# 17mo erections at night waking him up



## bluebirdiemama (May 2, 2008)

He has them all the time! I am in the process of ordering him some new diapers ,next size up but is there anything else I can do? It's terrible, he wakes up squirming and crying and doesnt feel better until I open his diaper for him... :/


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## Microsoap (Dec 29, 2005)

Perhaps a warm bath and a lot of diaperless time?


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## Frankly Speaking (May 24, 2002)

I suspect you have the order of what is happening backward. Bear with me for an explanation.

It is common for males to have erections when they awake. They are called "morning wood" erections. Just like there is a natural tension to hold urine and that tension has to be released to urinate, there is also a natural tension that controls blood flow into the penis to cause an erection. The release to allow the flow of urine is a conscious action but the release to allow flow of blood into the penis for an erection is an unconscious action. For some reason, it is a natural part of waking to relax this tension and this causes an erection. So most likely, something else is waking your son and he has an erection as a result of waking.

Now the difficult part . . . Figuring out what is waking him. Might be the diapers or it might be a full bladder or might be something else. Good luck!

Frank


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## lovemybubus (Oct 2, 2007)

I was thinking along the lines of what Frank said. We EC my son but of course there are times he wears a diaper. He is about the same age as your son (16 mos) and when he is awake, and diaper free he almost always gets an erection before he pees, gets uncomfortable (because he's holding it) and now he is saying "potty" then going over to the potty chair to pee. Maybe your son is "in touch" with his full bladder too and it's making him uncomfortable?? Just a thought.

Poor guy, good luck!


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## latinalonestar (Jan 26, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Frankly Speaking* 
I suspect you have the order of what is happening backward. Bear with me for an explanation.

It is common for males to have erections when they awake. They are called "morning wood" erections. Just like there is a natural tension to hold urine and that tension has to be released to urinate, there is also a natural tension that controls blood flow into the penis to cause an erection. The release to allow the flow of urine is a conscious action but the release to allow flow of blood into the penis for an erection is an unconscious action. For some reason, it is a natural part of waking to relax this tension and this causes an erection. So most likely, something else is waking your son and he has an erection as a result of waking.

Now the difficult part . . . Figuring out what is waking him. Might be the diapers or it might be a full bladder or might be something else. Good luck!

Frank

I was going to say the same thing. He is waking from something else. My lo often has erections in his sleep and upon waking. Pain in another part of the body can cause erections. So the erection is not the actual cause of the problem.


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## grisandole (Jan 11, 2002)

Moved to family bed and nighttime parenting


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

I agree about the full bladder. This was about the age my son did it and I took him to a potty.


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## D_McG (Jun 12, 2006)

We went through the same thing at that age. Kick, squirm, kick, squirm. I would just get him up and open his diaper and he'd pee. Then put on a new diaper and go back to sleep. It actually just passed in its own time (week? 2 weeks?)


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## Prairiemother (Feb 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lovemybubus* 
I was thinking along the lines of what Frank said. We EC my son but of course there are times he wears a diaper. He is about the same age as your son (16 mos) and when he is awake, and diaper free he almost always gets an erection before he pees, gets uncomfortable (because he's holding it) and now he is saying "potty" then going over to the potty chair to pee. Maybe your son is "in touch" with his full bladder too and it's making him uncomfortable?? Just a thought.

Poor guy, good luck!

Same thoughts here. This might be a positive sign that your son is aware of a full bladder


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## milkybean (Mar 19, 2008)

Agreeing with everyone else. Get a little potty next to the bed, and when he squirms around just put him on it (hold his penis down unless you like pee going on the floor!). That's how DS started his journey out of diapers, by my sudden realization that he was waking up b/c he needed to pee.

Before I realized it, I would nurse him back to sleep, only to be woken some time later with him soaking his nighttime diaper (and the pad under him, or the sheets if he had rolled off the pad's edge). That would upset him so much that he would be awake for ages after. I was so glad to finally have the realization!


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## BathrobeGoddess (Nov 19, 2001)

Moved to toddlers...home of most non-cosleeping sleeping issues


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## LindseyH (Oct 8, 2005)

It's completely normal....from MY experience (with my son's middle of the night hard ons) the erection doesn't seem to go away for my son until the diaper is opened up and re-applied...he'll cry and scream out my penis hurts my penis hurts...I open the diaper and sure enough there is his erection. I tell him it's an erection and it's normal and it will go away soon, I put the diaper back on and he's fine and back to sleep he goes. I think with time, they learn what is happening and it's not as frightening anymore.


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## LindseyH (Oct 8, 2005)

*Just my humble opinion* ~ I wouldn't bother with the potty, going pee, etc during the night, he has a diaper on, he's been peeing at night that way for a long time...I think he's just a little freaked out about what his body is doing and once he learns what it is, the frequency should slow down a little. Things like that are scary to toddlers, but it's like all 'new' things, once they know what's happening it's not so scary anymore. And in my house if I got my son up to pee, he'd be awake all night...I prefer to keep the boy in bed laying there groggy, it's a faster path back to sleep for him. (at least this is MY experience and MY opinion, everyone is a little different)


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## bluebirdiemama (May 2, 2008)

Thanks a lot, I have noticed that lately he is grabbing his diaper when he is peeing, and then he's telling me when he has a "poo" so hooray! time to start potty training


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Frankly Speaking* 
It is common for males to have erections when they awake.

