Bedwetting solution for our 9 yr old!

Our 9 yr old has finally stopped wetting the bed. Until now he has wet the bed almost every night for his entire life (meaning, maybe one dry night every couple of months). We heard from many peds that he would grow out of it and not to worry about it and so on, but by the time he was 9 it seemed like time to take things further. We went to a urologist who said his kidneys and bladder were healthy, but that his bladder was TOO LARGE, this means that he doesn't pee very often during the day, he doesn't need to, but then while he is sleeping his bladder gets full and he can't control it. Here's what we have to do, he has an alarm watch and every 2 hours regardless of whether he wants to or not, he has to go to the bathroom, then have a small drink (we just have a cup for him by the sink so he's mainly drinking water). He stopped wetting like magic in less than a week and was dry about half the time the first month we did this, the second month he has wet only twice. He still has no sense of needing to use the bathroom during the day and just goes when the watch beeps (maybe you could use the rhythm of the school day to remind your child to use the bathroom if a beeping watch is not allowed at school) but it does the trick. The urologist also recommended no carbonated drinks at all and to control his sugar intake particularly after 6pm (he goes to bed at 8.30pm) Also, nothing "dark" like chocolate or tea after 6pm. He was pretty upset about the no carbonated drinks part although we rarely drink them so we do cheat on that rule a little if it is early in the day and a special occasion. The urologist also mentioned that no child should be drinking a 12fl oz bottle of anything, ever, that their intake of fluids should be no more than about 6 fl oz at a time. I'm not sure if she was talking about kids with this problem or kids generally.
Anyway, I'm not saying this is every kids problem but surely it's worth a try. When we recorded everything he drank and measured his pee for 48 hrs before his dr appt we were amazed to see he was going 6 hours straight in the day without going to the bathroom, and that he wasn't drinking all that much. With 3 kids in the house you hear the toilet flush quite a bit and just assume it's evenly shared between them all but maybe it's not.

 

Wow! That is interesting!
My 8 year old is finally beginning to wet less, but still does at times. So I want to know more -
When you say he goes every two hours, is that during the day or at night or both?
Thanks for writing!

 

Interesting concept! With five, I assumed the flushing was everybody, but maybe you're right. I need to pay attention for my five year old and see if it makes a difference. Thanks!

 

We used this strategy when my son (age 8) was still wetting the bed. He also seemed to not be urinating during the day and is an EXTREMELY heavy sleeper. We spent an entire summer making sure he used the restroom every two hours throughout the day (not at night). I never felt good about withholding fluids at any time so we set the rule that after dinner he was only allowed to drink water. This assured that he would only drink if thirsty, rather than drinking something because it was a 'treat'. It has worked very well for us, as well! He stopped wetting the bed right away and now, a year later, doesn't wet the bed at all even though we have stopped regulating the urinating every two hours during the day. Yea!

 

Thanks for sharing this. We have done many of the things you shared. Our alarm clock was DH though because our boy sleeps very heavily