My 5 yr old son wetting the bed??

Question

we have tried everything we can think off. no drinks 1 hr before bed. lifting him in the night. night training pants, waking him up to take him to the toilet. he just keeps wetting. i am over loaded with washing. any other helpful suggestions???

Answer 1

It sounds like you are doing every thing right,  i have 3 daughters and they were very very quick to be dry in the day and night.. however i now have a 2 year old son and friends who have sons tell me boys take that little bit longer to be dry..... I wouldn't be rushing off to the doctor or health visitor I'm sure it must be frustrating and washing is a nightmare just keep giving him reassurance he is only 5 just give him a bit of time. Good luck.

Answer 2

My son went through a time like this at that age and occasionally when he was anxious about something. It cleared up itself. Don't show him you are angry or even upset at the amount of washing, it will make him more anxious and prone to continue wetting his bed.

Answer 3

No drinks 2 hours before bed and he'll stop when he's ready.

Answer 4

set an alarm. for you. when you set him to bed set it to like 10:00  or a lil after he goes to bed, make sure he goes before he sleeps. than set the alarm a little after like if he went to the bathroom at 9:00 fell asleep at 10:00 set the alarm to like 1:00 you get up and wake him up and ask if he has to go. it sucks but its worth not so much laundry

Answer 5

my son is only 3yrs but when he was wetting the bed i stop all drinks after 6pm. this stop him wetting the bed.

Answer 6

i we t the bed and had to have bladder surgery at 8 years old due to back flow, UTIs, and a weak sphincter muscle. Take him to urologist, at his age he should not be wetting.

Answer 7

He will grow out of it some children especially boys take longer to recognise that they need to go to the toilet at night. There is a devise called a pad and bell which can be used which can be loaned to you by childrens hospitals. It is basically a pad which is inserted your childs bed sheet and it is connected to an alarm. When the child wets the bed it sounds the alarm the child is supposed to wake up; the idea is that it is supposed to train the brain to recognise that it needs to go to the toilet. My sister in law used it for her 7yr old and it did work for her but it does take some time. Speak to your Doc for more info.

Answer 8

i used to have this problem, it may be anxiety or a bladder control problem

since he's this age, have him start putting all the things that need to be washed into where they need to go so that all you have to do is start the washer/drier (that's what my parents did)

he'll grow out of it though

Answer 9

A 5 year old wetting the bed is totally age appropriate. While its a lot of work for the parent it's completely normal. I suggest taking the kid to the bathroom a few times during the night. Set your alarm clock (this worked for us). Invest in a mattress cover and some pull ups and be patient.

Good luck!

Answer 10

My older one (he is 15 now) used to do that up to age of 6 (not always, but couple of times per month for sure). Friend of mine recently took her boy to see a Health visitor with the  same question. She has loads of leaflets and lost her way reading them lol

Answer 11

No drinks 2 hrs before bed, bathroom before bed, continue to wake him up twice during bed but even that may not help.  Make sure he isn't have anything but water after 5 pm.  If it continues it is more likely a sleep disorder if it is only happening at night because sometimes we get locked into sleep and think we are awake so we pee.  I know I use to dream i was in the bathroom and would pee then wakeup as I was peeing.  It was horrible but it was a sleep disorder.

Answer 12

It's common for kids that age to do this.  Most grow out of it.

Answer 13

take him to a doctor and see if hes allergic to any thing but im only 14 but thats wat i did with my cousin except he was always pooping turns out hes allergic to dairy prdoucts

Answer 14

Have you had him screened for any illnesses that can be causing it?  It could just be a slow growing bladder compared to his body.  It could be psychological issues (scared of the dark, the bathroom, bad dreams).  My step son wet the bed until he was 11 ... he mother was horribly neglectful and step father abusive.  It all panned out after about 6 months after moving in with us.

Good luck and I hope there's nothing seriously wrong.  I know you're at your wits end :(

Answer 15

Has he never been dry at night? If this is the case then he needs to go to the doctor.

