4yr old- not dry at night yet...

[sianwil]

I'm looking for some advice about getting my 4yo out of night time pull-ups. She has been dry for 18months in the day and has maybe one or two nights a week where she's dry in the night but has really wet pull ups the rest of the time. She is used to taking a drink to bed and I struggle to get her settled without one, but realise this needs to stop if I'm to get her dry. Any extra advice on how to tackle it with her would be appreciated :)

[fridayfreedom]

4 is still young to be totally dry at night, some are but many aren't. I don't think health profs worry about it before 6-7. My son was not dry till 7ish and even then if he was on camp he was usually wet on the second night. Just cut drinks and give her time and don't make a big issue of it with her.

[Doogle2]

You really need to stop the night time drink. I think it's really a case of being patient as lots of children that age still aren't dry at night. Doctors won't consider it a problem until the age of seven.
Apparently they need to release a hormone (can't remember the name) to be able to hold it.
If you really want to crack on then maybe get her to go for a wee just before you go to bed.

[sianwil]

Oh my word ladies, I've made a rod for my own back with these night time drinks haven't I? Feeling very sleep deprived as she wakes up for juice at about 930, then cries until about 11 because I've said no :( tried offering a few sips of water but she's not interested.... Any clever tips I'm missing? ty :(

[lljkk]

Reward. No drink all night and she gets a chocolate drop in the morning (or whatever floats her boat). Do it for 10 days and then withdraw but point out that she CAN live without overnight drinks for future reference.

Later you can try chocolate piece to see if she wants to try to be dry, but she can either do it or she can't, don't keep trying if it doesn't come quickly with offer of areward.

[swallowedAfly]

you are worried about nothing my love - seriously don't sweat it.

my ds was potty trained at 2 in the day. i was a bit overkeen to get it sorted before winter came and washing and drying clothes was harder.

however i never pushed the night thing - i figure for the vast majority of kids it's just something they can do when they can do it. i left ds in nappies at night till soon after he started school - so more than 4 and a half.

this was in part because of what i said above and in part because i really, really didn't want or need to be dealing with weed on sheets and beds needing changing in the middle of the night. why go through it? let nature take it's course.

my ds always has to have his water bottle filled at night by the way - it seems to be when he does most of his water drinking and it doesn't make him have accidents.

[Fianccetto]

Try using music to help her sleep. Can you change around the furniture in her room, too, so it is like being somewhere else? We had a routine of early evening/late afternoon drink about 2 hours or more before bed, bath/wash, teeth, story, then trip to the loo, prayer, hugs and goodnights, then lights off/down with some gentle music. It's the repetition that helps. Some nights we just had to sit quietly in the dark in their room for them to drop off, so they didn't come and find us.

[Sirzy]

When she wakes for juice does she go to the toilet while she is awake?

[sianwil]

She'll go to the toilet if I pick her up and take her Sirzy but she's not fully awake. We've persevered since the 26th Jan, and she's still wetting, have managed to wean her off the night time juice now, but she will still wee and sleep right through it, only for me to discover her in wet jammies the next morning... Am I right in thinking, from your help ladies, that this isn't a 'learned' thing, but something that will happen on its own? Thanks for all the help :)

[LittleChimneyDroppings]

It will happen on its own. As someone said up thread, you need to wait for that hormone to be released, without that she's not going to be able to hold it through the night.

[kateecass]

She's still young. My DD is 4.5 and still in night time pull ups and she has no drink after tea and bedtime wee but not even bothering worrying yet. DS wasn't dry at night until over 5 and he wasn't bothered about it either. ADH is the hormone needed to stop so much wee being produced and some children start producing earlier than others.

A friend who saw enuresis (sp?) nurse said she'd been told not to lift them at night as you are just teaching them to wee in the night. We had been! Also to give them big drinks in the day to try to stretch bladder.

[SizzleSazz]

My 6 and 4 year olds are both still in night nappies. DD1 sleeps so deeply she never wakes. It appears that her bladder is just now big enough to see her through the night as we have had a few dry nights and big morning wees.

DD2 sometimes wakes and goes for a wee but not regularly.

We try every few months without 'sleepy pants' and with stickers, but not there yet.

I refuse to get stressed (or stress them as they hate wetting the bed) and time will make it happen i'm sure. Interestingly DH and his brothers were all 'late' in being dry at night and i have heard there is a hereditary element to the hormone being produced