Bedwetting

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Hi everyone!!

I'm hoping someone can help. All three of my sons are bedwetters (genetic). Purchasing Pull-ups for all of them is ridiculously expensive (around $90 per month) never mind what we would send to the landfill. My younger sons have been using a washable type toddler pant from Kooshies but often I have to change them in the middle of the night because they get so wet. I haven't been able to find anything for my eight year old. Does anyone know of a pattern available or how I can sew some for them that will get them through the night? For the younger guys, I thought I would make an additional pad and attach it to the current pants we use.

By the way, our oldest is seeing a naturopath for this and we have made some progress but he is not dry at night yet.

Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions and responses.

Silvia

-- Silvia Stoddart (organic_farmer@hotmail.com), October 21, 2001

Answers

What is a naturopath? Is that anything like a homeopath? Our seven- year-old wets, and I'd like to find the cause. I don't think it's genetic, as he is the only one in the family who has had the problem. We were wondering about something like a sleep disorder.

As for a pattern, why not take apart one of the pants you have and work with the pieces to enlarge the pattern? We are using goodnights right now, and I know what you mean about the expense.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 21, 2001.


I would also like to hear about homeopathic/naturopathic remedies as my youngest wets the bed (almost 5). I tried Hylands homeopathic remedy and it didn't help at all. I'm concerned that as she gets older and starts school, the other kids could find out (sleep-overs, etc.) and if they tease her I will have to kill them. How do you deal with this aspect?

-- Julie (julieamc@eagleslair.net), October 21, 2001.

Sivia, I have a 7 yr old girl who still wets the bed. We use large toddler size cloth diapers and plastic pants. I do think it's genetic because we're her grandparents (young ones) and both of her parents had problems, my husband and his son (her father) both wet the bed (not every night) till puberty, her mother had day and night wetting problems till about age 8 and as an adult has a lot of kidney infections. So I think there may be something wrong inside of her, we did go to Dallas to a specialist who ran a sonogram and some other test and found nothing but did say she thought she was holding her bowels to much which was causing her not to know if her bladder was full or empty, we had to measure her urine for a while and she was NOT empting it completly at all. AFter we got her bowels more soft so she couldn't hold them in to much, she did get better, then for about three months this summer she didn't wet the bed at all. Now she's back to wetting every night, sooooo we have another appt. with a uroligist Tues. We tried the nasal spray medicine which only caused her sinuses to fill up. I tried taking her off of milk, which didn't help. I'd also be very interested in any progress you make with a naturopath Dr., keep us posted on this please. If you sew any you could make the bigger boy some pants, more than a diaper, take some flannel and lay several sheets of it down, cut out what the training pants look like and sew more layers in the front. You can use terrycloth, flannel, old cloth diapers, old flannel shirts, recieving blankets etc. maybe an old mans flannel shirt would be more appropiate for a boy. He might would feel better about having a red plaid pair of thick underwear than a baby's blanket or diaper pattern. When my girl wakes up at night I tell her to take them off, drop them in the bathtub and just put on reg. panties, she rarely wets more than once a night. We only buy pullups if were going out of town. I also got a heavy piece of plastic to put over the mattress for leaks.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 21, 2001.

My DH had problems until he was about 14 or 15 when he finally learned to wake himself up so I know we may have a long road ahead of us. He went to the urologist etc., but nothing ever helped. The doctors told us the boys would just outgrow the problem and offered no solutions.

One of the remedies that has been suggested to us that has worked for others is to take magnesium (2-3 per day). Try it for 3-4 weeks to see if there is an improvement. It didn't work for us, but we seem to be an unusual case.

The naturopath we are seeing is rather unusual. He is a Christian man who uses muscle testing, seeds in their raw form and various herbs in pill/capsule form. The initial diagnosis from him was that Connor had problems with his right kidney which was also connected to some of the emotional issues we were experiencing with Connor. Connor is now on only bee pollen and continues to see him monthly. The last little bit has been somewhat frustrating for Connor because he has backtracked a bit.

I will keep you posted as to the progress we make.

By the way, that nasal spray for someone who wets heavily is useless and does plug up the sinuses. Connor hated it as we tried it in the spring since he was going to Pioneer Clubs camp for a weekend. We ended up just sending Connor with goodnites and one of the leaders got him up early before everyone else. The weekend was a success. As well, we have had lots of successful sleepovers for him with no one being the wiser.

P.S. Wal-Mart had printed flannel on sale this week so I picked up some red plaid to make some pants for him.

Thanks for the advice. It's really nice to be able to post about family concerns and know others are experiencing some of the same problems. Sometimes just sharing helps.

Thanks,

Silvia

-- Silvia (organic_farmer@hotmail.com), October 21, 2001.


