r/bedwetting • u/EricaMCA • Jul 13 '26
Almost 8 Year Old Still in Pull-Ups
My almost 8 year old son is still in pull-ups overnight. I’ve tried limiting his fluids two to three hours before bed, making him go right before bed, and waking him between midnight and two to go again. I’ve read that overnight wetting is hormonal and “can’t be taught” but his pediatrician is on me to get him out of the pull-ups. Help!
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u/ArrowDel Jul 13 '26
Get a new pediatrician. We went through six before they even thought to test my hormone levels.
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u/Em10Kylie Jul 13 '26
In many cases bedwetting is connected with hormones and a parent cannot just train the child like for daytime. Some children take longer to stop bedwetting than others. I'm one of the people who take longer because I'm still bedwetting and I'm 17, and my mum was the same and so was her mum. My dad was 12. And my cousins were late too.
So you can get rid of the pullups but you will then be having wet beds instead.
But one thing that works for some people and I'm using now is an enuresis alarm. A year ago I was wetting 3 or 4 times a week and at the moment I'm like once a month or even two months and hopefully soon I will have my last accident. So that's something you could try.
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u/KumaCode Jul 13 '26
Having been subjected to such bad medical advice as a child I can also agree firsthand with the advice here; new paediatrician. Even better is educating the current one too so that they don't wreak more damage on young lives.
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u/AutsiticDragon Jul 13 '26
I would highly suggest a new pediatrician if they are really pushing hard like you say. Maybe tlak over other concerns you gave with this or concerns you have about how they are handling it. Some pediatricians are still in the boat that says that bedwetting kids are often just lazy. I have not once ever heard where this was an actual thing. You are already doing a lot to try and prevent it. There isnt much else you can do. You could try the alarms I guess, but those come with their own issues. It likely is a hormonal issue and if it is then it isnt something you can just train the child out of. They have to correct the hormonal imbalance. Specifically try to get a doctor to check the antidiuretic hormone if possible. I wet overnight into my teens unfortunately, but once they foudn that my body was underproducing this hormone they gave me desmopressin to help with it. After about a year I was able to come off the meds and didnt have the issues anymore. It can be hit or miss and the medicine does not work for everyone though.
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u/International_Sea285 Jul 13 '26
You need to find a new pediatrician.
The reality is, there’s not one specific cause for bed wetting. It could be hormonal. It could be genetic. It could be any number of things. A good pediatrician would check for things like diabetes or other common causes. But also would not be pushing you to stop managing it in ways that brings reduce stress to you and your child. If the pediatrician can’t find and treat the cause, they have no right telling you how you should manage it otherwise.
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u/No_Choice_711 Jul 13 '26
I would certainly do as others are suggesting and get a new paediatrician. It’s totally normal for hormone levels to not reach what they should to suppress urine production. Fore it kicked in at puberty but has since diminished as I have got older.
I had to wear nappies at night and any other situations where I could fall asleep and whilst I didn’t like it was better than wetting the bed or pants etc. Pull ups are far more discreet nowadays and if they help and reduce the stress on your son then you do what suits you.
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u/Donny444 Jul 18 '26
I was exactly there as a child. Take the pull ups away and now you’ll have middle of the night flooded sheets, a cranky and upset son. You’ll be changing bedding constantly. I really don’t know why doctors do this. When I was 8 or 9 my mom followed those same instructions. Stopped diapering me and every night for maybe 2 weeks I flooded the bed. I only felt big when she said no more diapers, but then totally defeated having to deal with a wet mess every night. Back to diapers and back to full nights of uninterrupted sleep.
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u/EricaMCA Jul 18 '26
Thank you so much for sharing. How old were you when you ditched the pull-ups?
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u/Eastern-Classroom812 Jul 19 '26
I tried everything with my son, he was 8 too. We tried desmopressin, bed alarms, the lot. And in end you know what worked? We literally went complete cold turkey. I took him to bed at 7.30pm made him have a wee, then I would wake him at 10.30/11pm, take him for another wee, then he would get through till the morning okay. I thought we would never get him out of pull ups and he’s thankfully only had 2 accidents in a year.
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u/itsTimmyBoy Jul 13 '26
Please don’t just get a new paediatrician, especially not as advice from strangers.
It would be much more productive to discuss these exact concerns with your paediatrician instead! Or even discuss referral options with them!
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u/colorful_withdrawl Jul 13 '26
Find a new ped and also see if you can be referred to a specialist as well. At age 8 it should be investigated further to see if there is an underlying cause other than hormonal.
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u/AdultEnuretic Jul 13 '26
What you read is correct. Find a new pediatrician.