Any sugg. to get 5yr old boy to not wear pull-up at pm?

L

lulubell

Cathlete
I have 5yr old twins, my DD had no problem going through the night without going to the bathroom or waking up if she had to go since she was 3. My DS on the other hand is another story...obvously completely trained during day but at night cannot wake himself to go...I stop all liquid after supper and his pull-up is soooo full in am. I've tried putting him in underwear at pm thinking he will wake if he pees himself but nooooo, just sleeps in a wet bed! I don't know what to do...help!
 
Its not his fault. There is a hormone that the body produces that tells you to get up and pee or to hold it. Some boys don't do a good job of making this hormone. He will start holding it and not wetting the bed when he can. Some have this problem even when they are older.
 
Mine is still in a pull-up at 7, almost 8 years old. We have tried everything! Many have told me there is something that the doctor can prescribe, but I am not willing to go that route. We are just waiting it out. I remember my brothers wetting until they were something like 12 years old. So we are just sucking it up (Those overnight pull-ups are almost a dollar each!!) and waiting it out. Someday...

Jenn:)
 
I wet the bed until I was like 12. I was such a deep sleeper that I would dream about going to the bathroom and would wake up going.

I had to visualize a steel door closing down on my bladder at night. I would tell myself that the door is shut and the door would not open unless I was awake. I some how then taught myself to be more aware while sleeping.

My mom was so mad at me. She would make me drag the mattress outside and scrub it with Lysol and let it dry in the sun. To this day I CANNOT stand the smell of Lysol. It's not their fault and they are not doing it on purpose. Have patience and their bodies will figure it out.
 
My daughter (now 10) only had one night time accident. My son was a whole other story. My ped. told me that often boys go so hard during the day they end up sleeping really deeply at night. That full bladder feeling won't wake him up. My only suggestion, in addition to no fluids after dinner, would be to rouse him when you head up to bed and walk his sleepy self to the toilet. I did this w/ my son. It worked occasionally, but often he was sleeping so hard he just couldn't wake up even sitting on the toilet.
 
Like JCM, I woke my older son to go to the bathroom. Before I went to bed (between 11 and 1 back then) I would wake him and walk him to go pee. When he was younger I would even stand there with him to make sure he didn't miss being half asleep. As he got older he was better at getting himself to the bathroom (and getting it in the bowl) and all I would do is wake him. This was every night until he was almost 12.

I have heard of some people using an alarm but I don't know too much about that. Maybe ask your pedi if its something they recommend.
 
We had the same problem with our son and the ped said it was completely normal for boys. Anyways my DH refused to have his son in pull-ups at 5 so he took to getting up in the middle of the night and taking DS to the bathroom. Fortunately for us DS outgrew it around 6.

No matter how you decided to deal with it, using pull-ups or waking him, the most important thing to remember is it's not his fault nor is there anything wrong with him.

I had my DD three years after DS and I am amazed everyday by the differences between boys and girls (I don't have any brothers only sisters).
 
Thanks everyone for your responses...I feel a whole lot better now and I do remember reading somewhere about their internal system and it not being their fault. We tried waking him too but it did'nt really make a difference. So we will be patient!!!

Thanks again!
 
I feel your pain.:eek: I just put the sheets in the washer for my 9-year-old. He doesn't have anything to drink after 7:00 p.m. and I makes sure he goes to the bathroom before bed. Sometimes that helps--sometimes it doesn't. I'm always so happy when he comes downstairs in his pajamas: no laundry that day.:D I agree that the problem lies in the deep sleeping.

My now 14-year-old son still has problems on occasion. We did the whole alarm thing with him, but it really didn't do anything but make everyone tired (and we did it for months). Yeah, he'd get up when the alarm went off, but it didn't help him to wake up BEFORE anything came out. Camping is a joy (not) since they just leak out of pullups. My daughter had no problem at all. We got so frustrated with my older son with trying everything and having nothing work. I'm just waiting it out with this one. At least we have moved, and I'm no longer dealing with bunk beds! Both my husband and I had this problem growing up, so I guess the boys got a double-dose of bad genes.:(
 
My son has this problem as well and he is 10 years old. He feels so bad about it, I get him up at night between 11 and 1, if I'm not too tired. I know it's not his fault and I am hoping it ends soon, bedwetting runs in our family. My sister had it and my husband's father and I believe my husband also was a bedwetter.
 
