanks to desmopressin he can go to summer camp this year just like his sister. It's absolutely been a blessing for him.
I was a late bed wetter. I remember my misguided and ignorant father decided that if i was wet in the morning he would wait and spank me before I went to bed that night. On my birthday night I remember it was time for me to go to bed and he was sleeping on the sofa. I tried to wake him up to give me my required spanking and he pretended he was still asleep. He had told me it was my responsibility to go to him for the spanking.
This is only one of many haunting memories of a very miserable childhood. I'm now 69 and I remember it like yesterday. We just don't realize how we wound our children sometimes.
My 6yo is still wetting at night. We have been doing the 'get her up in the night to use the bathroom' run for a few weeks now. We have had stretches of 5-6 days straight where she is dry, and we thought we were really done with diapers, and then she will be wet again for several days. The doctor recommended that if she is wet every day for a week to just go back to the diapers. My older daughter was out of diapers at night when she was like 3, so this has gone on much longer than we expected.
So much misinformation about this condition, the reasons vary, but, for sure it isn't what a lot of people place on some kids is that they are lazy. Who in their right mind would be so lazy that they would risk such embarrassingly, humiliating, ridicule over and over from parents, siblings, other relatives or friends.
Read some of the replies at the end of the first article, shows how varied the circumstances and what how it affected the lives of different people and children.
Why make a big deal out of it? It's very common, and almost all kids outgrow it. Just keep a waterproof cover on the mattress under the pad and sheet. Have them pee before going to bed. Have them wear a pullup. And wait. They will outgrow it.
If it bothers the kid, and the kid is motivated to cooperate, you can try a bedwetting alarm. It may take weeks to months for them to become conditioned to waking up if they start to pee.
If they really need it for camp, sleepovers, whatever, they can get desmopressin pills or nosespray from the pediatrician.
We waited with our son but at age 11, he was getting invited to sleepovers and was embarressed. We did the Malem alarm for 2-3 months and it worked! I don't know if it was the alarm, his natural body, or both but it worked. We took turns sleeping with him so we could make him get up and use the bathroom, turn off the alarm, etc.
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