Thursday, May 17, 2007

Bed wetting...

Justin has a bed wetting problem. He sleeps SO hard that he wets the bed. We took him in for tests for diabetes, etc a couple of years ago and learned he has reflux in his kidneys. (When he pees, some of it goes into his kideys.) I've been waking him up on my way to bed to take him to the bathroom. Sometimes, even if it's 2 hours since he's fallen asleep, he's already had an accident. I don't mind buying pull-ups for him. But Jimmy is insistant that it's all in Justin's head. I don't think so. I know that when I wake him to go to the bathroom, he's so asleep he doesn't even realize he's standing up to pee.

Has anyone else had a bed wetting child that's 6 years old, or older? What did you do? What helped? I'm at my wits end defending Justin to Jimmy so Jimmy will quit making Justin feel as if he's done something wrong. Please help! Anyone!

3 comments:

Ami said...

Being angry with the child does NOT help, and may harm him. Tell Jimmy that. Seriously. Pee washes off. The scars from being made to feel guilty over something you can't help don't wash away. Ever.

I wet the bed until I was 9 years old. I slept like a brick. (I wish I still could do that.) I would know I had to pee, but I dreamed that I got up out of bed and was sitting down before I did. And many many times, I was still asleep and wet the bed.

It finally stopped around age 9. I could not help wetting the bed.

Sunnie (Kaytee) said...

Jimmy isn't angry at Justin. He doesn't yell at him or anything. But he does limit his fluid intake after a certain time in the late evenings.

JanetLee said...

Sunnie - bedwetting in boys is extremely common. Girls can have problems too, but less often than boys. With boys, it can last up to about age nine. In most cases, it's a combination of an immature bladder sphincter (it relaxes too easily) and a too deep sleep pattern. The only thing to do is pretty much what you are doing. Limit fluids, usually two to four hours, before bedtime. Go to the bathroom right before going to bed, then like you are already doing, get the child up before you go to bed. A plastic mattress cover and a stack of clean sheets at the bedside for a quick clean up. And time. He will grow out of it.