Hi Amber, I read your post and decided to comment. I consider myself to be kind of an expert on bedwetting since I had the problem until I was 12. And on top of that, I have incontinence from a nerve injury when I was almost 13. So basically I've had to deal with this whole thing my whole life. I'm 18 now and really thankful that my injury has only affected my pelvic floor muscles.
So anyway, my parents and I tried a lot of different things to help me stop wetting the bed and some things worked ok, some things didn't.
For medications, I used imiprimine for over a year and it seemed to maybe help a little but not much. The DDVAP nose spray worked for a while but your body i guess starts being resistant to it after a couple weeks. It worked best like if I was going to camp for a week or to spend the night somewhere, but not like an everyday thing.
My parents didn't make me wear anything for it, but i chose to cause I got tired of waking up wet from my knees to my stomach and having to change all the time and change my bed.
I wore Pampers 7 until I was too big for them and then used youth diapers. Goodnites are basically garbage if you are a heavy wetter. The ones I use now are Secure X-Plus. They r fairly quiet and they don't leak. If your son will agree to wear them, that's what I would suggest. I'd be glad to chat with him via email if u think it would help.
As far as other things that helped prior to my injury, staying away from chocolate and anything with caffeine really made a difference. Look at labels cause a lot of things have caffeine in them that you wouldn't even expect. Also have him stop drinking milk or diary like ice cream after about 3 pm. Milk takes a long time to digest and break down and can cause bladder filling after a person goes to sleep if it is drank too close to bedtime. Going to sleep before he gets over-tired will help. And tell him to go to the bathroom like a half hour before he goes to bed and then try to go again right before bed even if he doesnt feel like he has to go.
Also, you probably already know that bedwetting can be genetic. All the boys in my family have had bedwetting problems. My big bro stopped when he was like 13 and my lil bro that is 9 now still has trouble with it. The cool part is that about 10% of teens overall have bedwetting problems but at age 18 its less than 1%. I think just give it time and allow him to be comfortable and dont make a huge issue out of it. And email me if you want.
Message me on here and I will give you my email.

jeremyrides, thanks so much for sharing :) I honestly dont know how Nate would feel about wearing something to bed, but I haven't asked him! He hasnt worn any nighttime protection for several years now. I had heard about the caffeine intake, and I will start paying attention to what he's drinking. He does enjoy ice cream alot, and he tends to help himself to it at night before bed, much to my dismay. So I will definitely try to reign that in as well.
His father had this problem until he was nine, so I do know it is hereditary. Thank you for your advice!

You welcome Amber. I feel bad for your son that he has to deal with this whole thing. I know how I felt about wearing protection at first but when I finally decided to, it was way better. Again if he is bothered by the idea..he is welcome to chat with me via email or MSN messenger or how ever u feel comfortable with it. I will always try to help someone else when I know what its like. Again wish him luck with everything. And in the end... it will stop anyway. its important that he is reminded that there is nothing wrong with him and that its a normal part of growing up for some of us.

Hi amber0678, Have you asked your son about wearing protection at night? I have a son who suffers from enuresis, so if i can offer you any advice just ask me.

@ oliver9, I did ask him just the other night, actually. I very casually brought it up. He didn't say yes, but he didnt say "no way!" either :) so I was goning to bring it up again. oliver9, how old is your son? Also, what product is your son using for overnight protection? And jeremyrides, where do I find the brand you use?
I had recently been doing more research on how to help him, or treat the condition (which led me to this group), and I was thinking of taking him to see a pulmonologist, who specializes in sleep disorders. I had called them and spoke to one of the nurses who said she thinks they may be able to help. has anyone else ever taken this route? Know anyone who has? Results? And then there's chiropractics. I had kind of poo-pooed that idea, but after all we've tried over the years, what do we have to lose??
For over a year we did the Enuresis Treatment Center's program. Very grueling process, lol. The tactics involved in properly implying the program consumed our entire DAY!! Between fluid challenges, "stop/starts", recording intake/output of fluids, times...and that was just during the day. Then at night with the alarm, ugh....that thing would wake up everyone in the house before it would wake up Nate! Then when he wouldnt wake up right away, we had to start spraying him with a water bottle of ice cold water, in his face, as soon as the alarm would go off. So for several months, I slept on the floor in his room, so that I could be right there when it went off. And that didnt work either...They then wanted us to stick his head under an ice cold shower when the alarm went off! I couldnt do it anymore! First, he's too big for me to drag down the hall to the bathroom at 2 in the morning, then try to wrestle him to stick his head under icy water?!....I feel guilty that we gave up on the program, but it was hard. And he got sick of doing it. He feels defeated by this condition. Almost as if he's just resigned to dealing with it.
Sorry so long....just sharing some of our story...theres even more, but its so long! lol

Hi again Amber,
I know you can buy the Secure X-plus direct from securepersonalcare.com and they sell the Providers Choice Active Ultras also. I like the Secure x plus better because they feel dryer against my skin than the Active Ultras...but they're both real good.
I went to a pulmonologist for it also because i guess sleep apnea can have something to do with it...but it didn't really make any difference.
My honest opinion and advice,.....don't dwell on this any more. My pediatrician, who i still see, always told me that bedwetting shouldn't be considered a a problem until either the person with the problem is extremely bothered by it or until it continues beyond age 12. And even then, it shouldn't be considered some serious, end of the world problem. Sometimes making a big issue out of a problem makes the stress worse and then the problem worse. Be supportive of your son, reassure him that he is normal and that he's not alone. Help him but don't treat this like cancer or a serious illness because it will just make him feel worse. The basic truth is that 15% of persons that wet the bed will stop on their own each year without any intervention at all. Just be supportive ..as I am sure you already are, and things will get better.
That Enuresis Treatment Center program sounds horrible!!!!! I'm glad you stopped.

