Bed Wetting

[jschut]

Hello all~

As I'm sure you all know by now, our daughter and 5y/o grandson have moved in with us for the time being.

Problem is...our 5 y/o grandson wets the bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!!!!

I am so fed up with this that I could scream! I don't know what to do....I have tried getting him up early to go, he just pees earlier...I have tried cutting down his liquids after 6pm, he still goes.....I have tried getting him up before I go to bed, he still pees.....

I am totally at my wits end here! Last night, he woke up at 12:30am, because he wet his bed, crawled in bed with my 14y/o son (his uncle) then proceeded to pee in HIS bed too!

I don't like the thought of pullups, but I'm thinking that to be the only solution I have. My washer is going to explode with all the washing of sheets and blankets everyday!

Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks, Julie:(

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Get the daughter an alarm clock that she can set for 6am, and maybe she'll have son sitting at kitchen table dry and happy at 7am when you come home. Then you can congratilate both on their good job before you go to bed. If she isn't able to interrupt her sleep for her son it might be more difficult for you to interrupt your sleep to drive her to work- or at least that's how I would feel.

Big hugs to your grandson and you, he's got to be pretty special.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

My son is 19 years old, and because of a brain injury, has been incontinent at night for years. I can empathize with the feelings of frustration and yes, anger about the whole thing. The sheer volume of his voids was enough to make me cry. I too tried every trick known to man to keep his bed dry. Just when it looked like we had a system, the whole thing would break down and we were back to square one. But when he started wetting himself during the day (and often more than once:( ) we looked deeper. A referral to a urologist resulted in a trial of flavoxate, which maybe worked a little. Two months later he had a urodynamic study done which revealed a small, very spastic bladder, despite the drugs. So we switched him to oxybutynin and tinkered with the dose until we struck a happy medium between effect and side effect. Now, more than two years later, even with the upheaval of moving to a new province and leaving behind his two sisters he only wets the bed once in a while. :D I still put a soaker on his bed, and a disposable pad under the sheets (he has a new mattress...) and my washer is getting fat and lazy. Hang in there, help is there for the asking.

[LasVegasRN]

Julie, my heart goes out to you and all the other Grandma's who are helping with their grandchildren.

I don't have any better advice than what has been given here on the bedwetting situation, but I would like to offer just a small perspective on the daughter.

My Mom & Dad come out here to visit several times a year. They call it "giving Deneen a break". They know I'm playing super Mom all on my own with my 6 year old. Yes, I will freely admit that when they are here, I tend to fall back into the daughter role. I get up late, I sleep in, I nap, etc. All those things I NEVER get to do any other time when it's just my daughter and I.

When my folks are here, they do all the cooking, laundry, etc. Even if I volunteer, they say, "no, you are working every day, we are retired, we're here to help you, RELAX". I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate them.

I do not feel your daughter is "shirking her responsibilities" intentionally. If anything, she is probably feeling very badly about the whole situation and also has a quiet despair. I applaud you for being so very supportive and taking an active role in helping her and your grandson. Only YOU know when you should discuss with your daughter about doing more and functioning fully as the mother, but it could be all that she can handle right now to get herself up and go to work each day.

In short, maybe your daughter really NEEDS her mother right now. I can't fault her for feeling that way because I have certainly felt the same before.

Hang in there, YOU know what's best for your family better than any of us out here in cyber world. But, do know that we care.

[TracyB,RN, RN]

Wow, just when I thought I was one of the few with this problem. My 5 yr old daughter wets at night usually 3-4 times a week. Thank God for pull-ups :)

We have found no medical reason for the bedwetting. The doctors all say "don't worry about it" until she is 6 or 7. We do take her potty right before we go to bed. The poor thing is such a sound sleeper, she doesn't even open her eyes. We do moderately limit fluids after 6pm, it doesn't really make a difference. But, I can understand how frustrating it is. We do the double sheet thing, in case the pull up leaks. It helps a bit.

Good luck with your grandson & your daughter.

[LasVegasRN]

Julie? Where are you? Check in!