My 8-year-old still wets the bed at night: Advice?

If she says she doesn’t feel like getting up, that’s laziness. Don’t let her have anything to drink for at least an hour or two before bed and I know it seems degrading but Have you tried good nights? It doesn’t stop the issue altogether but eventually she will get to a point where she won’t want to wear a “diaper” to bed…

Just thinking outside the box a little, I never had those issues so I honestly don’t know for sure what to say here.

2 Likes

Wake her up every two hours to go potty, she’s being lazy and gross. That’s her acting like a baby because she has a younger sibling. If the younger sibling sees her get tong away with it they’ll do it to. Put her in pull ups, that if she’s gonna wet the bed because she’s lazy she can wear a diaper like a baby. Tell her if she can’t be bothered to get up and go you can’t be bothered to wash her sheets every night. Or make her pay you for the water she is using to wash them everyday and then make her crash them herself. Let her know how gross her bed will get and that she won’t be able to go to sleepovers or have sleepovers if she keeps wetting the bed. No drinks an hour before bed or at bed time. No sugary foods two hours before.

Take them to the chiropractor. Sounds odd, but really works!

3 Likes

Make sure she is ok physically. When she wets the bed make her change all the bedsheets herself. That is how my daughter stopped when she was that age.

If the bedding gets soiled I would have her help in changing the soiled sheets. She is old enough to be helping out with her bed anyways and if she has some responsibility maybe that will help.

My dr said they don’t think of it as an issue until 9 y/o and most kids grow out of it. My child sleeps to hard to wake up. And if I wake him up he sleep walks and is crazy

My daughter was almost 10 before no longer needing pull ups. Her pcp explained that the brain/bladder connection takes longer in some kids. Best of luck.

1 Like

Honestly :woman_shrugging:t2:, my son almost 8 on occasion does wet the bed. But now I limit drinks before bedtime, invested in a mattress waterproof cover, make him go before bed! And so far accidents are less. Now if he would just pick up the seat when he goes! But good luck to you!

Cut off drinks after dinner, make sure she goes before she goes to bed. Set an alarm for sometime in the middle of the night and make her get up and go again. She can wear the older kid pull-ups. If she wets her bed, make her wash her own bedding as well. Also go to the doctor and see if it’s anything medical to deal with

I had same issue when i was younger. My parents resolution was a pad that went under my sheets. When it detected wetness a small box attached would beep loudly and wake me up, and I would get up and finish in restroom. It basically trained me to get up when i had ther feeling of needing to go. It was what worked for us.

I would probably see a gp at her age.

According to my 9 year old sons psychiatrist, bedwetting is genetic (which is weird bc i was a bed wetter when i was little…all the way up until i was 11. I was put on a medication called Tofranil to help) and could also be due to emotional stress and things like that. My son literally just peed on our brand new couch (not even a month old) half an hour ago after he fell asleep watching a movie! I couldnt believe this was the 1st post I saw when I got on fb lol Seriously though…maybe talk to her doctor and go from there. The psychiatrist suggested this pee monitor…you clip it on their underwear and its supposed to vibrate and wake them up or something…I thought that was super weird??? I usually cut liquids 2 hours before bedtime and I have a plastic zip up mattress cover underneath his mattress pad and sheets. I know…its a pain in the ass…I hope you get to the bottom of it! Please PM if you wanna chat or have questions.

Don’t make a big deal and let her sleep in pull ups. She’ll out grow it. Just tell her it’s ok and don’t make it an issue. Even grown ups have accidents sometimes!

4 Likes

Make sure she uses the bathroom and no fluids an hour or two before bed. My son had this issue and part of the problem was constipation and the other was enlarged tonsils. I thought the ENT was crazy when he said that. His tonsils were interfering with his sleep cycle. When he would finally get in a deep sleep his body would relax and he couldn’t wake himself to go. Once his tonsils were removed and we give him stool softeners often, it has almost completely stopped. A 1-2x a month issue vs 5+ days a week. Good luck.

I have to wake my son up around 1130pm to make him go. He is such a heavy sleeper. Helps

My 7 year old wears goodnights to bed. Some kids just have issues that take awhile. Or they sleep very soundly

Don’t let her drink anything after dinner. Don’t give her a choice but to wake up. Before you go to bed make her go even if you have to wake her up. Make her change her bedding if she does wet the bed and wash it then replace it. She’ll eventually realize being lazy about going to the bathroom will just make her have to do more by having to clean up after herself.

2 Likes

Wake her every 2 hours until she gets used to getting up on her own

My son wet until he was 8 and a half and it takes an emotional toll on them and their self esteem. I took him to dr, did pull ups, no drinks ect. Then i saw to give them a glass of water by bed. Letting them drink makes the urge to pee strong enough that he woke up to go…it stopped within days. Give it a try, i woke him up at midnight to go just in case for first few days. Its been 8 months with no wetting

1 Like

Over tired- doesnt feel the need to go because they are sleeping too hard.
Constipation- pushes on bladder
Emotional stress

Limit her fluid intake after 6pm

My son is 26 now and he did the same thing. Took him to urologists and tried different meds and would cut back drinking after a certain time but his brain just was not waking him to go to the bathroom. We were told it was not psychological because he was fine during the day. I would even wake him up at night 2 or 3 times to go to the bathroom. He did this until he graduated high school. He is now married with a 12 month old son and has not had a problem since he got out of high school. We were also told that his bladder was small and couldn’t hold much. He was a preemie. He was also a very hard sleeper.