How big is your son, I mean like ht, wt, and waist size? Just curious about fit for the X-Plus or something else.

Hi Amber,
My son is 11 and he uses Tranquility ATN briefs. They would work great for your son who, like my son, wets more than once a night and still feels dry in the morning.

These treatment centers make a lot of money on parents desperation to help there children stop bed wetting and a lot of pressure is put on the our children.

We were all happy to stop using the bed wetting alarm which was a nightmare here also.

Good to hear that your son may be open to the idea of overnight protection. Tell him the benefits and have him understand that many boys his age still wet the bed. Diapers and made to fit boys of all ages and it would not make him a baby.

Happy to answer any question!

well, I did bring up the subject again yesterday about nighttime protection...and he just flat out said no. I was pretty defeated. I tried to explain the benefits, but he wasnt having it. I knew I didnt want to push anymore about it, because he started to get very upset with me, and just yelled at me "It's embarrassing!!! I dont want to talk about it anymore! I dont want to wear anything!!"....soooo...he also said he doesnt want to see any more doctors or try any meds or anything. He justs wants to cope with it. So, I suppose I'm done with it too. I certainly cant and wont ever MAKE him do anything. I really appreciate all of your advice :)

Amber, sorry to jump in a little late but just wanted to add my voice. I wet the bed every night into my early teens and never used protection growing up. I am definitely in the minority here but I believe it can be managed well without wearing anything, and that choosing to wear anything does not have to be seen as a sign of defeat. For one thing, now that the idea is planted in his mind, even if he is dead set against it now he may find himself more open to it over time - but even if not, it is very possible to handle bedwetting in a healthy, hygenic way without wearing anything - I know because that is what I have done for most of my life, into my teens and for the occasional accidents that have still happened since.

My time is limited this morning but I did want to tell you to hang in there! If you would like to visit my journals (especially way back at the very oldest entries) you will see more detail about how I have dealt with it. I will be happy to share here on this board too when I have more time. Please don't give up, whatever you do!! The one thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is that your son is even more frustrated with his bedwetting and wants it to stop even more than you do. You may not see that by his outward actions (he is affected by shame and embarrassment after all) but I guarantee this is true!! What he needs most of all is your support and encouragement, not to be forced into any particular method of treatment or management of his condition.

Please feel free to message me on this board or privately if you would like to talk more. I will be in touch when I have time to say more specifically about managing without protection. It's an issue that comes up often enough that I've thought about writing a little guide about it, if not an entire book. :) Hang in there! Best wishes to you and your son!!

I'm not surprised to hear he is rejecting the idea. It was not that easy to get my son to wear a diaper either.
I suspect the embarrassment is due to other people may find out about him wearing. Even if he knows you support him he can be afraid of siblings or other family members finding out.

Amber, We traveled this road and thankfully it did stop at age 11. We also tried many things, just about all of them you mentioned. It takes time and a mountain of patience. There are wet bedclothes that need to be washed and there are many many discussions about the topic. Wearing protection was one of them and using diapers or pullons were not something that gained acceptance. What turned the trick was finding out a cousin who lived far away came to visit and it was found out they to wet the bed. Family history, both sides actually. The cousin wore 2 cloth diapers folded together in thirds, these were placed inside of the underpants and plastic pants were worn over everything. To our wetter this seemed to be a good idea. Quite honestly after everyone left we talked about it and it was agreed to try it. It worked well and everyone got a good nights sleep. Moodiness became history and things in general took on a happier note. My only possible reason for why it was accepted was because the regular underwear could be worn as well. This method was used for close to 4 years. They could get themselves ready for bed, parents did not have to be there. Everything was kept in a hall closet so the secret was kept as such. Other family members were not permitted to talk about it outside of the house.
Just our experiences with bedwetting. It can be a long road and trying to keep everyone comfortable takes trial and error.

momplus,
I wonder if it was the regular underpants that helped persuade him or if it simply was him knowing he was not alone. Knowing his cousin had the same issue and wore protected must have helped a great deal.

"Solidarity" is important in youth - and beyond, which our site is much about. At boarding-school, when I discovered a couple of my best pals had rubber sheets on their beds too, it changed my life. Later I too used the "towel in underpants" system successfully. It had less "baby" connotations, and I used most "cool" underwear available! Good luck!

momplus, thank you for sharing :) I wish that my son would be fortunate enough tto know someone on a personal level that struggles with the same thing! Given my son's recent reaction to overnight protection, I dont think I'm going to bring it up again for a bit....but when I do, I may suggest your solution.

Amber I think you're a cool mom. Keep up the good work and my offer still stands.