Bedwetting (punishment, milk, boys, clothes)

[mlammons]

My problem is getting my son to not wet the bed at night. He will be 5 in about a month and he was totally potty trained at 4. He has a love affair going on with the pullups! He does NOT want to have to get out of bed to go potty at night. I have gotten rid of the pullups a couple of times in the past year or so but he just ends up wetting the bed every night. Anyone got any advice?

[sskkc]

Put plastic sheets on the bed and a mattress pad under the sheets. Teach him to clean himself up if he pees in the bed in the middle of the night and maybe have a mat under the bed for him to sleep on afterwards. Tell him he is big enough to handle it, and he doesn't need to wake you for it. When you wake in the morning, then the two of you can strip the bed and clean it up. Be matter of fact, not nuturing or condemning him.

When potty training my son, this is what the book I read warned about... pull ups give a body "permission" to pee. It's gotta be stopped cold turkey.

[NCyank]

We had plastic sheets and as PP suggested, he learned to spray and clean the bed, carry the sheets and wet clothes to load in the washer and make the bed. Not as a punishment and we never yelled or made a fuss about it but a wet bed must be cleaned and he was old enough to help. No different than if he had spilled a glass of milk or dropped peas on the floor at dinner.

We found with DS that he was not wetting in the middle of the night, but the last hour or so before he would wake up. We began waking him to use the potty when DH got up for work and then put him back to sleep (actually, he never fully woke up most of the time). In 3 weeks the bed wetting stopped completely. Our pediatrician said not to worry about it until he was 7 and unless there was a medical problem they would not even do anything about it unless the bed wetting continued past age 9.

See if you can tell when he is wetting, wake him up before that time and see if his natural body signals will kick in on their own with a little practice. Oh yeah...and no more pull ups!!

Good luck!!

[mlammons]

Thanks for the good advice. I know the pullups need to go (and never come back!). I wish I had never started using those things in the first place! I have a waterproof mattress pad for his bed. When you say plastic sheets, exactly what are you talking about?

[sskkc]

Walmart sells plastic sheets that zip around the mattress. I think they're called "mattress protectors", in the bedding dept.

[mlammons]

ss - ok, gotcha, I guess I'll be hitting hellmart tomorrow.

NC - thanks for the tip about checking through the night to see when he is wetting.

[NCyank]

I think we are talking about the same thing. The plastic 'sheet' is a mattress cover, covered the entire mattress and zipped at the end, completely protecting the mattress. You can put an absorbent towel under the bed sheets in the area he sleeps to make clean up a little easier.

[NCyank]

I gotta type a bit faster.....I just keep repeating sskkc...LOL

[BioAdoptMom3]

I honestly think he is a bit young to worry that much about it yet. All three of mine were in pull ups at night, even though they had been day trained for a couple of years, until they were at least five years old and in kindergarten. Some children just do not have the bladder control to go all night yet. Though many are, the AAP actually states that its normal for boys to not be dry at night, I believe until their sixth birthday. I wouldn't stress myself out over this because it isn't worth it. Just hang in there awhile longer.

Nancy

[TouchOfWhimsy]

I agree with Nancy. My son is 7 1/2 and still wets the bed occasionally, and my daughter is 5 and wears pullups to bed. Eventually they stop. It's also hereditary... my husband wet the bed until he was 6, and I have an uncle that wet until he was 11 or so. It's not a big deal to put them in pullups, really, and it's so much easier on everyone than dealing with the extra laundry. They make GoodNights for bigger kids. It's not worth making an issue or a power struggle out of this, and chances are, he can't help it anyway! This too shall pass.