Answer

There are many reasons why your son may still be wetting the bed, and I presume, as you have discussed this with your pediatrician, that he has no signs of this being due to a urinary tract infection or other health reasons. Ninety-seven percent of boys with primary nocturnal enuresis (never been consistently dry at night) do not have a physical cause for their bedwetting. Many do have a small bladder capacity which means that unless they learn to get up in the night to pee, they will wet the bed. Others with normal-sized bladders may sleep through the signals their bladder gives them that they are about to pee.

Fifteen percent of bedwetters become dry each year. However, your son seems to be distressed now and it might be best to take some action to help him at this time. The most long-term effective treatment methods involve systematic waking of the child until he learns to wake himself. This should be undertaken with the child's cooperation and with lots of encouragement and rewards for success from the parents (sticker chart, etc).

It is important that however the child is woken, he walks himself to the bathroom. The training may take two or three months. Those children with intermittent wetting and a normal-sized bladder will probably end up sleeping through with a dry bed, and those with a small bladder will have learned to wake and pee in the night.

There are medicines that help kids be dry, but when they stop taking them they usually go back to bedwetting. I would recommend asking your pediatrician for specific advice on how to put a plan into action. Good luck.