How to tell if DD is wetting the bed?

[piperchapman44]

I've just taken away dd's night nappies , she is 7 and they were so wet they were leaking every night. She is having an eczema reaction to them so in the end I've decided using bed mats is probably the best solution because she was starting to get a lot of pain with her eczema.

I have lifted her the last two nights (big fight over this!) and then she has been dry the rest of the night. On the first couple of nights she weed at 10pm and then again around 4pm which is why i started lifting her before i went to bed. Because she is dry , and it's virtually impossible to force her to the toilet at 10pm, we've now decided to stop the lifting.

However I've just changed her bed and noticed that there is a slight "whiff". I investigated her pj top which absolutely reeks on the front. She isn't wearing anything on her bottoms. I am putting a bed mat on top of and under the sheet and they have both been dry. In order to investigate how quickly they might dry I've just wet one and will check it in a few hours.

Hate the idea of telling her she might be wetting as she is so proud, but i don't want her to avoid getting up. But then again a lot of the reasons we have kept her in nappies so long is because she's convinced she can't not wet, so to some extent I'm not sure whether to just put up with it and hope it sorts itself out. But then again I don't like the idea of her lying in her wee so long it dries.

I go to the loo a lot at night and go in and check sometimes and she is always dry. Will try and do this more frequently tonight.

Is it possible that the wee could just be drying? Presumably this means it's only a little one so could resolve itself?

She gets up and has a big wee which she never used to do when she had a nappy (obviously woke and went in it!).

Or maybe invest in a bed wetting alarm - i doubt that would wake her but it would wake me?! (v light sleeper)

[jamtartandcustard]

My son is also 7 and still prone to accidents although he totally denies it or is just completely unaware. I can tell from the smell on his pants and trousers but also on his bed sheet there is usually a circle stain. Very pale so not hugely noticeable but I've now got a trained eye to it.
It's really hard to know what to do for the best though isn't it? Do you make a big deal of it or act like it's not happening? At 7 I don't want to be nagging my son constantly to use the toilet, he needs to be taking responsibility for his own hygiene but also I don't want him going to school and being bullied and picked on for being a bit wiffy

[kiki22]

Those mats dry over night, my son has got up with wet pjs but the mat has been dry even tho I can smell the pee on it and if u hold it to the light you can see the colour change, they dry faster than cotton pjs do anyway.

[Luna9]

If she doesn't wake up and you don't notice anything I would relax; I Would not be checking every time I wake up or lift her or make a big deal of it even if she does wet the bed as this can make her anxious about it.

[PalePolkaDot]

Check out ERIC website. If she is wetting small amounts then increasing fluids hugely earlier in the day will help with improving bladder tone/stability. Really focus on getting her to drink really good amounts of water/squash several times a day so that her bladder gets full and empties properly. Cut out any caffeinated/fizzy/blackcurrant and stop drinks on the early evening.

See your GP as a trial of desmopressin tablets may be useful. Request referral to your school nursing service - they will have an enuresis clinic.

Read up on the '3 systems approach' Ot doesn't sound as though a bed alarm is the best thing at the moment.

I would start a change in routine with a shower every morning so that she always goes to school clean.

[Footle]

Do you mean you haven't talked to the gp yet about this ? Why on earth not ?