AIBU to worry about my eight-year-old DS’s occasional bedwetting?

[RunningOnBiscuits]

My DS is nearly 8 and still seems to go through phases of wetting the bed. He can be completely dry for weeks (sometimes much longer) and then suddenly start wetting again for no obvious reason.

This week he’s wet the bed at about 1:30am on Saturday night and then again at 5:30am this morning (Wednesday), but he was completely dry on Sunday and Monday nights (we actually put a night time pull up on him those nights and ironically stayed dry.

We have exactly the same bedtime routine every night: no drinks after a certain time, two toilet trips before bed (one before his bedtime story and one after) to make sure his bladder is empty.
He never has daytime accidents, although he does occasionally leave it until the last minute and then has to rush to the toilet. He can also be a bit prone to constipation at times and sometimes strains when having a poo.
He currently has a mild cold with a blocked nose and slight cough.

One thing that’s playing on my mind is that the recent wetting seems to be happening in the early hours of the morning (around 5–5:30am), and I have read that some nocturnal seizures can occur around sleep/wake transitions. I appreciate bedwetting is common and I may be overthinking it, but my anxiety has gone down that rabbit hole.
When he wets the bed, he does seem aware of it. The 1:30am incident woke him and he had taken off his wet pyjamas, and this morning he called out to tell me he’d wet the bed. I’ve never witnessed or heard (that I know of) any unusual movements or confusion afterwards so hopefully that shows it’s unlikely to be a seizure or similar.

Has anyone else’s child had this pattern of being dry for weeks and then having the odd wet night before going dry again? Did you ever find a cause, or was it just one of those things children grow out of eventually? Every time I think we’ve cracked it, we get another string of episodes like this.

He’s also due to go on his first Cub camp this weekend and is refusing to take a pull-up because he’s embarrassed, so I’m probably worrying more than usual!

My DS is nearly 9 and we have this every so often. No pattern, no reason, it just happens. Is your son ND? Mine is, and I’d read that bed wetting can be more common.

My eldest son was the same. He would wet the bed if he was unwell (you say your son has a cold), if he was worrying about something or if he slept away from home. He always wore a pull up at night if not in his own bed. I can’t remember exactly when it stopped but I think around ten years old.
I think it would be sensible to rule out any medical cause such as infection and if all clear then I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

My worry about cubs camp is that he won’t wear a pull up. He’s too embarrassed in front of his friends. So I really hope he doesn’t wet the bed as I know he’ll be devastated.

@somanychristmaslights

Yes he’s on the waiting list for an autism and adhd assessment.

I sewed a pull up into DS’s pyjamas on his first Cub camp so that he could put them on wholesale. I unpicked it when he got home. Might be worth looking at the Eric website to see if they have anything like sleeping bag liners.

I don’t think it’s that unusual. In a school year or cub group there will usually be a few. It’s just dealt with quietly.

Is there any way he can hide a pull-up in his sleeping bag or something- I’d talk to a leader and see what they recommend.

They’ll probably all wake up at five anyway as they’ll be excited.

That’s brilliant. It was the taking off pyjamas in the morning I couldn’t see how to do subtly.

I think this is relatively common amongst boys. My friend’s son does this, her partner did when he was young and my son does too. No ND. No obvious cause. Just very occasional bed wetting. It happens so occasionally with mine that I don’t worry about cubs sleep overs etc and he’s never wet the bed when he’s done these. I never put a pull up on him either. I do have a waterproof sheet on under his regular bed sheets to protect his mattress though.

It looks like you can get pants for bed wetting that look like normal pants - here’s one and there are others too

https://www.cheekywipes.com/reusable-training-pants-pull-up-nappies/kids-incontinence-pants.html?srsltid=AU7gw4Usv4hXMyQLQKsONrOcgNiK1WiWcPQUVckTVK-KamyoeQLrJx

We got the sleeping bag liner but it was kind of too hot to use it inside the sleeping bag. In the end DC was able to hide a pull up in their sleeping bag and pop it on and off again in the morning without anyone noticing.
It's definitely something camp leaders are used to, if that helps

Call the GP today and ask for medication.