My son wets the bed in episodes. Anyway, nothing works all the time but if one of us stays up late we wake him up just before WE go to bed and get him to urinate. On those nights, he doesn't wet the bed.

-- carlos (clb@dixienet.com), October 22, 2001.


Maybe some of you can tell me what this sounds like. Our son, who is now 7, was totally potty-trained, night and day, by the time he was three. He would get himself up at night to go. Then, when he neared 4, he started wetting the bed; never wet before. He has been a bed wetter ever since, though he has had some dry periods. When we try to wake him up in the night, he is like a zombie. He has no clue who he is, where he is, or who we are. It is very difficult to get him fully awake, and when he appears to be awake (ie, can carry on an intelligent conversation and even joke a little), he often cannot remember this the next morning. Tom thinks he sleeps too sound and needs more naps. Someone else suggested perhaps his bladder didn't grow as he did. Now I'm wondering about the bowel relationship, since when he does go, he doesn't go very much.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 22, 2001.

Same problem in my family.Some of us did it untill our 20's. An old neighbor had the same problem in the 1940's. Navy dr. asked him if he was a farm boy, he was, dr. said his bladder need streaching because farm boys go whenever they want and hardly ever hold it. Had him hold it as long as he possibly could, to the point of dribble before going. He said it fixed his problem. I outgrew mine in my mid 20's. Very embarassing. Still have problems if I dream that I am urinating.

-- Tom (Calfarm@msn.com), October 22, 2001.

Our oldest is like a zombie as well if I try to get him up and remembers nothing the next morning. Even getting him up has not helped nor did it help my husband when he was young. The medical community claims that their bladder has not caught up with them in growth yet. Why are so many children having problems and there seems to be nothing we can do about it??

Sorry, just venting this morning.

Silvia

-- Silvia (organic_farmer@hotmail.com), October 22, 2001.


Silvia, go ahead and vent. We are just as frustrated, and the children feel even worse.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 22, 2001.

I'm in the same boat. My 12 DD has suffered from enuresis all her life. Just last week we gave up on the meds (DDAVP and Imipramine) because they are not working. We spent $55 on a Enuresis Alarm and are hoping for good results. The alarm probe attaches to the outside of the underwear and the alarm box is attached to her shoulder with velcro. At even the slightest bit of moisture, the obnoxious alarm wakes her up.

Results so far - Night one: 3:40 a.m. slightly wet, not enough to get on the sheets, finished urinating in the bathroom. Night two: a mess in bed. Night three - same as night one.

What this alarm is supposed to do is train the body to realize that she has to go and get her up. Sort of like Pavlov's conditioning. Many pharmacy's carry these or you can do a search online and find them. The one we bought had 4 pockets to sew into the underwear, four velcro strips to sew on the shoulder of her pajamas and about 5 extra batteries, along with a chart and some stickers to keep track of progress.

I think enuresis can be triggered from two problems.....one is deep sleeping and the other is genetic. In my DD's case, I have heard that her second cousin had this problem, but she is also a VERY deep sleeper.

Hope this helps!

-- Lisa in WI (lehman16NOSPAM@vbe.com), October 22, 2001.



I remember when I was about 8 years old my mom going through this with my sister. The doc said she did not know how to hold it and every day for about 6 mo she had to tell my mom when she needed to go and then my mom would make her hold it for 2 min, I guess when your little that seems like a long time. Well over the corse of a few months she was having her wait about 10 min and after about a month or to of that the bed wetting stoped. Tho she could not have any soda after 2pm and no liquid after 6. We went to bed at 8pm in those good old days. I am now 42 and wish somone would send me to bed at 8 haha. You all have a good day.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), October 22, 2001.

Hang in there. Did you know that children develop from the outside in and one of the last things to develop is the ability/muscle to regulate urination?

For some, that development comes very late. Be understanding.

For two of our kids the problem was being too tired to wake up enough to get out of bed. For one, the urge was great enough to get up, but not wake up enough to find the toilet (once found the bathtub though:)). We'd find them wandering around the hall crying, but unable to wake up.

Here's how it was solved.

No drinks after dinner (sounds horrible, but it works and when they LEARN to wake up to go--you can allow drinks again).

Go to the bathroom as the last thing before jumping in bed.

If they have something to drink after dinner (or a late dinner) wake them up at 10 or 11 and put them on the potty yourself, then back in bed.

If they continue to wet the bed after you have restricted drinks-- wake them up at 10 or 11 ( or right before you go to bed yourself) and put them on the potty. That way they have an empty bladder and will be less likely to wet the bed.

When they wake up crying in the night because they need to go to the bathroom, make sure they are fully awake (turn on bathroom light, talk to them, ask questions). That way they will associate the urge with becoming fully awake (and thus, to the bathroom).

