Pull ups.....go back 20 years.....

[Janeymoo50]

...or more. Why are so many 3 and 4 year olds in pull ups? I get that there are children with SN, before you all start with my child is this, my child has that. There was a thread recently about bedtime, all kids wore nappies of sorts, until the age of 9, every response said it was normal to have kids in nappies at 6 and over, what the feck is it!!!

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

This again?

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

What about an articulate, bright child put in an a nappy every night at 6 years old. Dry for 3 years.

It might suprise you OP but you can be both articulate and bright but still have SN.

[Want2bSupermum]

OP take it as a sign that you are officially old! Times have changed and we have learned more about the process for controlling our bowl functions.

It really is a good thing that we now have pull ups as well as products for adults who suffer from incontinence. I remember as a teen I never saw depends or tena lady. I can't imagine a super plus sanitary towel being able to do the job. How awful for countless ladies affected by weak bladders. We now have it all for both sexes, all the way from birth through elder years.

I call this progress.

[Mrsfrumble]

Being dry in the day and being dry at night are two separate issues though. As others have pointed out, the capacity to be dry at night is affected by a hormone that reduces urine production during sleep. For some children the production of that hormone starts much later than others. My 5 yo DS was potty trained before the age of 3 but still soaks his pull-up every night.

My brother used to wet the bed most nights until he was about 9, 30 years ago. I bet my mum would have killed to have the option of pull-ups rather than constantly washing pissy sheets.

[GreatFuckability]

My sister is in her forties. She wet the bed well into her teens. It happened then too.
My children with asd were both day trained by 2.5 and night trained by 3. My NT child wasn't dry in the day til gone 3 and night was hit and miss til 5. Cos everyone is different.
Or perhaps modern parents are all lazy and useless....

[fidel1ne]

There was a thread recently about bedtime, all kids wore nappies of sorts, until the age of 9, every response said it was normal to have kids in nappies at 6 and over,

Self selecting group of responders, I would think.

What about an articulate, bright child put in an a nappy every night at 6 years old. Dry for 3 years.

Does that really happen? Would people really continue to spend money on expensive pull-ups for YEARS after the last mishap?

Maybe one or two (there are always one or two of anything) but I doubt it is common TBH.

[honkinghaddock]

My brothers wet the bed regularly till late primary age. This was in the 70's. Day time pull ups for older children cost nearly £1 a pair.Do you think parents spend that by choice?

[x2boys]

Who are these children with no special needs in nappies they don't fit for a start yes my son is disabled and five in nappies but I have to get nappies from the NHS to fit him we now get them free as it's a medical need but if he had no special needs we wouldn't I have never seen a typical five yr old in nappies .

[mummytime]

20 years! Don't you mean 40 or more years?
20 years ago roughly my eldest was born. At potty training time I got lots of pressure from friends whose children were "potty trained in a week" "dry at night from the start" etc. etc.
There were also plenty of ads for pull ups. I used them secretly some of the time.
My eldest also had far more "accidents" than my younger children. Because I forced the potty training far more.

I can also assure you that 40 to 50 years ago (and probably earlier) the advice was that there was "no need for medical intervention for wetting the bed until the age of 6". So even if using terry nappies, lots of parents would use a "night nappy" as it's easier to launder than sheets.

The two things that definitely haven't changed:
a) parents lie - or exaggerate or even forget the reality of potty training children.
b) some people just like to judge "parents nowadays".

[honkinghaddock]

On top of that the joys of changing an older child who won't lie or stand still. That's if you can find anywhere to change them.

[Caprinihahahaha]

I've got a 22 year old and no one I know of would have used anger or humiliation in dealing with a child that wet the bed.

It was 20 years ago, it wasn't the fucking dark ages.

I think we just managed accidents to be honest. Sent my son to school at 4 with spare underwear. The school suggested it. Dealt with accidents with no problem or stigma or anger.
I suspect we just washed and privately sighed more.

[NaughtToThreeSadOnions]

I think this is one of those well in my day it never happened, but what you mean is you never experienced it.