My son was such a heay sleeper that he wore pull-ups till about the middle of Kindergarten. I enjoyed MY sleep to much and didn't want to be up in the middle of the night changing sheets. During the day he was fine.
 
ImFiddY said:
I wet the bed until I was like 12. I was such a deep sleeper that I would dream about going to the bathroom and would wake up going.
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Same thing with me (and didn't that warm pee feel kind of nice at first?), but my stepmother solved the problem by getting up in the middle of the night and waking me up to go.
 
kathryn said:
Same thing with me (and didn't that warm pee feel kind of nice at first?), but my stepmother solved the problem by getting up in the middle of the night and waking me up to go.
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Ohmygosh, I thought I was unique because I would dream of peeing and wake up to the warm feel of pee as a kid.

LOL Kathryn! No, it most certainly did not feel nice. You must have been a really chilled out kid. That warm feeling filled me with shame/horror.

I still feel the odd moment of anxiety when I remember this, that I will dream of peeing and wet the bed, although I havent done it since I was a child!

I was wondering what a pull-up was. I imagined a device that would detect wetness and haul the poor, sleeping kid up by his collar. Perhaps after enough times of being rudely hauled up, the kid would learn to wake up BEFORE. I asked good old google and learned it was just a diaper that you pull up rather than fold on. :)
 
Waterproof mattress cover with a zipper. Works great with elderly folks who are incontinent so I would guess it would work with your little guy.
 
We used one of those alarm things on my older DD when she was 7. I think she had just gotten in the habit of going in her pull-up. So we used it for a couple of nights. It scared her pretty bad when it went off, but it worked. Either DH or I slept in the same room with her for about a week, and only used the alarm for about 3 nights because it scared her (and me!) so bad. We tried to muffle the alarm, but it was still pretty loud.

After we stopped using the alarm, we had her put a pull-up on over her jammies and still slept in her room. I'd say it took her about a week to train. The literature that came with it said some kids take a month or longer. I'd tell you the name of the alarm, but I borrowed it from someone and have given it back. But they do work. They cost about $70 I think, but if you factor in the price of pull-ups, they're probably worth the cost. Maybe you could share with another parent who needs one?

My younger DD (5), I never had to use the alarm. I just slept with her with the pull-up over the panties and she never even had an accident. I think she was just peeing in it first thing in the morning. But this is the child who otherwise potty-trained herself at barely 2, so she's "special". My older girl was much more difficult in all things potty.

Even if you use the alarm, you may realize that your child is just not ready (not making the hormone), and you may need to postpone its use. Good luck! It's great when they're done!
 
Two good suggestions I see above are the plastic mattress cover and waking him up to go. I did both with my son. From what I understand, it just takes longer in general for boys to be potty trained. Another thought is to use "wee pads" they sell for dogs (on top of plastic mattress cover). They also make them for humans. They are used in hospitals and nursing homes. You might be able to find them at a medical supply store. I think, though, you will need to go the old-fashioned route if you want him to stop now, as opposed to when it happens naturally (no pun intended!). Nothing to drink after dinner, to bathroom before bed, wake him up during the night to go. Good luck to you!

Carrie
 
We went throught the same thing with our son who is now 6. When he gave up his naps (at about 3 1/2), the deep sleep nights resulted in nightly bed wetting.

When he turned 5, our pediatrician recommended an alarm. His opinion - that the drugs are a short term, not long term, solution, and the limiting liquids just won't do it either. At age 5, they are supposed to be old enough for the alarm to be effective.

http://sleepdryalarm.com/

This worked wonders!!! I would do an Informercial for this product (I think I actually am right now). I agree, that to my son the alarm was loud and scary, but we fought through it and it worked. After a few nights of loud noise, we would place the alarm under his pillow, so it wouldn't be so terrifying to him.

It took a little over a week. Each night we saw small progress... the alarm waking him during urination, then the alarm waking him and us racing to the bathroom, then the alarm waking him and him learning to STOP mid-pee, then just waking when he had to go.

After our success, he fell into a regression a month or so later. So we had to break it out again for a few nights, but then he got right back on track again. We have been free of bed wetting for quite some time now!

It worked for my nephew too.

GOOD LUCK. I know the exhaustion and frustration you are going through...

Sharon
 
Vee said:
I still feel the odd moment of anxiety when I remember this, that I will dream of peeing and wet the bed, although I havent done it since I was a child!
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I've sometimes had dreams of peeing as an adult and I will wake up worried that 'something' may have happened (luckily, it hasn't!)
 
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