i have 2 boys, 4 and 2 years. my 4 year old still wets the bed. he wets the bed almost everynight. he has gone for weeks at a time dry, then there are weeks where he is wet everynight! i dont understand it. my 2 year old is also potty trained (for almost 2 months now) and he has only wet the bed maybe 3 times. i have tried no drinks after 7, no bedtime book, potty before bed, everything. i have even woke him up at 4:30 in the morning to go pee, he will hold it from 8pm until 4:30am but from 4:30am until 8am when he gets up he has wet the bed. what more do i do? should i talk to the doctor about it?

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 09:42 pm:

My son didn't stay dry at night consistently until he was almost 7. We tried EVERYTHING but it didn't matter. Our ped. said some kids are simply not physically capable of staying dry all night until 8 or 9 yrs. old. Good Nights were worth every penny for the laundry and stress saved! Every child is different. My DD potty trained earlier and was dry every night long before her brother. LOL! Talking to your doctor is a good idea, even if only to give you peace of mind.

By Babysitbarb on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 10:18 pm:

we went through this with our youngest DD. The doctor told us the same thing that some kids just sleep so sound and they have to grow out of it. We tried the no drink after 7:00,and waking her up in the middle of the night. It was very frustrating and we did a lot of washing of sheets and blankets but, she did finally grow out of it.We put a plastic mattress cover on her matress to protect it. We never dislipined her for it either other then making her drag her wet blankets to the utility room and make her help remake the bed.She was trained for the day time at 2 1/2 years old but, night time was probably not until 7 or 8.

By Feona on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 06:58 am:

I would put him in pull ups at night. Some kids bladders don't mature until they are 7 or 8.

By Cat on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 08:06 am:

Ditto what everyone else said. My now 10yo wasn't consistantly dry at night until he was 8. We put a waterproof pad on the mattress and then a set of sheets, then another waterproof pad and another set of sheets. Easier to just pull one set off in the middle of the night and the bed was already made underneath. We also tried waking him up to go. Half the time he'd already be wet by 11:00 (after just having gone at 8:30). He'd sleep so soundly he wouldn't even know he was going. My youngest (now 8) was day and night trained two weeks before he turned three (dry diapers at night months before that). Go ahead and talk to your ped. It can't hurt. Oh, we also found that pull-ups leaked out the side and were a waste of money. That was a long time ago, though and they may have changed them by now. We never tried Goodnights (didn't have them back when he was 4-5, he wouldn't have worn them after that). My oldest brother and I both wet the bed until we were 6-8 and his now 13yo son wet the bed until he was about 10. I have heard it's heriditary (small bladder, lack of control) Good luck.

By Kaye on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 08:41 am:

Certainly mention it to your ped next time you are there. But if this has always been an issue, then I agree, it is just lack of maturity of the bladder. The bladder diet is, no drinks after 7 and then avoid the 4 c's, chocolate, caffenine, carbonation and citrus. On those particularly bad weeks, try to think about what he ate or drank and see if you can find a connection. Good luck.

By Happynerdmom on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 09:39 am:

I wet the bed consistently until I was 12, and even now I will have an accident once in a great while. (Wow,I've never shared that on a message board! :-o ) I have an overactive bladder...it goes into spasms and acts like it's going to bust when it's not full at all. I've been on med., but hated the side effect of constant dry mouth. Anyway, I would definately talk to your ped. about it. Your son is still pretty young, so it probably is just an immature bladder as mentioned before, but I just thought I'd share my experience. If I could give any advice, it would be to not make a big deal about it. As a parent, I know it's sometimes difficult to know when they can or cannot control something, but IMO it's better to err on the side of giving them the benefit of the doubt on this one. As a child, this was a very shameful thing for me. I couldn't spend the night at friends' houses, I couldn't go to camp, etc., and my Mom made sure I knew how much I was putting her out with all the extra work I created. Good luck!

By Kim on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 08:11 pm:

My oldest was 12 before he was totally dry all night. wE USED A WATERPROOF PAD UNDER THE SHEETS. hE HAD TO RESTRICT HIS DRINKING at a certain time of night and he also set his alarm for 2 am. We had to play with the alarm thing to get the time right or he would still wet the bed. Not only was he an extremely heavy sleeper, but we believe his bladder was just too small. We discussed it with his dr and he thought so also. We could never go on road trips without stopping 50 times! However, he did grow out of it at 12 and it hasn't been a problem since. Make sure to discuss it with your dr, it could be something other than small bladder and sometimes kids have to take meds to correct the problem.

By Heather on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 08:08 pm:

thanks all