I found this site after work last night and am so happy! All of you are such wonderful, warm people! I've been reading posts all morning looking for a way to drop in. Anyways, thanks for all of your warm hearts and advice for us single parents. We seem to get left behind in this society!

As for my question... my beautiful son just turned 4 in Jan. He was finally potty-trained last summer and has been doing great, only occasional day-time accidents. The problem is night time. I have made the mistake of letting him sleep with me because I have always worked an afternoon shift so he has been on my schedule. Anyways I need some advice on how to stop bed-wetting. I've been setting my alarm for the middle of the night so I can take him to the bathroom, try not to let him drink much at night (which is sometimes impossible with my family watching him every night till 11:30pm) and also bought plastic pants for him to wear over his underware. He is a very deep sleeper and none of this is helping. He still manages to have accidents everynight and the plastic pants do not work! Does anyone have any suggestions for this and or know how long it usually takes for a child to start getting up and going on their own? I have or should say had a great mattress that is getting ruined.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Kids vary, they do it in their own time. My sister wet the bed for a long time and my mom found out that she needed surgery (small sx). For now, I would definitely say that cutting off liquid at 8:00 at the very latest is necessary. Let your family know that you need to do this if he is to stop wetting your bed and they need to help. This is the only thing that works that I know of. My 3 year old, who just started using the potty a week ago, only stays dry when I cut the liquid before well before bedtime.

Welcome and we are glad that you found us! :welcome:

susieq, welcome to the forum. I agree with PITA. First step is stopping the liquids well before bedtime. Have him try to use the bathroom before going to bed. Talk with the family about it so they understand a certain time for no more drinks.

Don and Pita have some great suggestions.
To be honest I would not worry about the wetting to much. Put a diaper on him at night or a pull up so he won't ruin the bed. When my kids have and will be potty training I have never worried about the night time wetting. If they do well during the day the night will come. I kept mine in a diaper at night only, up until they woke up dry for a long time. If they said they didn't want it I would remind them they have to get up. Sometimes it worked and other times I had to insist they have the pull up or diaper.(diapers are cheaper)
I hope this helps and wish you the best.

susieq,
I too would not "worry" about the night time accidents right now. Put him in the pull ups.

My daughter was potty trained between 18 months and 2 years during the day. Night time was a different story. She slept so hard she had to wear pull ups or "good-nites" until she was 5 1/2. She is a BIG kid and I thought to my self.. if this does not stop soon she will be in "depends".

Decreasing the liquids and trying to get him in the habit of getting up is very good. I would suggest you "get him up" do not walk him to the bathroom half asleep. He needs to be able to handle this himself. If this persists much longer I would have the pediatrician check on him. Also, just in case of a break through with the pull ups.. get some of the Depends matress covers or the medical supply may have a cheaper brand. These will preserve your matress.

All good advice. My Jessica is 3 and in pull-ups at night and proper underwear during the day as she attends Kindergarden.She is a heavy sleeper and not very co-ordinated when just awake.But my upstairs bathroom is next to the stairs,eventhough there is a gate at the top of the stairs.I still don't risk her moving around whilst Iam downstairs or in bed if I make it that far.A waterproof cover is a good back up preferably one that can be washed in a machine and treated with an Anti-bacterial spray and has a zipper so it doesn't slip off the bed during restless nights.Another thought is an interior waterproof liner if a Duvet is used as only the cover and liner will need washing and not the whole duvet as it will be destroyed eventually with continual washing.

Mark

Thank you all for the great responses. I have tried to stay away from the nightime diapers because of the things I've read about never going back once they're potty trained. I believe diapers to be the best answer too, but I wanted to see if others agreed before doing it. Darn! I thought there would be some magical answer that would prevent me from buying those things again. Thanks again!

Boy do I understand where you are coming from. The thing is that night time is totally different from daytime, as you know. Just because you are using them at night does not mean you are going "back" to them. Just make sure you get him out of the diaper first thing in the morning and make it that last thing you put on him at night. This way he won't go back to wanting to wear one during the day to try and be lazy.
I have one in a half more in diapers and when they are done with them so am I. I can't wait
Best of luck to you.

Do not stress! Being a nurse and having a son that was a deep sleeper as well I understand. He is only four. Try not to make an issue about it bc some childrens bladders do not tell them to wake up and go in the middle of sleeping until later. I went through worrying over it as well. My baby did not start waking up and going until he was 6 years old. Sometimes he did but not all the time. You just need to have a little bit of patients and nothing is wrong with him. I did not understand although I am in nursing how he could not know to go. It is just they sleep so deeply and it takes time to develope that feeling for them at night. The part of your brain that lets you know you need to go. Also, I found it is very common in boys as well. My oldest that never sleeps did not have this issue, but the youngest that could sleep through a tornado did.
I just got the pull ups and called them his night time undies. I too woke him up in the middle of the night to make him go. Yes, it is tiring but it helped in the long run. I tried the no drinks after a certain time and that did not help. Just try this a little and see if it works, but make sure you let him know they are only for night. He still may sometimes play and forget bc like at night he has not developed that feeling of having to gotta go right now. Boys and men have more room then we do bc their urethra is longer than girls/women. So, it just may take some time. After talking to him and doing this nightly he eventually just started going one night. He has been fine ever since. So, do not fret, he is still a little guy! Good Luck! Angela

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