It can be used temporarily for trips away / sleep overs, it stops kids wetting the bed.

In time your son’s bladder will mature and the problem will stop. This is the ‘they grow out of it’.

Usually accidents happen just as they reach REM sleep, which is approx 1.5 hours after they’ve fallen asleep. For my daughter we would carry her to the toilet just before this time and pop her back into bed. It kept her bed dry but it did take a couple of committed years.

@RunningOnBiscuits the medication is called Desmopressin.

@TrippleCooked
I’ll try and speak to the GP.

Strangely, his are all early morning accidents normally (except the other night), it’s always around 5/5:30am. So it’s almost as if he doesn’t quite make it to the toilet for his morning wee. But it’s in his sleep if that makes sense. I don’t really get it.

It could be earlier as children tend to lay in it fast asleep.

My DD aged 8 is the same and her big sister at nearly 11 still has the odd accident. Similarly, usually happen not long before morning. For us the main issues are:

when particularly tired
not having drunk enough during the day and asking for a bedtime drink
having a cold
If she ever wakes in night for another reason, for a nightmare etc, if she doesn’t pee then she will guaranteed have an accident before the morning.

I think it’s very common and the seizure thing very unlikely. We have been in touch with a continence nurse who drew attention to constipation and daytime drinking. He should have around 1200ml per day so keep a diary and see if he’s hitting that. Sometimes their bladders need to stretch a bit. Avoid blackcurrant and in our case, sweeteners of any kind.

Ps I meant to say weve had success with the bed wetting alarm, but does regress after a while.

My NT boys very occasionally wet the bed at this age. DS1 in particular is a very heavy sleeper and took ages to be dry at night (he was 6?). Now teens and those days are long behind us. I think it’s common and not really talked about.

Please don’t get hung up on this . It’s really not uncommon . One of mine occasionally bed wet well into Senior school years . No diagnosed ND - though DH is suspected to be autistic by work .

Worrying about cub camp is normal - in reality though I doubt he will be drinking enough for there to be a real concern

Bedwetting is really common especially in boys...it took a long time for my ds to become reliably dry every night. Im sure it's something to do with a particular hormone.

My eldest did this until age 11/12y-he grew out of it
doesnt happen at all now
no medical cause ever found
neurotypical child
didnt do sleepovers
cheeky wipes do a great bed mat that doesn’t make them feel like they’re sleeping in a sweaty crisp packet
have you discussed with your GP and had urine dipped ?

If he was having seizures even if he'd got not recollection there'd be physical or other evidence. Like he'd feel exhausted. His teeth might hurt, he could have injured himself. Bit his tongue? It wouldn't just be urination/soiling in isolation. He's be saying something weird happened/ I felt funny. Not just declaring he's wet.

As far as I know. I have had grand mal seizures as an adult and migraine seizures as a child. Everyone is different. But I wouldn't leap to seizures as the cause of occasional bed wetting.

My DS9 still has the occasional night time accident. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. When DS has bed wetted, it’s normally due to sheer tiredness. I think he sometimes sleeps deeper and so doesn’t wake up when needed.
Thinking back our other DS also did it occasionally but grew out of it by the time he was 10.

One of my sons started doing this just occasionally in the 6 months before he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The wetting was due to a high carb tea and him not producing enough insulin to deal with it so his body was flushing out the extra sugar. Is he more thirsty than normal ? You mention that he has a cold and the level of sugar in the blood rises during an infection. The doctor can check for this with a urine sample and finger prick blood test

I had this till i was 11. I used to dream i has got up and gone to the toilet and used it only to find a soggy bed when i woke up.

What drinks is he having? With my DS we completed eliminated squash after lunchtime and that solved the problem. We have now introduced orange back until the evening but anything apple seems to be a real problem! For beavers camp I really had to drum into him to resist squash in the afternoon.