4 yo wetting the bed. How often is normal?

[Snowy Love]

DS1 has been wearing undies to bed all year, and having an accident maybe once a fortnight. He wakes at night and comes into our room, DH takes him to the loo & they go back to his bed & both fall asleep there (if its earlier than 5am) I make the bed with 2 sets of sheets with mattress protector & shower curtain in between and when he comes in & tells us he's wet the bed DH just rips off the top set and they go back to sleep.

He's been wetting the bed more often in the past couple of weeks and this week its been 3 nights out of 4. Last night MIL rang before DH put him to bed & he fell asleep in the lounge so he didn't get taken to the loo before bed, so that may be the reason for last night's episode. So apart from making sure that he goes to the loo just before bed, what else can I do & is wetting the bed this often normal?

Thanks

[Catastrophic]

Yea I think it's quite normal. I still have a 6-7yo that does it occasionally.
Try limit the amount of fluid given straight before bed. Just perserve it will stop eventually :-)

[Mak]

Definitely normal! I find especially here when DD is super tired. xxx

[Pandora]

Ds1 turns 5 in nov.
It's only really the last six months he's been in jocks at night and dry at all for his night sleep.

He recently had a week of dry nights which is a record. Last two have been wet though.

The main thing we do is encourage him and let him know it's ok and not to get down about it.

[~me~]

Very normal. My DS1 only stopped wetting the bed at night 12mths ago. I have a 'Kerri' which is the same as a Conni that I put on top of the sheets. So when he did wet the bed, I only had to wash the 'Kerri' and his pj's. I now put it under the sheets for just in case. It's great as I wash and dry and put back on the day.
Limiting fluids before bed may help. Some kids are just deep sleepers and can't wake up to go to the toilet.

[~Raven~]

I have a 9yo that wets every night (he wears drynights), a 7yo that might wet a couple of nights a week and be dry for the next month and I have a 4yo that has been dry for 6 months. All so different I don't think there is such a thing as normal!

[gemini_girl]

Apparently limiting intake before bed only makes it more difficult to train your child. There are many different things you can try to help with bedwetting, but I would honestly say that if your child is 4 years old and wetting only once a fortnight usually... you have nothing really to worry about. The suggestions that have been made about using shower curtains or connie bed pads etc will help to eliminate the stress of the situation. I was told that you should not reward a child for something they have no control over.

I will tell you my story, not because I want to scare you but just so you have some knowledge.
I started out by trying a spray that is used under the tongue, which you can buy over the counter from a chemist. I had no luck with this product. I tried limiting drinks, which didn't help, and doc's said that it does nothing to improve the situation. I had my DD to a bedwetting specialist who tried exercises. Measuring urine. Making sure drinks are up through the day and keeping a record of all this information to see if anything changes. This didn't help with my DD. If this doesn't help, there are bedwetting alarms you can try. This didn't help with my child as she would just wake up and turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. I have tried her on tablets such as minirin melts and tofranil (by prescription only). Nothing has worked. I have been going to the urologist clinic for almost 12 months, had U/S, urine tests, but still have no answers at the moment. I am beginning to think my DD is just too lazy to get up out of bed and have since started getting her to do her washing as she is nearly 11yrs old and is wetting the bed about 19/20 nights. When I was at the urologist clinic earlier this week. I told the doctor my frustrations. They were meant to be doing further tests but apparently that was a misunderstanding. I need to wait until we get into the enuresis clinic for any further testing. They have given her tablets (tofranil) to take again even though she was on them for about 6 months with no improvement. I asked the doctor why is there such a long waiting list, after all I haven't heard of anyone else her age wetting the bed everynight like she does. I thought I was alone. But he says I am wrong, that is why there is such a long waiting list, because their is many children her age or similar who are wetting the bed just as much.

The only other thing I could think of besides lazyness is, well for my daughter anyway, psychological. I have had her to a psychologist for some time but I don't think it is doing much improvement eiter.

Anyways so that is the road I have travelled down with my DD. I hope you will not be travelling the same road. I'm sorry I couldn't give you any answers in the end for my DD case, it is a long journey and I am still waiting.

Good luck

[Snowy Love]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. We can't use the Conni or brolly sheets 'cause he moves all over the bed so he'd be sure to pee where it isn't.

[Pandora]

Gemini girl, he is not having you on, dh and bil both weren't dry completely til well in to their teens. If one parent was late to be dry there's a 40% chnace that any of their children will be also.

[~me~]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. We can't use the Conni or brolly sheets 'cause he moves all over the bed so he'd be sure to pee where it isn't.

Even if it's tucked in like a sheet? They are pretty long, probably go right from head to shin? I got one from Baby Time that is great as it does tuck in, it has been a life saver.
Like Raven, I also used the night time pull ups for older boys when it was consistent over the week.