I agree. I think he is getting them once he wakes up and then feeling uncomfortable in his diaper at that point.


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## VOBetz (Mar 10, 2007)

I honestly have nothing to add.. but had to say -I had no idea that the erection wake cycle was like that. I assumed the erection happened before the waking, not during/after.

The things you learn on MDC.


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## Polliwog (Oct 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *VOBetz* 
I honestly have nothing to add.. but had to say -I had no idea that the erection wake cycle was like that. I assumed the erection happened before the waking, not during/after.

The things you learn on MDC.









Same here.


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## papacraftsman (Oct 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bluebirdiemama* 
He has them all the time! I am in the process of ordering him some new diapers ,next size up but is there anything else I can do? It's terrible, he wakes up squirming and crying and doesnt feel better until I open his diaper for him... :/

Erections are normal but in children extra precaution must be used to prevent consequential damage to his penis. I'm concerned as I become aware of the lack of information availiable to parents and child care professionals in the matter of pro-longed
erections"priapism". This is a complex and injurious medically resolvable problem that happens to many children but is ignored or thought to be of no concern until it has done major damage to his penis. The most troubling outcome is that once priapism has "finished
damaging" a penis, the priapism is less likely to return until the penis has "mended up" with scar tissue. Most men who report untreated attacks of priapism in themselves suffer
with resulting impotency. I'm afraid many boys are getting priapism and not getting proper
care for it. I certianly had priapism at 2+yrs old and abusive parents as well. I'm not sure what the cause of priapism was for me but it apparently was made much worse by improper care and no medical treatments. My plea is that any parent of a boy should know, by research, the meaning and causes of priapism.


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## papacraftsman (Oct 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *milkybean* 
Agreeing with everyone else. Get a little potty next to the bed, and when he squirms around just put him on it (hold his penis down unless you like pee going on the floor!). That's how DS started his journey out of diapers, by my sudden realization that he was waking up b/c he needed to pee.

Before I realized it, I would nurse him back to sleep, only to be woken some time later with him soaking his nighttime diaper (and the pad under him, or the sheets if he had rolled off the pad's edge). That would upset him so much that he would be awake for ages after. I was so glad to finally have the realization!

In cases of priapism (the erection has lasted too long /or the erection is extra firm)any
force should NEVER be applied such as pushing, bending or sqeasing. If clothing restains
an erection and the erection is painful the restraining clothing must be removed or penis
injury will occur easily. Use a lightweight loose article of clothing as cover-up if necessary
AND SEEK MEDICAL TREAMENT IF IT WORSENS OR CONTINUES!


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## FrancesAR3 (Jan 28, 2014)

My son woke up every night from the age of about one until two and a half years of age, with exactly the same problem. He would wake up around 2am most nights and start crying in his sleep, for hours throughout the night. We thought at first he was too cold, or too hot, or having nightmares, so we let him sleep in our bed. But this still didn't resolve the problem. This went on for months and the doctor was unable to help. When he was a little older and starting to speak he told us he was 'sore', pointing to his nappy. We noticed then that he had an erection which would last for a very long time. We tried changing the brand of nappy as we thought he might be suffering an allergic reaction to the elastic in the nappy. We also tried cloth / washable nappies. But this made no difference. We left him without nappy on, but this didn't work either. We took him to the doctors telling him about the erection problem, and were referred to the hospital. He had a physical examination and blood test to check if there was a medical reason for the erections, but everything was normal. We were in despair.

One night he was in so much pain in his sleep that he was wimpering again and I was so exhausted and exasperated not knowing what to do. I picked him up out of bed, half asleep and took him downstairs in my arms. We sat upright on the couch and I was cuddling him. It was then I noticed that he started to have a wee in his nappy, then straight after that, he completely relaxed and slumped in my arms as if relieved. The erection went away. I put him back into bed and he slept peacefully thoughout the night. I came to the conclusion that everytime he had an erection in his sleep, he needed a wee, but for some reason couldn't go in his nappy when laying flat. So each night afterwards, when he woke up crying, I would pick him up and stand him on the floor, supporting him in this position. Then whisper to him repeatedly to have a wee in his nappy, which he did every time. After that, I'd put him back in bed and he would sleep throughout the night. What a massive relief!! We also reduced the amount he drank just before bed, as he was used to drinking milk to send him off to sleep. This worked a treat and very soon afterwards, he was sleeping right the way through without waking up at all. I hope this post helps anyone else out there who is going through the same problem.


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## blessedwithboys (Dec 8, 2004)

It's not a serious medical condition, he just has to pee!


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