Bed Wetting - Wickliffe,OH

I just went threw something like this earlier in the summer with my 12 year old. What I had her do is in the evening just before she gets into bed at camp is to go to the bathroom and put on a Girls' Under Jams Night Wear. What worked out best for her was to put it on when she showered at night. So it would be mixed in her clothes for nobody to see.

My son wet the bed until he was about 10. I can't remember the name of the nose spray but it was amazing. Is that the drug you're talking about? If not, it's worth a try. (I realize I'm not a big help when I can't name the drug but I just wondered if maybe there's an oral one you're trying) I know how hard this is. There are pull ups for older kids that don't look like "Pampers" style pull ups. That might be a way to go.
Good luck!

Hi
When my daughter was 10 we still had bed wetting. We had no idea what to do the pediatrician said it was because she was sleeping to hard and that before we went to bed we should get her up to go to the bathroom. She also told us all the normal things like stop fluids after dinner ect. ect.
I was at my chiropractor one day and just was talking to him and mentioned this problem with our daughter and how I was really tired of changing sheets and laundry. He asked me a few questions and the suggested her pelvis could be a little tilted forward and pushing on her bladder. I went home talked to my very sceptic husband about it. Together we agreed to at least let him do the x rays and sure enough we could see on the x ray what he was talking about. She started with full spinal adjustments and he saw her 3 times a week for 2 weeks. The result was no more wet beds. This daughter is almost 30 now and sees her chiropractor every 3 months just to feel good.

Hello L....

I too have an eleven year old that still wets to bed as well. I don't know if its insecurities or something medical. Her doctor had told us, sometimes kids will wet to bed till they are 18. I HOPE NOT! But sometimes its because their bladder is not growing as fast as they are. Or they aren't growing as fast as their bladder, so they have these problems.

We have talks w/our daughter about when she's out staying over at her friends house (because we are afraid that she will be teased, later in life about it)...we stress to her that NO drinks an hour or two before bed, always make sure she goes to the bathroom right before she lays down. And if she's afraid of wetting, or that she might wet, than maybe she should wear a pull up. Yes..dreadful to hear or say for the parents and child/children. But since we had said that she don't really have accidents anymore. I mean she does sometimes..but not like she used to.

Good Luck.

I wish I had some great advice. We have tried the alarm and medicine as well with my 7 year old with no great success.
We quit using the alarm months ago and might go back to it.

Some nights he can stay dry other nights he can't.

Hi, L.,
My son has the same problem (he's 10) and we took him to a urologist to figure out what was wrong. Turns out that he had gotten so used to "holding" his pee (so he didn't have to stop playing) that his bladder needed to be retrained. He was only emptying half way, rather than completely emptying the bladder. So he had to retrain his bladder to recognize the feeling of needing to go potty.

So, for four weeks, he had to go to the bathroom every two hours, and we had to write down the results (peed, pooped, tried but couldn't). Even if he couldn't, he had to stand there for two minutes, trying. After dinner, he had to sit down for five minutes, to poop. And we had to keep track of when he was wet, day, night, just drips, very wet, wet bed, etc.

Before we took him, he was wetting the bed almost every single night. During the retraining weeks, he did it once! It is SO much better now.

Although we don't write it down anymore, we still make him go every two hours. OH, and before bed, he has to do double elimination. He goes to the bathroom, then gets ready for bed (teeth, story, jammies, etc.) and right before getting into bed, even if it's only been five minutes, he has to go try again to pee.

I don't know when the camping trip is, but maybe you can start your daughter on the retraining program. (But have her take a big kid pull-up, just in case)

Good luck! And, you know, the urologist told me that the only greater trauma for a child than wetting, is losing their mom. That's how damaging it can be, pyschologically. So maybe you could tell her about the responses you got to this post so that she knows it's a MUCH more common problem than is realized. She probably has classmates who are faced with the same dilemma right now, in regards to the trip!

Blessings, J.

