Stop Wetting the Bed

Developing bladder control that lasts through the night doesn’t happen on a defined schedule, and many children can take longer than their peers to stop wetting the bed. The key is to set children up for success to help reduce the chance of bedwetting (which is also known as sleep enuresis or nocturnal enuresis). However, bedwetting isn’t a problem that only children face. Whether you’re trying to help your child or yourself, you can control the bedwetting with some patience and dedication.

Steps

Stopping Bedwetting in Children

1. Do not panic. Nearly 15% of children still wet the bed by the time they reach five years of age. Though this number tapers off, you generally shouldn’t worry about bedwetting up until the age of seven. Prior to that, a child’s bladder and control can still be developing.
2. Limit your child’s fluid intake in the evening. In the hours leading up to bedtime, try to reduce the amount that your child has to drink. Note that this does not need to be over the course of the entire day. On the contrary, encouraging your child to hydrate in the morning and early afternoon can actually help cut down on evening-time thirst. If your child is thirsty in the evening, especially if they are participating in sports or other physical activities, do offer them water.
   • If your child’s school allows it, send him or her to school with a water bottle to avoid excessive fluid intake in the late afternoon and evening.
3. Avoid giving your child caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means that it can lead to a need to urinate. While you should generally avoid giving young children caffeine anyway, it’s especially true when trying to help stop bedwetting.
4. Cut out bladder irritants. In addition to caffeine, you should try to cut out other possible bladder irritants in the evening that can lead to bedwetting. These include citrus juices, dyes (particularly juices with red dyes), sweeteners, and artificial flavorings.
5. Encourage regular toilet usage. In the late afternoon and into the evening, encourage your child to use the toilet roughly every two hours. This will help avoid a sense of urgency over the evening.
6. Use a “double-voiding” technique before bed. Many children use the bathroom at the start of their bedtime routine as they get ready to change into pajamas, brush their teeth, etc. “Double-voiding” means having your child use the bathroom then and then going a second time directly before actually going to sleep.
7. Resolve any constipation. Pressure from your child’s rectum due to constipation can manifest as bedwetting. To make matters more difficult, children often feel too embarrassed to discuss constipation, but this simple issue comprises up to a third of all instances of bedwetting in children who otherwise have control.
   • If you confirm that he or she is constipated, try a fiber-rich diet for several days. If this doesn’t make a difference, then see your pediatrician. There are many good options to help children with constipation.
8. Do not ever punish your child. Though the process is frustrating, you should never resort to punishing your child for bedwetting. Your child likely feels embarrassed by the occurrences and wants to stop just as much as you want him or her to stop. Instead of punishing failure, try rewarding the successes on nights when your child stays dry.
   • You can reward your child with anything from playing a game, stickers, to a favorite dish for dinner. Use what you know he or she enjoys.
9. Try a bedwetting alarm if necessary. Waking your child up before you go to bed to have him or her use the bathroom again will resort in a frustrated and poorly rested child. You don’t want to wake your child on instances when it’s not necessary either. Instead, try a bedwetting alarm. These devices clip to underwear or a pad on the mattress and beep as soon as they detect moisture, allowing your child to get up and go only when a bedwetting incident is imminent.
10. See your child’s pediatrician. Bedwetting in children can indicate a more serious issue in a minority of cases. To be safe, see your pediatrician, so he or she can test for:
    • Sleep apnea
    • A urinary tract infection
    • Diabetes
    • Abnormalities of the urinary tract or nervous system
11. Ask your child’s pediatrician about medications. Since children typically outgrow bedwetting, medications aren’t usually recommended by most pediatricians. However, some are available as a method of last resort. These options include:
    • Desmopressin (DDAVP), which boosts a natural anti-diuretic hormone to make less urine at night. However, these drugs have side effects and can also affect sodium levels, and you must monitor your child’s fluid intake while on the drug.
    • Oxybutynin (Ditropan XL), which can help cut down on bladder contractions and cause greater bladder capacity.

