Overnight wetting

[MissKNG]

My dd3.5 still wears a pull up at night because she potties maybe 2-3 times a week overnight. She says she doesn't wake up when she has the urge to go.

 

Advice? Is this normal at this age?

[KrissiK]

My almost 4 year old (bd in March) dd is never dry when she wakes up in the morning. She wears a pull-up every night. She potty trained late (IMO) as she wasn't trained until after her 3rd birthday. I am not stressing about it. It doesn't seem to bother her, we make sure she goes before she goes to bed, but I'll be darned if I'm going to get up 3-4 times a night to take her potty. :glare:

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Yes, in fact needing pull ups at night may be needed even up to 8 or so depending on the child:)

[Caribbean Queen]

Normal.

[MissKNG]

We also have her go potty before bed and limit water when bed time gets closer. I just don't know how to get her to wake up when the urge comes....does it come naturally?

[Crimson Wife]

What my pediatrician told me is that some kids' bodies make less of a hormone that concentrates the urine during the night. Because their bladders get fuller than normal, it's harder for them to stay dry during the night. Most kids will outgrow this problem on their own by age 8. Mine finally did shortly after her 7th birthday.

[Pamela H in Texas]

VERY normal at 3. 15% of 6yr olds still wet the bed.

 

If I had it to do over again, I would do the "bedwetting evaluation," to make sure there wasn't an issue, at about 6. I MIGHT, at age 5 try SOME of the chiropractic care, diet stuff, etc; but....mostly the things most people try (withholding liquids, waking late at night, etc) are more detrimental than helpful.

 

And then I'd contact the Enueresis Treatment Center. It's expensive but NEVER again would I try all the stuff and allow a child to get to age 8, 10, 12 yrs old still wetting. It is WAY too problematic! And the ETC is guaranteed to work and if there is ever a relapse, you can go back. But most kids are dry, for real, within a few months.

 

Soooooooo...again, at 3.5 yrs old, it's normal. And PLEASE don't do any of the normal parent stuff. But if she gets to 1st or 2nd grade, please DO SOMETHING.

[runamuk]

Our son is 5 and still wears pullups at night. He toilet-trained late and our pediatrician said that it's normal for late trainers to be late nighttime trainers, too. She said we'd talk about it more if he was still wetting the bed when he turned 8.

[courtney.byrum]

It will (most likely) just come naturally when she gets a bit older. Her body just isn't ready yet to hold it all night, or wake her if she needs to go.

 

My DD was still wet many nights at 3-3.5 but close to 4 I think she started staying dry all night long. Now she will wake up a few nights here or there if she has to go in the middle of the night.

 

Many kids just aren't ready - small bladder, sleeping too deeply, etc - until 5-6 or even later, especially if bedwetting runs in the family.

[myfunnybunch]

Totally normal. Some kids are just deep sleepers. My almost-7 ds is one of those kids. Apparently it can run in families, and my mother's brother was the same way until he eventually outgrew it.

 

His pediatrician says he should grow out of it. If he doesn't outgrow it by 8, we may consider other interventions.

 

Things that seem to make a difference: If we wake him before we go to bed, he's dry in the morning about half the time. If he gets enough sleep he's less likely to wet the bed. If he drinks a lot of water during the day regularly it seems to help--we think it helps his bladder capacity and he's less likely to drink a lot of water with dinner and later in the evening.

 

He stopped wearing Pull-ups at 5. He just asked to wear underwear to sleep, so he only wears Pull-ups when we're traveling. If he wets the bed he takes the wet sheets down in the morning.

 

Cat

[MaMa2005]

My 4.5 yo DS still wears nighttime pull ups and they are usually soaked in the morning. Ped said not to worry until he gets to be at least 8.

 

DS is a very heavy sleeper and according to the ped this is probably most of the problem. I can vacuum DS's room while he is sleeping and he never so much as moves.

 

DS was adopted from China at 26 months. I think having to sleep in a room with 40+ other children every day taught him to sleep hard or not sleep at all.:glare:

[EKS]

Our pediatrician said that it's normal up to age 5.

[Ginevra]

So does my 5 year old. I'm not proud of it, but evidently he can't help it, so I just thank God there's such a thing as Pull Ups and live with it.

