To have had enough of bed wetting

[GrandmaSharksDentures]

Ok, please hear me out, I'm at the end of my tether here.
DS is 6 (nearly 7) and has NEVER been dry at night. He's always been in nappy pants.
We've recently decided to try "encouraging" night time dryness by encouraging water during the day, cutting out squash, star charts. We've even been waking him overnight to go to the toilet (properly waking, not just lifting).

But still he is wet overnight 70% of the time - I just can't keep up with the washing. I'm having to wash bedding and duvet almost every day.
I know it's normal and x% are still bed wetting at this age but I just want the washing to stop

Sorry

He needs a referral and may need Desmopressin

Orchid - my school nurse said that she prescribed it from 5 and that there is no need to wait until 7.

DS (9)has never been dry at night and used to sleep through the night in completely soaked pull ups. He was referred to an incontinance clinic over a yr ago. We have been to workshops and monitored his wee, had blood tests and scans and now have been given a malem alarm. The dr says that if his doesn’t work, we will look at medication.

He is on his 4th week with the alarm and has been dry for almost two weeks. The alarm has worked but I must warn you prepare yourself for it, because it is loud, scary and traumatising. Waking in the middle of the night to a loud alarm, your mind jumps to fire/burglary and everyone in the house is running everywhere in a panic. I suppose it has to be like this in order for it to work as it has done.

First week was really tough as it was going off all the time and waking everyone up. poor DS hates it, but is old enough to understand and see the results.

While using the alarm, we all had to switch rooms and be prepared with bedding and bed mats etc. After this, it has tapered down slowly and DS is able to stay dry from roughly 9-6. I am going to stop using the alarm in a week or so to see how he manages.

Get a referral and ask to hire the alarm but be prepared!

My DD was 9 and still wetting almost every night, sometimes twice or more in a night. We tried everything, even hypnosis! The only thing which worked was a bed wetting alarm - the first few times is went off she was the only person in the house who didn't wake up but two weeks later she was dry every night.

It is tough. I wet the bed until I was 7. My cousin wet the bed until 14. No alarms around in those days, but I have heard very good things about them.

Like I said Keeping - a lot of areas won't prescribe from that age.

My DD was allergic to several ingredients of the Desmopressin, so that was not something we could think about. by all means go and speak to your GP. It is something that is really hard on both you and your DS. I hope you get something that works.

I mentioned at DS school nurse review recently that he wasn't dry at night yet. He's 5 and has been dry daytime for 3 years. I think I was just looking for some reassurance that all he needed was more time and that it's a hormonal issue, but was a bit horrified when she started talking about alarms and medication.....

Contact your school nurse and ask for a referral to enuresis clinic. By the time the appt comes through he'll prob be 7 anyway.

Commiserations on the washing. It's hard doing the whole bed long term. If you can get him into any sort of pull-ups or nappies then that makes a world of difference. Eric does waterproof PJ bottoms, though they are very expensive.

Otherwise fleece blankets or an old-fashioned sleeping bag opened out as a quilt are easier than duvets, or have a small fleece blanket under the duvet to save it. I've wondered about stitching a quilt into a duvet cover to simplify making up the bed. Or a waterproof wipe clean duvet protector, though they don't feel very nice. Brolly sheet or similar as a drawsheet so no one's faffing with corners in the middle of the night. Also a really small thing, but have all bedding and PJs a similar colour so it can easily go in the same wash.

What time does he have tea and stop drinking, and what time does he go to bed?

If you go for an alarm (and I'm another who would recommend it) there's no need to spend ££. I think mine cost about £30 but some are v v expensive because they're wireless, have a selection of sounds etc. I lent mine to two other friends after DS was done with it.

We used the Dryeasy Bed Wetting Alarm from Amazon. It comes with a 12 week sticker chart and we had several relapses in that time but my god it was like a miracle. The best £30 you will ever spend!

If he is wet 70% of the time he isn't ready . Give him nighttime pull ups again until they are 90% dry .. it's nothing you can change .. you will drive yourself nuts changing the bed so much 🤷‍♀️

Thank you. We have decided to go back to nappy pants & will use the time to investigate various alarms.
Thank you for reminding me I'm not alone

DS1 was still not dry at night at 6 ( dry during the day since 3) then he went to stay with DGPs for a week and came back dry and he has never wet the bed since then . With our DS we figured it was behavioural as he didn’t want DGPs to have to put him in pull ups before bed and embarrased by a wet bed

You need to get your head around the fact that this may not be a quick fix. My son is 13 and still not dry. I can’t imagine getting cross about it though, you just bung it in the machine and it washes the sheets for you.

I waited until dd was 7 and then spoke to the doctor about her bed wetting issues. She had been occasionally dry at various times. He was really sympathetic and referred us to the school nurse. I met with her and we agreed to try the desmopressin medication. This did give a slight improvement but still wet more than dry. The nhs lent us an alarm and it was fantastic. It is hideous being woken up by it going off and having to run through to sort it out, but dd got it really quickly and within a couple of weeks was completely dry and we haven’t had a wet bed since.
After hearing our success, one of my friends requested an alarm for her 6 year old and got one and has had similar success. So definitely worth speaking to the doctor/school nurse.
I know there isn’t a 100% success rate, but it is worth try in case it is the solution for you.

Glad to hear it OP. It is much easier as long as they will wear pull-ups.