Stopping Bedwetting in Teenagers and Adults

1. Limit fluid intake at night. If you limit the amount of fluids you drink in the few hours preceding bedtime, then your body will produce less urine overnight, making you less likely to wet the bed.
   • This does not mean cut back on your overall fluid intake. You should still aim to drink around eight glasses of water each day. Simply try to consume them in the morning and afternoon hours. Staying hydrated is equally important since dehydration can also lead to adult bedwetting.
2. Avoid too much caffeine or alcohol. Both caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, which mean they cause the body to produce more urine. Alcohol also dulls your body’s ability to wake you in the night to urinate when you have to go, leading to instances of bedwetting. Avoid caffeinated beverages and excessive intake of alcohol at night.
3. Treat constipation. Constipation can place pressure on your bladder lowers your control during the night. If your instances of bedwetting happen in conjunction with instances of constipation, then you should try adding more fiber to your diet, which you can get from leafy greens, legumes, and other plant-based sources.
   • You can find more information about treating your constipation by reading How to Regulate Bowel Movements.
4. Set a bedwetting alarm. Bedwetting alarms can also help teens and adults who need to train their bodies to react to the need to urinate. A bedwetting alarm attaches to the underwear or pad on the mattress and beeps or buzzes the second it senses moisture, allowing you to get up and void your bladder before a full bedwetting incident occurs.
5. Check the side effects of your medications. Several medications have shown an increase in bedwetting as a possible side effect. Check to see if your medication regimen may be responsible, but always consult your doctor before you alter your schedule of prescription medications. Some drugs that may cause bedwetting include:
   • Clozapine
   • Risperidone
   • Olanzapine
   • Quetiapine
6. Look for other signs of sleep apnea. If you also snore loudly and wake in the morning with chest pain, headaches, and sore throat symptoms, then you may suffer from sleep apnea. Bedwetting is another symptom associated with the condition for adults who have otherwise had no prior problems with controlling their bladders.
   • If you believe you have sleep apnea, then you should see your physician for diagnosis and treatment options.
7. See your doctor. If your instances of bedwetting don’t happen in coordination with excessive drinking or constipation, then you should see your doctor. Secondary enuresis (bedwetting in those who’ve otherwise shown long-term bladder control) is usually a symptom of another issue. Your doctor will want to run tests to rule out several other conditions, including:
   • Diabetes
   • Neurological disorder
   • Urinary tract infection
   • Urinary tract stones
   • Prostate enlargement/cancer
   • Bladder cancer
   • Anxiety or emotional disorders
8. Ask about medications. You can look into several medication options to help control adult bedwetting. Ask your doctor which option might be best for your specific case during your consultation. Options include:
   • Desmopressin, which causes your kidneys to produce less urine.
   • Imipramine, which has proven effective in up to 40 percent of cases.
   • Anticholinergic medications, which treat over activity of the detrusor muscle and include darifenacin, oxybutynin, and trospium chloride.
9. Ask about surgical options. These options are limited to cases of severe overactivity of your detrusor muscle, and they likely only apply if you have problems with daytime incontinence as well as bedwetting. Surgical options are a last resort. Your doctor might discuss:
   • Clam cystoplasty — This surgery increases bladder capacity by placing a patch of intestine into an expanding incision in the bladder.
   • Detrusor myectomy — This procedure removes a portion of the detrusor muscle and helps strengthen and reduce the number of bladder contractions
   • Sacral nerve stimulation — The surgery decreases the activity of the detrusor muscle by altering the nerve activity that controls it.

Tips

• Follow a bedtime schedule. If you go to bed at 7:30 one night and 1:00 AM the next night, your whole body (including your bladder) will be confused.
• Sleep with plastic or waterproof mattress pads or covers on your bed. This will protect the mattress.
• Follow a set toileting routine. Establish a Nighttime Routine.
• Don't force a child into wearing diapers if they really don't want to. People think that doing this will help (that it would if they don't mind wearing them), but actually, it will stress them out and make the problem worse.
• If you're trying to help a child stop wetting the bed, note the time you put them to bed (can help later if there is a physical/medical reason). Either stay up with the child or sleep close by. When the child wets the bed they will at the least re-position themselves away from the wetness, at most they will leave the bed for dryer comfort. This is when you note the time of the accident, then gently wake them from their sleep and then go about calmly cleaning up the accident together (they do most of the work as age allows). Once done repeat bedtime routine, and return to bed. It may occur more than once over one night so don't leave the child unattended yet! After a few nights you should be able to leave them alone, and they will begin to wake themselves after the accident and come ask for help cleaning, then wake themselves before there's another accident, time to celebrate! Be consistent and you'll have a new smile on that child's face every morning because it was a good night!
• Goodnites has thought up a new preventative measure and popularized mats for the bed, that help the bed not get wet. Use them routinely, and change them too.
• In cases when the bed wetting person is adult, or if bed wetting diapers just don't fit the wearer, there are bigger styles available of disposable diapers, Change a Cloth Adult Diaper, and briefs that can help the wearer learn and help prevent a wet bed.

Warnings

• See a doctor immediately if your bedwetting is accompanied by other symptoms, such as red urine or another change in color, painful urination, fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, and involuntary defecation.
• If your child develops a rash due to sleeping in the urine, then apply an over-the-counter diaper rash cream or antibacterial cream, and see your doctor if it does not go away in a few days.

Related Articles

• Change a Bed Fast in the Middle of the Night
• Analyze a Health Problem
• Treat Bedwetting
• Regulate Bowel Movements
• Change a Disposable Bedwetting Diaper
• Deal With a Bedwetting Problem
• Encourage Older Children and Teenagers to Wear Diapers for Bedwetting
• Talk to a Teen About Bedwetting
• Choose Bedwetting Diapers for an Older Child or Teenager
• Choose Pin‐On Cloth Diapers for Older Children and Teenagers With Bedwetting Problems
• Manage Bedwetting in Older Children and Teenagers
• Use a GoodNites Bed Mat

Sources and Citations

See also

• Treat Bedwetting

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• Treat Bedwetting