I was going to say that I believe the hormone that controls bladder control doesn't actually mature until 7 which is why doctors will not diagnose a problem before 7. Also I'm 35 so we're talking 30 years ago but I remember my mum 'lifting' me until I was about 10 to sit on the toilet at midnight so I didn't wet the bed, and I'm not sure but I believe this had been noted as bad practice, rather it's better to have night time pull ups until the hormone has kicked in properly. So no you didn't have children in nappies but you had a lot of children with disturbed sleep because of the being woken to go to the toilet.

Again absolutely I actually think the amount of accidents that kids have at reception age has decreased some kids, again possiably me, used to come out of school every day with wet pants on carrier bags, my nieces school it happened maybe 5 times a term.

[hazeyjane]

When you talk about the hordes of 6,7,8 and 9 year olds in nappies are you talking about at night or daytime?

I really don't believe there are hordes of older children in nappies.

Most older children in nappies have sn or physical problems

Children with sn can be bright and articulate

This thread stinks

[westcountrywoman]

As an aside, without exception, every child over the age of 4 that I know who still regularly wets the bed, also consumes a lot of sugar-free squash. Sugar-free squash wasn't around a generation ago. Maybe there's a link?

[Doilooklikeatourist]

My children are 21 and 18 , DD was out of nappies a week after her 2nd birthday , DS was about 2 and a half .
They didn't wear pull ups ( they felt too much like a nappy to me )
Thay didn't have their faces rubbed in wee ( that wasn't common 20 years ago )
And we certainly didn't have minging (boak) mattresses
I think I am a bit judgy , as I'm surprised to see 3 year olds in nappies

[ReallyTired]

I don't know many six year olds in nappies. Or else I think it would be bad manners to ask. Why do you care? My children become dry at night around the age of two without me doing anything. It was nothing to do with parenting anymore than them growing.

[StitchesInTime]

DS1 (4) is toilet trained. He still wears pull-ups at night, because he doesn't usually wake when he needs a wee in the night.

Pull-ups are expensive, and when we get to the point where his pull-ups are reliably dry in the morning, we'll stop using them, but for now, I'd rather have him in pull-ups overnight than regularly have to change bedding covered in wee.

I don't see why anyone else would be bothered by the notion of someone else's small child wearing pull-ups at night either.

[fidel1ne]

It might surprise you OP but you can be both articulate and bright but still have SN.

And THIS^

[Ledkr]

Dd is 4 and still wet at night.
She was dry at 2, is an extremely intelligent and Independent child.
She has dressed hersekf from well before 2 and now will shower, wash her hair and dress all by herself.
She is the youngest of five, the other 4 were all dry at night by 3.
It's nothing to do with parenting or pull ups, it's a hormone as others have said.
Dd will also wer hersejf if she ever naps in the day.
Bit strange to make a judgement when you have never actually experienced it yourself!

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

I set the bed till I was 9.
I'm 42 now , and boy was I ashamed of myself so of course no one knew.
Thankfully when my ds's have had similar they were treated by decent compassionate professionals but funnily enough the whole world didn't know about it
Just because it's out of your teeny tiny minds experience op doesn't mean jack shit
(Leaves thread As I suspect this a pile of goady shit anyway(

[lighteningirl]

I had toddler 20 years ago it wasn't the dark ages neither I or any of my friends used humiliation!! Yes some children wet the bed but as other posters have said you couldn't send them to nursery until they were dry so efforts were made to ensure they were basically dry and accidents were totally accepted and quietly dealt with.

[PennyHasNoSurname]

My 4yo has been dry in the day since before her third birthday.

She does not wake at night if she wees. Ive been in and found her in a sodden bed still fast asleep. Pull ups it is!

[Fairylea]

I think you have to remember that things like autism and developmental issues are diagnosed far more now too - doesn't mean it is more common, just they are diagnosing more and understanding more about the conditions. A lot of the "normal" or "bright" children you're talking about will be children with asd or difficulties - it's not always obvious! 20 years ago a lot of them would have gone undiagnosed and wouldn't have been able to receive NHS larger nappies as they do now- no doubt with parents tearing their hair out trying to potty train them before they were ready and having tons of accidents.

My son is nearly 4 and has severe asd and developmental issues. However if you met him at the park for 10 minutes you probably wouldn't know. He wears nappies and will probably be in nappies for years to come.