Staying dry at night is the last stage in toilet training, and this stage often occurs when a child is about age 5 or 6. A child who regularly wets the bed after this age is said to have nocturnal enuresis, the medical name for bedwetting. More than 5 million American kids wet the bed at night according to the National Institutes of Health. It is more common for boys than girls. In fact, 9 percent of boys still wet the bed at age 7 compared to 6 percent of girls. If your child is among them, several methods may help him move past this stage.
Behavioral Changes
If your child occasionally wets the bed, you may want to try changing his nighttime routine to make it more likely he will stay dry through the night. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommends limiting fluid intake in the hours before bedtime and making sure your child uses the bathroom immediately before going to bed. If he wets the bed nightly, you may want to consider waking him up at night to use the bathroom.
Offer Encouragement
As a parent, you can also help encourage your child to prevent or eliminate bedwetting. First, remember that children do not typically wet the bed on purpose. They shouldn't be punished for the behavior. Instead, offer encouragement when your child wakes up dry. If your child does have an accident, remind him it's common and lots of kids do it, too. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends letting your child help change the sheets in the morning if he wakes up wet to show that it is nothing to be ashamed of. However, be aware that your child may view this as punishment for bedwetting. If your child feels he is being punished, do not make him help you with the wet sheets.
Alarms
If your child is still wetting the bed after you have modified his bedtime routine and you have offered plenty of encouragement, you may want to consider a bedwetting alarm. This device, which can be ordered online, sounds an alarm if it senses your child has begun to wet the bed. Once awake, he can go to the bathroom.
These devices are successful in between 50 percent and 75 percent of cases, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are generally most effective in children who do not wet the bed nightly. Because different types of alarms are available, it's a good idea to talk to your child's pediatrician about what type would be best for him.
Medications
If you have tried all the other methods and are still unsuccessful preventing your child's bedwetting, some prescription medications are available. The drugs will not cure your child, and they should not be used in children younger than 5 years old according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. One option is desmopressin, which limits the amount of urine the body produces at night. It is often recommended for short-term use, such as when your child has a sleepover, but it can also be used long term. Tricyclic antidepressants can also be prescribed, but there is a greater risk of side effects according to the National Institutes of Health.