This too shall pass......

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 22, 2001.


funny this thread was started, 2 night ago, my 47 yr old husband who was a bedwetter till puberty, dreamed he was in the bathroom and wet the bed just a little, he jumped up, woke me up! He was a farm boy and used to dream he was out behind the barn, he claimed he just trained himself to wake up, but this also happened around 13.

-- asecret (canttell@nunyun.family), October 22, 2001.

Our *almost* six year old is a bedwetter. In addition to buying a waterproof mattress pad and resigning myself to washing every day, we explored the possibility that it could be food-allergy related. In my research I found that children who are bedwetters tend to have a higher rate of dyslexia. Apparently those who dream that they're in the bathroom (or behind the barn, as the case may be!) are typical of dyslexics. My son would wake up wet and come to me saying "but mommy, I went potty in the POTTY!" I couldn't understand it until I read this.

We've found that the elimination of all non-natural food products or processed foods has helped.

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), October 22, 2001.


I have REALLY appreciated this thread. FINALLY, some things are starting to click. My son does seem to be a little dyslexic, but I hadn't been too concerned because we home school and I can work with him. I am going to check into the food thing. We cook mostly from scratch, but there are some things coming in that are processed (like cheese slices, which he loves). About the farm boy thing; I have heard that it could also be the amount of work they do; they are just so tired they can't wake up. I have found that, although my son is far from overworked (has to be pushed to do the little required of him), a nap does help.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 22, 2001.


Cathy -- My son, too, adores cheese slices. Unfortunately, they were one of the first things that had to go, as the ingredients in them were big "no-no's". You're in Canada -- look at your local health food store or pharmacy (ours has a health book section) for a book called "Hard to Swallow" -- it's a review of Canada's Food Act and is VERY enlightening -- as in, did you know if they used a food such as peanut butter or cheese in the final product, they don't have to list the ingredients of that food? So, you might read the ingredient label on a packet that is called "All natural" -- see that it includes cheese, but what you DON'T know is that the cheese was treated with a preservative!

Up until the point I read that book I thought we were eating "naturally". My lesson is that unless I grew it, raised it, milked it, or made it, it ain't natural!

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), October 23, 2001.


The one thing that has not been addressed here is the "mind set", get some old street clothes for your children to sleep in, minus the shoes. It has been known to work.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 26, 2001.

Hey, Mitch, my son says he's going to try it. If it works, he says he's going to give all his pyjamas away!

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 26, 2001.

Having 2 boys in the same situation u r in, one almost 13 and one 10 and both heavy wetters at night and with soiling problems sometimes i hardly kno when im going to get past the diapers.

Both boys are in cloth and plastic pants at night, yet neither is retarted or disabled, they are smart! but very shy. Enuresis and encopresis are the terms the doctor tells me and enemas and supositpories are what i'm using to keep them anywhere near normal. Enemas help both bedwetting and soiling and i have other solutions too but i don't know how well they help. Bekka

-- Bekka (bekauss20@yahoo.com), February 19, 2002.


I have 3 girls aged 7 9 and 14, all who have bedwetting. I agree that limiting drinks is helpful, as is regular enemas and suppositories. Having an enema or suppositoriy every night can be unconfortable at first for the younger girls, but the girls have gotten used to it now, especially when I moved to enema all three together,and it seems to work, as the bedwetting returns if I stop the treatment. I also insist on the girls ALL wearing plastic pants every night, including the oldest girl, to make it fair on all.

-- Tasha Jenkins (lincspoacher1@hotmail.com), June 09, 2002.

Having been a bedwetter as a child and was told by the doctors to just bear it until I outgrew it, (advice given in the '50's) I resigned myself to wearing some form of protection to bed at night. I must confess, I was amused when I read the accounts of not having anything to drink after the evening meal, my parents tried that on me, and all it did was send me to bed thirsty, but I still awoke wet EVERY morning. Yes I was what they call a CHRONIC bedwetter. I wet every night. To answer your question about pants for your oldest son, there is a company that make diapers and training pants for older kids who are either incontinent, or bedwetters. Their internet address is http://www.lovingcomfort.com. The company name of course is Loving Comfort Diaper company. Unless you just want to make your own, you can order from them. One point I must stress though, do not be put off by the cost. You are spending $90.00/month. This will be a one time cost, as you will be able to pass these pants down to his younger brothers if need be. I hope this helps, and to all of those mothers out their worrying about the ramifications, the worst treatment I got was from my parents trying to "do something". I went on sleep over, I stayed and summer camps, and most of my pears understood. It was my parents intent on preventing my harm, that caused me the most harm. That is why most doctors today will tell you not to make this "The family Issue."

-- Darryl E. Miller (darrylm@mindspring.com), July 22, 2002.

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