[Jumping In Puddles]

My 2 children stopped wetting the bed about a month ago. Both were wetting the bed 4-7 nights a week! I have no idea why they both stopped wetting at night and why at exactly the same time! :eek:

[mlgbug]

DD 4.5 wets EVERYNIGHT. she wakes AFTEr she pees, and gets up to take off her diaper and let me know she needs a new one. i dont bother with PullUps, they cost twice as much as diapers, and if they are sleeping, they arent getting up to pull it ddown and up. i just put her in a size 5 diaper :) ill be asking her Pediatrician in many when she turns 5 if there is something to be concered about

 

Now DS is2, and since 19 months never wet the bed at night! go figure

[MissKNG]

Thanks for all your responses! I've had family members telling me that she needs to be going to the bathroom at night by now instead of in pull ups.

[Ottakee]

I would say, don't worry about it at this age.

 

That said, if you do want to try something simple, try eliminating peanut butter from her diet. I have heard from several moms that taking away peanut butter eliminated the night time wetting. Something about the mold in peanut butter and allergies, etc.---not a nut allergy but the mold causing an issue. Wouldn't be hard to do for a week and if it works, great, if not, no big deal.

[believe in miracles]

I just let my ds stop wearing pull ups. He's almost 5. DD was 6 and still wetting about once a week. It's good to make them use potty just before bed and limit water, like you said, but I wouldn't disturb their sleep and wake them in the night to go to potty. I know it's frustrating but it's totally natural and it does stop eventually! I promise:)

[Katrina J]

Personally I don't like the idea of limiting water in the evening because I just hate the thought of being thirsty and having to wait until morning. A friend told me she gave her son lots and lots to drink in the afternoon so that he would go to the toilet and be well hydrated prior to going to bed. I thought it was a good idea but didn't try it because DS loves to sleep with a water bottle next to his bed (and so do I).

 

I used to call DS4 my 'little water feature', given the volumes he could drink and pee! He toilet trained at 2 and wasn't dry in the night until about a month ago at 4.5. I started putting him on the toilet before I went to bed a couple of months ago because he was wetting through his night diapers and I was sick of getting up in the night to change bedding and pyjamas. He stopped night wetting within about a month - I have no idea if putting him on the toilet late at night got him out of the habit of not waking to pee, or if it was just a coincidence and his body was ready.

 

My other child was the complete opposite - took forever to toilet train and then was dry at night within 3 weeks.

 

I agree with everyone else that 3.5 is very normal.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Again I would not worry about it and I would use the pull ups made for night time so that they will be comfortable. In nursing school, we did learn it may take until a child is 8 or so for their bladder to mature so to speak. It is simply that her bladder may still be immature in simple terms and I am not sure that I would withhold water or the pull ups at night since waking up in a wet bed is very disconcerting and uncomfortable for anyone:(

 

I would discuss with your doctor if you have concerns. WebMD.com has reliable medical information.

[Guest mrs. logic]

My dd3.5 still wears a pull up at night because she potties maybe 2-3 times a week overnight. She says she doesn't wake up when she has the urge to go.

 

Advice? Is this normal at this age?

Dd experienced the same thing at this age.

Here are some things Dh and I did during this time...

Monitored Dd's fluid intake before bedtime.

Sent Dd to the bathroom before going to bed. Sent her to the bathroom after booktime in bed before lights out.

Had Dd wear pullups at night.

This went on for about a year and then it stopped.

The dr. seemed to think it had to do with all of the growing she was doing during this time period.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Please y'all...do NOT limit fluids in the evening/at night. It is really a bad idea every which way.

[Dawn in OH]

Yes, in fact needing pull ups at night may be needed even up to 8 or so depending on the child:)

 

That's us.

Hang in there!

[Mrs Mungo]

My dd3.5 still wears a pull up at night because she potties maybe 2-3 times a week overnight. She says she doesn't wake up when she has the urge to go.

 

Advice? Is this normal at this age?

 

It can be normal. However, it can also be a warning sign. There are a lot of kids with kidney reflux who go undiagnosed and/or treated for much longer than necessary. I have 2 friends whose dds had kidney reflux. One outgrew it and one needed surgery.

[Guest HeyJulie]

This is our problem here too - but my son is 7 years and 7 months old. He wets EVERY single night.

 

Could someone please share with me what steps I should take next? I have tried elimination diets - haphazardly... its so hard to stick with. We do limit dairy as I see that does cause an issue. But he will still wet the bed without dairy, just not soak thru diapers every night. I will try eliminating peanut butter - I have never heard of that before. Eliminating wheat didn't seem to help, though we only eliminated it for two weeks.

 

Should we see his doctor about this now - and what could he really tell me? I've really tried not to worry because I have heard that boys often take longer to have bladder control at night, but I also don't want to ignore if there is a serious problem.