Just lay out an oil cloth or nylon fabric on her bed before blanket and sheet. Don’t stress, it will stop with time

Is she afraid to get up at night alone? I’d start there. If she’s truly just to lazy to get up at night, there are consequences. In the morning she has to get up early enough to strip her bed before school. Sheets and pajamas get put in the washer, by her. Set it for a time delay so they don’t sour through the day. When she gets home from school, she puts them in the dryer before she does anything else. No snack, homework, phone, tv, nothing until those are in the dryer. When they are dry, she makes her bed. No dinner until it’s done. Bedtime is regular time. Only exception to stay up later would be homework. No play time no tv, nothing until her bed is made. A couple of weeks of you holding firm to this, and getting up won’t be that big a deal.

My now 14 yo did this till 9 yo. When I asked her why just now she said she just couldn’t help it like she literally didn’t wake up. But that when she got invited to her first sleepover at 9 yo and I said to her “Do not pee in the bed please!!” It was then she realized that none of her friends did that and maybe she needed to get her stuff together. So that night she barely slept for fear of wetting the bed and just started feeling the sensation I guess bc she wasn’t quite asleep. After that never did it again.

1 Like

Put a mattress protector on the bed. If she pees it won’t soak in as much and will likely wake her.
Also, I know it is a hassle and you have to worry about whether she will go back to sleep but wake her up to go at night. Start with twice a night. Then once a night. That way she gets into the habit of it and will hopefully start doing it on her own. She can’t be lazy about it if you don’t let her.
Good luck. I hope it helps.

1 Like

some kids are just heavy sleepers… nothing you say to them will change it, no it doesnt mean they are traumatized or been abused… eventually they grow out of it

Talk to her pediatrician. She might say she’s doing it because she doesn’t want to go to the bathroom (can’t be bothered) but that’s a pretty common response to most issues at that age. There could be something else going on that she either doesn’t want to or doesn’t know how to explain.

I have heard up to 12/13 years old can,
I’d try an have as many sleep overs as possible, I can see her having one then getting embarrassed and not doing it no more do to what she has said to you . But then I can see kids picking on her at school … tricky :neutral_face:

If she won’t be bothered, that just sounds lazy to me, honestly. I’d start making her wear good nights to bed until she stops

She might have anxiety going to bed and or has night terrors

Make her wash her own blankets and clothes that she peed on. My son use to hold his poop in out of fear at that age( he had this issue since he was 4, resolved by 9). id make him wash his own underwear out. He quit holding and figured out how to get over his fear.

My niece did this till she was 9. They ended up getting a nose spray that stops the body producing urine during the night. She isnt allowed to drink after 7pm must go toilet before bed and first thing in the morning at 6am but now finally is dry.

Have you tried not letting her drink after six o’clock so it. Has time to go through her before she goes to bed

1 Like

Both my children (8 y.o. girl and 10 y.o. boy) still wet the bed. Neither are allowed drinks after 6pm. I have tried waking them up. They are both heavy heavy sleepers. My son sleep walks/talks and has adhd. Dr told me it’s not a concern until they are 12. Just to keep them in pull ups and hope they grow out of it. I use to make them strip their beds and do their own laundry every morning. That was before I spoke with the dr about everything combined. The bed wetting, sleep walking/talking, and adhd. All of this is quite normal for my situation. Just be at peace with it. All I am able to do for another 2 years

1 Like

Maybe she sleeps too deeply to recognize the triggers to get up and go. See a doctor.

Have her tested for type 1 diabetes. If she’s snacking at night and her blood sugar spikes she will wet the bed to relieve her body of the high blood sugar.

1 Like

My son is 11 now, he wet the bed until he was 9. No rhyme or reason… just did it until he got older. No matter what I tried. Then stopped…

Take her to the doctor it could be a hormone imbalance.

My son is 8 he also still does he wears a nappy still at night when he has a bad day he also wets himself. I’ve tried everything. Been to a urologist ect nothing has worked :disappointed:

1st get her to the pediatrician to just make sure its not her kidneys but also ask about a med called demopressin. Its used for children that have accidents at night. My son is 13 & still once in a awhile have at night.

Wake her up around 11 to have her use the restroom and maybe again around 3 do that a couple times so she can get into the swing of it

Take her to doctor. Could be a internal issue.she could have a small bladder. . She could have constipation issues ? It pushes on bladder in night. Have it ultrasound.

I wet the bed a while too. An I hated it. It was always a dream like I knew I needed to go I’d dream I was sitting on the toilet and wet the bed all the time.
The only thing I can say is wake her up at night.
My daughter is 5 and she knows to get up but when she gets up shes still half asleep and doesn’t find the bathroom in time usually. So I have to wake her and just tell her to try her best to wake up so she can make it.
It sounds like shes not at the point of being able to wake herself. But if you know she wakes up and just does it because she doesn’t want to get up that’s a bigger problem.
Usually kids dont like wetting the bed it’s not comfortable. But idk wake her up at night so shes used to getting up when she knows she has to go to the bathroom.
If it’s a on purpose thing then my advice is not politically correct.
It will pass. Please dont try to embarrass her. Keep it a personal matter. I know kids that wet the bed plum up in their teens.

Try a multi vitamin high in magnesium and introduce more foods with magnesium. It works !
Helps children with bladder control.

Make her go pee before bed but if it’s a constant thing then take her to the doctor it could be something else

Not to be that person, but I have heard that wetting the bed can be due to children being sexually abused. I’m not trying to insinuate such a horrible thing but this day and age it something that happens so much you can never be to careful. Or maybe she has something else going on. I really hope this isn’t taken the wrong way I’m just passing on advice that I have heard about before. Best of luck

Little girls can have a low grade cystitis that causes bed wetting take her to dr.

Talk to her doctor about getting ddavp. It keeps them from peeing to bed… it’s only give at bed time. It’s a god sent… good luck

I personally have not delt with the matter but my friend used to get so upset with her daughter who did this… Turned out she has a very small bladder. So. Until she was old enough to learn how to control it there’s nothing that could be done. Good luck