I have lots of experience with this. My son wet the bed until he was 12. When he had an overnight trip with his class, we informed the teachers that he would be wearing a pull up (he was small and skinny for his age so the large overnight pull ups fit him well) and would need a private place to change clothes for the night and in the morning. His teachers were very accommodating and no one ever suspected a problem.

On a personal note, I wet the bed until I was 16. I had my bladder stretched at 6. We tryed alarms and we tried medicines. Just know that she won't go to college a bedwetter (although I had a couple of minor accident, I always blamed it on my period). Also, I found out within the past year that one of my kidneys is significantly smaller than the other and may have been the cause (in my case) of my bedwetting. My kidney function is fine and tests well, we discovered it when I was having liver problems due to a medication I was taking.

Best of luck and I hope she has fun on her camping trip.

I had bed-wetting issues in later childhood also, from my past experience, I'd say you could get her the pull-ups that are meant to look like regular underwear & let her wear one under her night clothes.

The other posters have given lots of great advice. In case your daughter is too big for the pull-ups sold in stores, you might want to check out www.bedwettingstore.com. There are other sites too, but I have ordered from this one.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll figure out a plan and your daughter will have a great time.

My daughter still wet the bed when she went to the school camp. I put her in pull-ups and sent grocery bags with her. When she got up she went to the bathroom, put the wet pull-up in a grocery bag and threw it away. No one really noticed she wet the bed then. Hope this helps.

D.

There is a LOT on the internet about magnesium deficiency and bed wetting. I would read up and look for a Dr. that would work with you if you think she should be tested. Dairy or wheat elimination diets may also help ID the source. Blessings!

Have you ever thought about taking her to a chiropractor? All the vertebra in your spine correspond to nerves that control different organs and body functions. If she has a curve in her lower spine it may be sending mixed signals. I started taking my son (5) just recently. X-rays showed enough of a curve in his lower spine that can attribute to bladder functions. We have only gone a few times and have seen results on the days he has been adjusted so I'm hopeful it will help if not solve the problem all together. With some kids there is immediate results. If you decide to do this just be sure you take her to a chiropractor that does x-rays because just bending over to touch your toes will not show the curve unless it is very extreme. I hope this helps. Good luck.

I believe they make a pull up for older kids that looks like underwear.

have you tried using overnight briefs with a poise pad inside as well? i've been a CNA for 11yrs & that's what we do for some of the residents under the same circumstances when they go stay with family outside the facility. there are ways she can be descrete 7 no one will be the wiser. she can tell the adult with her she's shy about changing/being in public restrooms with other girls around & ask to go in alone, that way she can change without anyone seeing what she has on. if you have a small napsack that can hold a change of clothes, pajamas and a couple briefs & pads under the clothes that would help if someone saw in her bag, they wouldn't see anything except clothes. i'm sure if you explained her situation to a female teacher she would be more than willing to help her out too, so she won't be excluded from the trip. good luck & i hope if she is able to go that she has a blast.

Huggies and Pampers both make pull-ups for Big Kids (the size small is like 50-68lbs or something like that) that made specifically for bedwetting at night. They aren't overly bulky. You could send some along, with plastic grocery bags. When she goes to the bathroom in the morning she could just change and put the wet pullup in a bag and toss in the trash. No one would have to know since she's definately old enough to do this by herself.

Hi L., maybe you could talk with a teacher that will be attending the trip with the students to address this sensitive situation. See if someone would be willing to wake her up during the night to use the bathroom. Just a thought!

Hi L., Jessica is right. I know because the last time I wet the bed was Christmas night when I was 18. One Dr. gave me pills to wake me up 'later' in the night and mother ended up throwing them down the toilet because when I woke up I felt like bugs were crawling all over me. The next Dr. told mother to make me wash my sheets and hang them on the line so everyone would see them and maybe shame me into getting up and going to the bathroom. What he wouldn't listen to was most times I didn't even know I had wet until I woke up in the morning. at 19 I was engaged and had told my future husband about it but never wet the bed anymore. I too think it was the maturity of my bladder. Don't scold your daughter but help her to understand that it is no fault of her own. Love her unconditionally