6.5 yr old still wets bed at night - help!

TzipG ↓

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 11:33 am

my 6.5 yr old DD who was toilet trained at 2.5 still wets her bed at night. she is not undergoing any stress, she's a happy, outgoing, well-adjusted child. I think she is just a REALLY heavy sleeper and doesn't wake up when she needs to go to the bathroom. I've tried limiting fluids in the afternoons, taking her to the bathroom before her bedtime and again before my bedtime, but she still will wake up wet. after getting frustrated with the laundry one too many times I finally put her back in diapers (pull-ups are outrageously expensive in israel). she doesnt seem to mind - I dont think it is affecting her self-esteem.

her pediatrician says we can either wait another 6-12 months to see if it will improve on its own, or start a treatment program now. I dont want to put her on meds since I understand that it is just a temporary solution. and I'm nervous about trying an alarm since we live in a small apartment and I am afraid it will wake up the other kids.

anyone have any ideas or suggestions? has anyone used the bed-wetting treatment on meuchedet in the ben-sira clinic?

thanks in advance!

Tamiri

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 11:42 am

Some kids keep pishing at night longer than others. Once upon a time, our mothers showed us where the clean sheets were and showed us how to change the linens once we were old enough to do that. If you rule out anything abnormal (physical and mental CVC) then you are left with a late bloomer who will probably be fine in the end.
I would keep doing whatever you are doing and not make a big deal out of it. Hopefully all is normal and she will outgrow it sooner rather than later. If she is happy in pull ups, you are ahead of the game.
I remember vividly how I would have a dream that I was going to the toilet, but would not be able to get the seat up so I would sit down anyway and suddenly... I would wake up in a wet bed. I was a very heavy sleeper. Does that make you feel better? Oops, forgot to add that I outgrew it by the time I was bat mitzva. It just went away or I learned to wake myself up.
HTH.

shalhevet ↓

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 12:51 pm

Don't worry about the alarm - it only wakes me up! Not the kid in the bunk-bed above, not the kid two feet away, not even the kid who wet... Twisted Evil

I have just used it with my almost 7 year old. I think it took 2 months and now - bli ayin hara - he's dry. (He used to wet every night.) For about a week I had to change everything in the middle of the night and shower him - but it's worth it.

↑ TzipG

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 2:47 pm

shalhevet - what type of treatment did your son get? was it just an alarm, or they also gave exercises or other stuff to do?

can you tell me (or pm me) which kupah you use and which dr. you went to for treatment? my pediatrician recommended dr. sagi, but he doesnt take meuchedet and I heard he's very expensive.

thanks

↑ amother

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 5:59 pm

I had the same problem with my DD, who was also around 6. I took her to the paediatrician, who said it is a genetic problem, and most kids, given time, will mature and grow out of it.

I don't think they start the medication until >7 . We didn't try the bell and pad system, but B"H she suddenly outgrew the problem, sometime before her seventh birthday.
So yes, I think it just is a matter of time.

el2cg

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 8:12 pm

my son is 5 and he still bed wets...I'm happy to hear that he will out grow it, but not for another 2 years or more?! I haven't gone to the dr, because I read that the don't treat it under the age 7....
he doesn't mind wearing diapers but my 4yr old ds, makes fun of him some times...now she's worried that he's using up all the diapers and we won't have enough for the new baby!

mommalah

Mon, Mar 16 2009, 8:42 pm

I used the Wet Stop alarm on my then 5.5 year old daughter. I had tried everything, limiting the drinks, waking her before 11pm , before I retired to bed, in the middle of the night when I would wake for the baby, etc...Nothing helped. She was a really deep sleeper. I had zero faith in this alarm thing, bought it but pushed off using it for some time. We eventually tried it and it took 2-3 weeks. Completely dry. During the first few nights, the alarm only wake me but I would then wake her. Eventually she began waking from it as well. BTW, instead of dealing with the sheets every night during this period I bought two waterproof pads for her bed that go over the sheets. She would wet one and I would just grab the other one and put it down over the sheets.

I will be trying this for the first time on my 4 year old tomorrow night. I hope it goes as smoothy with her.

↑ shalhevet

Tue, Mar 17 2009, 4:11 am

TzipG wrote:

The truth is I didn't take my son anywhere. I actually still have the alarm from dd who I did take for treatment - they do blood/urine tests to check there isn't some other problem. They suggested medication too for her, but I didn't use it. She wasn't so motivated but I hope now her younger brother has done it she will do it now too. I have also used the alarm for an older dd in the past - with great success.

To those who say they grow out of it themselves - yes they do. Some do at 3 and some at 7 and some at 10 and some at 15. You don't know when they will, and meanwhile they are usually miserable about it.

You can do it without a doctor (if you want to assume everything else is okay):

First, your child must be motivated. If they couldn't care less, you are wasting your time.

You clip the alarm to the child's underwear where it 'catches' - boys at the front etc. I read there are pads for the mattress which are better, but I don't know anything about it.

As soon as the child wets, the alarm sounds. What is important is to go straight away to the toilet and try to produce something - even if nothing is left. Gradually, after a few days or a week or two, the alarm sounds when the underwear is only slightly wet, because the body learns to 'hold it in' as soon as the alarm sounds. Then they must go to the bathroom. Gradually there will be more and more dry nights.

You should also make a chart showing which nights were dry.

I've read you can use this method from age 4.