“Can I do anything to stop my child from wetting the bed?”

Several factors may be involved. Drinking fluids before bedtime, a urinary tract infection, pinworms, among other things.

The child needs to be assessed by a physician. Urine checked. Physical exam.

Hi there. I am sorry to read about your son's bed wetting. I would definitely inquire a little more as to what may have triggered this behavior, as it can definitely be stress-related. I would try to limit his liquid intake both at and after dinner, and perhaps see his doctor to have his urine checked for causes, such as infection. If the above methods do not help, there is a medication available that can work. I would ask his doctor about it, as he will need a prescription for it. I hope this helps, and all the best.
Dr. Lauren Tashman

Hello. Suddenly having 8 years to wet his bed if he wasn't doing this previously requires attention, examination, history taking and urine test so I highly recommend him to be seen by his primary doctor.

Bedwetting, "or sleep wetting, is nocturnal (nightime) enuresis. Enuresis
runs in families. This means that if you urinate, or pee, while you are
asleep, there is a good chance that a close relative also did it when he or
she was a kid.....Almost all kids who wet the bed eventually stop and until
he or she stops there are things you can do to stay dry." KidsHealth.org

It is a good idea to see your pediatrician to develop a program that
restrains the brain to do one of two things: 1. Wake you up so you can go
to the bathroom ( ie use of bed alarms) and 2. Stay asleep and hold it
until morning (ie bladder exercises, such as waiting a little longer to per
during the day, reading about and imagining staying dry).

What is concerning about your question is that your 8 year old "suddenly
started wetting the bed." I would again strongly encourage you to take your
child to his/her pediatrician for an evaluation. Has there been a change
and/or new stressors in your child's environment at home or school? Or
there any other symptoms that your child is experiencing? These are
questions that can be addressed with a visit with your pediatrician.

If it is a new thing then he needs To be evaluated by a doctor

Although bedwetting is not unusual in children that age, the fact that he started recently after being dry for how many years?, is unusual. He needs to see his doctor, and be evaluated for diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, kidney problems, etc.

New onset bed wetting brings to mind a possible urinary infection, or nocturnal seizures that are picked up only on EEG during sleep. Please see your pediatrician for this evaluation. And while it's unthinkable for us, please make sure that he is not being molested at night. Bed wetting becomes a safe deterrent in this type of unthinkable scenario.

The first workup for Diurnal eneuresis should include a Urinanlysis to rule out any medical or organic issue causing it. DE may be related to behavioral issues or situational. Please assess what is happening prior to the accident and the consequence afterwards. This may help understand the behavior of allowing these accidents to happen. He may not be aware that this is a voluntary action. Counseling may help him identify what the underlying issue is. DE is inherited in 10% of the cases and family members may relate to his situation if it happened to them.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

Wilhelmina

I would recommend evaluation for a urinary tract infection and a renal ultrasound. This is called secondary enuresis - medication without appropriate evaluation is not recommended. At the same time I would look into new stressors. Discuss with your pediatrician to refer for a nephrology consultation
Hope this helps

New onset bedwetting is different from just never being dry at night, which is developmental. It may be a sign of a urinary tract infection or diabetes, so it is important that he see his doctor. It may also be a sign of stress, so be sure to ask about adjustment to the new school year, bullying, and review any stressors in the home enviroment

First, you should seek medical care to make sure there is nothing that needs to be evaluated. If that is all normal, then often significant life events or stresses can trigger regressions, including bedwetting. Did anything happen around that time?

Is there a new child in the family or changes that would cause him to regress? Has it ever happened during the day? Has his behavior changed? I recommend taking him to the pediatrician for an evaluation as there are a number of possible causes. If everything is fine, there are different methods to help him not wet the bed, including monitoring liquids in PM and waking him up on schedule every night to take him to the bathroom. Please do take him to a pediatrician for a check-up.

Yes, is there any routine life changes or behavior issues? night mare? Or not check for diabetes

Many children wet the bed into their elementary school years, usually due to the fact that they are heavy sleepers and don't produce enough of the hormone that tells their body to stop producing urine at night. Their brains simply don't wake them up enough to get out of bed to pee!

This is called primary nocturnal enuresis. There are several things you can do to minimize the night wetting occurrences, but tincture of time is usually what it takes and most kids grow out of this enuresis by at least 10-11 years of age.

Try these things:
- Limiting fluids 2 hours prior to bedtime.
- Avoid diuretics in children, especially after noon. This includes caffeine and chocolate.
- Make sure your child urinates just before bedtime.
- Adhere to a consistent sleep schedule.

However, it sounds like your child was previously potty trained and is now
having accidents. This is called secondary nocturnal enuresis and can be
caused by other things than mentioned above. It's probably not a bad idea
to see your doctor so they can rule out medical causes such as
constipation, infection/illness (UTI, diabetes, or anatomic abnormality),
sleep disorders (apnea, sleepwalking, etc.), or stress-related causes. Once
these are ruled out, you can feel free to try preventive or natural
therapies, or even medical treatment as your doctor recommends.
Some additional ideas for limiting nighttime wetting:
- enuresis alarm (or parental scheduled waking)
- hypnosis or acupuncture
- synthetic hormones prescribed by physician

Hope this helps!
Dr. E