If he has only just started it then it sounds as if he either too tired or lazy to go to the toilet or is upset about something.

I've just had a period of my seven year old wetting the bed and it was because he was anxious about something at school.

I don't think training pants are a good idea because they just encourage the child to be able to wee without worry. I honestly believe that the best thing is to make them feel the wet. I know this doesn't always help to start with because they are quite happy to lie in it warm sometimes.

Without getting cross, explain to him that he is growing up and this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. I used the sleepover as  a bribe, when he is dry he can have his friend over to sleepover.

If he is checked out and there doesn't seem to be a medical or emotional reason then I'm afraid you will have to keep on washing and hope he will outgrow it.

He is only little still and bed wetting is not seen as a huge problem till they are about 8, especially with boys.

I'd encourage him to change his own bed and this will help you both.

Answer 16

My ex's son used to do that. Strangely we found one thing that worked was giving him a lot to drink before bed - that way he would properly go to the toilet before bed and hopefully empty his bladder.

I also believe it was related to emotional troubles - I am not saying this is the case with your son - but it's worth thinking about anyway.

Answer 17

Like the first answerer said; give him a lot to drink before he goes to bed, that way he will pee it out... hes probably holding too much, too early into sleep.

Answer 18

My friends 9 year old has only recenlty stopped wetting the bed.   She blames this on potty training to early.  (her other son is ^ and never wet the bed)  She has had him to doctors and tried everything that was mentioned from no drinks 3 hours before bed to the bell (this was uncomfortable and he pulled it off in sleep).  She also linked it to "stress" where something was playing on his mind,

All you can do is try every suggested, it prob is worth looking if it happens every nite or can you see links between accidents.

Lift him before you go to bed

hope i helped and good luck

Answer 19

The easiest thing to do it test for allergies.  There is a proven connection between bed wetting and allergies.  Once my brother got on shots he quit wetting the bed that week!  I don't know why doctors don't announce this to the world.  GET AN ALLERGY TEST

Answer 20

I'd say just be patient. He will grow out of it. Many children go through this.

Answer 21

It sounds like you've done everything I've heard of. Have you taken him to go see a doctor ? Maybe he has some kind of bladder problem. Does he drink a lot of water or liquids at dinner time ? Maybe you could try to limit it to one glass of liquid at dinner time and no more liquids before bed time. How many times do you wake him up during the night to go to the bathroom ? Some people have suggested that you wake your child up every hour after hour, until he or she goes to the bathroom. I know that's a lot of getting up and down, but sometimes it takes more commitment on your part to get him to quit wetting the bed. I'm out of suggestions, good luck !!!

Answer 22

I wet the bed at that age. The only thing that helped was time and support. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING they tried never worked. Just give him time and remind him its not his fault and remind him to go before bed.

Answer 23

so many of us have had this problem....my eldest wet the bed at that age and he's fifteen now.....i had completely forgotten about it till i read your question! well, your doing everything right from what youve said, i would say no drink 2 hours before bed....if theres nothing in his bladder he is less likely to have an accident......and as you say take him to the toilet before you go to bed......there is a sheet that you can buy that sets off an alarm when they wet it, i remember looking into it for my son, that was 10 years ago, so you could google it and see what results you get.....i didnt get it because it was for older kids wetting the bed and to be honest my boy just grew out of it.....sorry i couldnt be of more help....but like every problem we face with our children, it'll soon pass, i know thats of no help to you now tho.....just thinking, how easy life was when that was the only problem i had with him......like i say he's 15 now, smokes (!) and the other day i actually had to take him for an STD test.....shocking eh? i'm just trying to put things into perspective for you hun, your boy is still so young, and its a problem that he'll soon grow out of....best of luck,

hannah x

Answer 24

Aaw I feel sorry for your little lad.

There's lots of suggestions here about practical things to do, but I wonder if by drawing attention to the problem in these ways, it's making it worse. Given all the things you've tried, sounds like perhaps it's more anxiety based.  

Maybe he just needs a good chat with his mummy.