Autism & Bed Wetting

MistyDW

New Member
My 14 year old stepson is highly functioning autistic and wets the bed nearly every night. My understanding is that autistic children sleep so deeply that they do not wake up when they have to go to the bathroom.

Beyond not drinking before bedtime and going to the bathroom before bedtime, is there anything else that can be done to stop this?

I've thought about having him launder his own clothes and sheets as well as make his own bed in the hopes that this will encourage him to stop, but I don't know.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) son doesn't wet the bed, but I had another son who did. Some kids have immature bladders. Have you had this checked out medically?
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I agree with checking it out medically.

He's 14, I don't think he's too young to learn how to do the laundry. Work with him to show him how and make it clear it's not punishment, it's management. We had difficult child 3 learning how to change his bed well before 14.
Exampe - difficult child 3's mattress is old and a spring was poking through. It put a hole right through his gown and his pyjamas and into his skin. He was outraged at the spring, but then he tore his jeans sitting on his bed. I made him strip the bed and turn the mattress over. The jeans shouldn't have torn because he already knew about the problem.
Stripping the bed and turning the mattress wasn't punishment, it was the solution (short-term). The longer-term solution is to buy a new mattress, but he's got to have somewhere to sleep in the meantime.

Your son is in his teens - teen males (autistic or not) smell. So while oyu're teaching him how to do the laundry, get in a spray bottle and fill it with cheap white vinegar. When there is a potential smell problem (perspiration, urine etc) spray the item with vinegar and put it in the laundry tub. It doesn't matter if it dries again before washing day.
Then COLD wash. No more than 30 C, or you will cook the smells in.

Really bad stuff benefits from a pre-soak as well. I've had socks which needed a toffee hammer to deal with, come clean using this treatment.

Your understanding of the problem is probably very close to the true problem. But at 14, he needs to learn strategies to cope. Again, avoid any punishment connotations. After all, YOU do the washing at the moment and YOU didn't wt his bed, did you? So it's not punishment. Ad one day he will want to live independently, he needs to know how. So teach him to cook, as well. Teach him what he will need in terms of life skills. Work together if you need to, to get him to do it. It helps him wake up and learn how to tune in a bit better to what is needed around him.

Welcome to the site. Stick aorund, let us know how you get on.

Marg
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I've had to run my son's things through the rinse cycle up to three times, one with-regular detergent, once with-vinegar, and once with-freshener. OMG, the smell.

Part of my son's problem is his wheat allergy. We can always tell when he sneaks bread because he wets the bed at night.

We give him Desmopressen when we travel, and it really works.
I try not to do it at home, because I'm hoping he will train himself.
He will be 13 in 3 weeks.
Sigh.
Time for a new mattress. (Our fourth.)
I hear you.
 

AJSellers

New Member
My 14 year old stepson is highly functioning autistic and wets the bed nearly every night. My understanding is that autistic children sleep so deeply that they do not wake up when they have to go to the bathroom.

Beyond not drinking before bedtime and going to the bathroom before bedtime, is there anything else that can be done to stop this?

I've thought about having him launder his own clothes and sheets as well as make his own bed in the hopes that this will encourage him to stop, but I don't know.

A lot of males on spectrum have this issue. My son is 15 and we still have the issue. We just started Desompressin and last night he was dry. We fully wake him up at 11 pm to unrinate and then again at 6 am. For some of our boys it is a physiological issue, they just don't feel the urgency to pee. See a urologist and neurologist to find out if the bladder and brain are communicating. If it truly is sensory then the only way to train them is time. They must pee at certain times of day and night, scheduling. Good luck.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
AJ, Welcome. I'm not sure how but you have found a dinosaur thread, long ago discarded. The person who started this thread two years ago does not appear to be still around.

Why not start your own thread and introduce yourself? I have my own kids on the spectrum, as do a number of others. We have also found a lot of habit component to the problem.

Anyway, welcome!

Marg
 
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