7 year old nighttime wetting

[Reallyyyyyy]

Hi all

I need some advice as I'm at my wits end. My 7 yo DD has severe night time wetting. It's not a little bit. It is a full bladder and can happen 1 to 2 times a night.

We have been to the GP before. They prescribed the wafers you take 1 hour before bed. They where amazing and did the job. After 3 months we stopped and she was fine. No bed wetting for a further 3 months. However we are now on about 2 months of back to bed wetting.

I'm going back to the GP. But just looking for advice or if anyone else has experienced similar. We have done all the usual, limiting drinks and what she drinks, drinking enough in the day, wet alarms, waking and using the bathroom. She's not got any problems at school or home.

Tia

I assume she means desmopressin. Ask your GP for a prescription. We tried everything for YEARS (alarms, no pull ups, enuresis clinic etc) and after endless washing cycles and pushing GP for prescription we finally got a prescription and 3 months later she was dry. Hasn’t wet the bed since. Total game changer.
the journey there was awful for the child and for us.

Thanks so much @SchoolDilemma17
Did you DD then stop taking it and did it continue to work?

Thank you

her sister 2 years younger is dry at night. So I understand her upset wholeheartedly

Ah it's hard op. We had this but in the extreme version - ds2, not dry until 14, very recently. Ds3 is 7 and has been consistently dry at night since he was 5 😬 which I was half thrilled with and half wished he wasn't because I know it made ds2 feel even worse (although he's put a brave face on it bless him).

@Ichangedmynameonce sorry I didn't see your message. Yes desmopressin.

So the GP called me back this afternoon. I haven't had her before. She didn't sound very confident and quite young so possibly new. She basically said no to any more desmopressin at first and to try a wetting alarm again. I said I'm not doing that again. It didn't work before. She then read whatever it was about desmopressin out to me word for word and she said it said she wasn't allowed it long term as her body needs to learn to wake up.

I interrupted and said but this is a hormonal thing so being able to wake up Is a different thing. And that our last GP was happy to re prescribe if needed. She then back tracked and said oh yes the information sheet says we need to try 2 courses and if that doesn't work she needs a referral to a specialist. So I said ok. But to be honest I'm not sure what a specialist will do.

So I think we can try the 3 months again starting tomorrow. Then I might ask for a different GP if we need to continue. I think she needs a good 6 months on it then taper off. As she was fine for about 3 months after coming off last time. And a quick Google has told me you can use it long term if needed

@Reallyyyyyy I was told lots of children use it long term even for years. We only needed 3 months but got a regular prescription. The advice was to come off every 3 months for two weeks and then decide if to continue or not.

My child stopped at 8. The alarm upset him too much and the medication didn’t work at all, we were at the enuresis clinic and following their advice which had a lot to do with more water earlier, going to the loo twice before bed and avoiding citrus drink/food after 5pm.

It can sometimes be a sign of constipation if it stops and starts like that so worth checking that out. Definitely do a cold wash with baking soda first before a hot wash. No vinegar - it will damage your machine eventually.

Best thing we did is bite the bullet and buy the alarm that goes in the nappy - £60 well spent and sorted in two weeks not a wet night since

@Reallyyyyyymy GP wasn’t comfortable starting desmopressin for my DS either hence the referral to the enuresis clinic at our local hospital. The paediatrician started it there and the GP was then happy to prescribe on an ongoing monthly basis. It’s definitely safe to continue long term but I imagine most kids don’t need to. I think even older kids grow out of bedwetting around the age of puberty. I would ask for a referral to secondary care as what happens when your DD completes this 3 month course and would like to continue? If your GP refuses to prescribe you’re back to square one again.

@SchoolDilemma17 how does the alarm actually teach them to stay dry? Or to wake up? I can see how it works whilst using it I just don't understand how it works afterwards. Thanks

I think it’s called bio feedback. It teaches the waking up response to kick in at the first sensation of peeing instead of sleeping through it.

I have no idea. It never worked for us.
The alarm kept beeping and beeping, DD was wet, all the bedding was wet and she was fast asleep.

I think in theory the child should wake as soon as a urine hits the pants (the alarm) and rush ro the toilet, body will learn to recognise the symptoms and then wake automatically after a certain time.

I can honestly say that I don’t know one bed wetting child that had constipation (constipation for 3-5 years or more?!), and 90% of what we were told at enuresis clinic was BS and prolonged the issue by a year. The nurse told us repeatedly that my child’s bladder needed stretching and medication would make no difference. She even told GP not to prescribe it. I spare you the details but after a year of trying to stretch the bladder, tears over having to drink water constantly, endless washing of bedding including quilts! I finally pushed another GP to get us rhe prescription. And since then our lives have changed and DD can finally sleep without worrying and can drink when she is thirsty.

@SchoolDilemma17it can be extremely upsetting for the child and parent! When I spoke to an advisor at ERIC they really stressed the constipation side of things. They said even if your child moves their bowels every day they could be constipated which affects the bladder’s ability to store urine. I didn’t think that sounded right but dutifully started giving my DS Laxido sachets to drink over the course of a few weeks. They tasted disgusting but I forced him to drink them as I was at my wits end. They caused diarrhoea, made no difference at all to his urine holding capacity and he still talks about how awful this was now aged 14!

@sunshinechaser
I would really recommend Conni! They do a bed wetting pad which is great https://conni.uk/products/kids-bed-pad-with-tuck-ins-100-x-100-cm-animal-pattern and their bed protectors have been fabulous.