How can I help my 4 year old stop wetting the bed?

Описание: Bed-wetting is a typical childhood problem. About 16% of kids ages 5-7 are still wetting the bed at night. Most commonly, kids learn how to control their bladder during the day, and this starts to carry on through the night as they learn how to coordinate, and their body tells them that when their bladder is full, they need to go to the bathroom. Most kids master this by about the age of 4. You mentioned that your son is 4, so he's still at the age where this would be normal behavior for him to have accidents now and then at night. Most kids do master it between the ages of 5-7 though. A lot of parents are concerned when they see this because it's inconvenient, embarrassing, and they worry that there's some underlying medical condition that might be causing it.

You mentioned you're going to the doctor next week for his well-check, and you're going to talk about it with the doctor. That's good, because the doctor can ask you more questions about it, perhaps talk to your son about it, and also see if there are any other underlying medical conditions that might contribute to it. But in most cases, it's normal and passes with time. Some of the underlying medical conditions that might contribute to bed-wetting are diabetes, urinary tract infections, kidney problems, seizures, sleep problems, even constipation. So the doctor can talk to you more specifically about these things to see if they're contributing. But in most cases, it's just because the child's bladder is developing a little bit slower than usual, their bladder holds a smaller amount than normal of urine, and genetics play a part too. So if you or your husband wet the bed when you were a child, then it's more likely that your children will as well. Diminished levels of vasopressin (a hormone that [if lacking] reduces urine production) can contribute to children wetting the bed at night. If your child is just a deep sleeper and isn't awakened by a full bladder, a child who has that issue might be more likely to wet the bed.

In addition to talking to the doctor, there are a few things you can try at home to see if they help. You mentioned you've been watching the amount of fluid your son drinks before he goes to bed, and doctors have varying opinions on this. Overall, they say it doesn't necessarily help, because the child will still wet the bed, just maybe a little bit less. So instead of 6oz of urine there'd be 4. But some parents do notice a little bit of a change when they do limit their child's fluid intake towards bedtime. Your child definitely does have fluid intake needs each day that they have to meet, and if you try to cram most of your child's fluid intake in the morning and afternoon, and then taper off in the evening hours, then that may help him a little bit. For example, have him drink 40% of what he'd normally drink in a 24-hour period in the morning, 40% in the afternoon, so he only needs 20% of that at night time. Parents who restrict fluids before bed time when they have a child who normally drinks a lot in the evening hours may run the risk of causing dehydration for their child.

Here's a couple other suggestions. Many parents feel like if they use pull-ups at night that will help with the inconvenience factor, but pull-ups have actually been proven to train children's brains to not get up at night, because they know that there's that security factor, and their brain won't necessarily wake them up because they may feel the wetness, because pull-ups don't keep it off their skin, but it's okay because nothing has to be cleaned up. So it's actually best to keep your son in underwear, so that he feels it and knows when he wets the bed. Just get a waterproof mattress liner and have extra sheets available, so if he wets the bed at night you're not trying to rummage through the closet to find sheets, and that might be a little bit more convenient for you. Also remember that when he has bed-wetting episodes, be very nonchalant about it after it happens, don't make a big deal about it or punish him, but do make a big deal about it when he is successful and is dry after a night. Maybe keep a chart, so you can see trends, if it's getting worse, or if it's getting better, and this might help your pediatrician if he tells you to monitor it.

The doctor may talk to you about a bed-wetting alarm. This is something that a child wears that senses when there's even a little bit of moisture, and an alarm goes off, waking the child up to prompt them to go use the bathroom. The idea is that after a couple of weeks of this alarm going off when their bladder starts to empty a little bit, then their brains star to realize, "Oh, I can't just let it out, I need to hold it, and wake up and go to the bathroom." That's a form of training a child's brain to get up at night, and another option if it's a severe enough case. The doctor can talk to you and decide if that's necessary or not. I hope those other tips help you. Good luck with everything.