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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask your practical tips for frequent bed wetter - 5yr old ds

73 replies

milkyman · 05/01/2018 12:08

My ds has only just come out of wearing nappies - I know.... He now frequently wets the bed as not used it. Any tips, tricks, practical ideas for dealing with it in the night? No judgement please.

OP posts:
cheesypastatonight · 05/01/2018 13:34

The worst thing is, when i lift him to take him to the loo around 9.30/10pm, as directed by the doc, he is so asleep he doesnt want to take up and i spend a good five minutes trying to get him up and repeating a thousand times, go to the toilet, go to the toilet, and i cant drag him up as he hits out and kicks at me.....

Mookatron · 05/01/2018 13:38

Normal at 5. I generally have 2 sets of plastic sheet followed by normal sheet on the bed - then you can whip one off in the night. DD much better than she used to be but she hates wearing pull-ups and sometimes lies about having had a bed time weeHmm

MammaTJ · 05/01/2018 13:42

DS was wetting the bed, we just kept him in night time pull ups. I don't think the day ones hold enough wee.

He was prescribed desmopressin (the hormone needed to make them dry at night. He refused to take them, except on special occasions, as the side effect of having a headache all the time (due to him being reluctant to drink enough to prevent this) was not worth it.

Eventually, around last April time, we accidentally forgot his 'night pants' and he did not wet. He decided that it was the night pants making him wet, so refused to wear them and he has been dry ever since. He was 10 1/2 years old.

We were totally relaxed about it though. I have a friend whos DS wet until 14 and his younger brother is the same age as DS and was dry only a few months before DS, so it was not alien to us.

We did look to the school nurse for support but she just said no fizzy drinks (not allowed anyway) no red coloured drinks (no problem) and lifting is not recommended as it doesn't work. Also, encourage drinking as much as possible until tea time (DS is a reluctant drinker) and then limit until bedtime.

guessthisisnormal · 05/01/2018 13:49

When wearing the nappy is it ever dry in the morning ?
What I did with my little girl was used pull-ups by night then when we cracked the day time , I started waking her putting her on the toilet around 1030pm , when she was waking with a dry pull up most nights I took them away. She now wakes herself up to use the toilet.
My eldest son was different altogether And he took along time and still wet the bed around 10 he was diagnosed with an irritable bladder, and for 12 months had medication, ( he's fine now)

Heartoffire · 05/01/2018 13:55

It’s amazing how different they are isn’t it?

My eldest was trained in a week but it took me booody years to teach him to dress himself.

Second was still having wet pants at 4 but dressed himself at 2.

Three and four were both pretty ok
Five well didn’t walk until nearly 2 and ajthiygh with wee in the potty hated pooing on it and would happily run around with poo filled pants until 3.

Hey ho.

May50 · 05/01/2018 14:07

One of mine was dry through the night around age 2 and never had accident. Other 2 DCs much later - 6 ish? I just kept them in pull ups until they did a week or so dry. All were dry in the day no problem.

thepatchworkcat · 05/01/2018 14:12

OP we find the huggies Spider-Man ones are just fine.
Honestly at 5 I don’t even think of DS as being a ‘bedwetter’ as such, more that he’s just not quite out of his night nappies yet, if you see what I mean. It’s not a big deal and totally normal at that age as you can see from all the other comments.

Firework1 · 05/01/2018 14:18

It’s not considered an issue until the age of 8. They won’t be referred to the continence service until then. The body produces a hormone to wake the child to go to the bathroom. From age 8 the hormone can be prescribed if necessary. My DS (7) is still in pull-ups. We’ve been to the dr who was happy to prescribe the hormone (I’m a nurse) but I said no thanks. Would rather wait and see what another year brings. I think it’s more common than you think. My DS’s best friend is the same, my DS2 was still in pull-ups at 7 and it just happened overnight. I guess it’s like everything, happens when the body is ready.

MadamPatti · 05/01/2018 14:18

DS1 was 11 when he made it out of night time pull ups. For him it wasn’t so much a hormonal issue but an overactive bladder (brain thinks bladder full when not). Did it over summer holiday, took 8 weeks for him to have 14 consecutive dry nights (when enuresis service consider cured). Hard work, but he managed it.

DS2 was 7. He used An alarm for 2 nights and then was dry. Turns out DH was the same.

As others have said, it’s prob too early for you to consider this an issue. I waited till they were 7 before getting a gp referral to the continence nurse. I would however, limit drinks in the evening (esp red drinks).

Crunchymum · 05/01/2018 14:25

DC1 was completely daytime dry just before 3.

We are now 2y 2m down the line and he is still in nighttime nappy. He is an amazing sleeper but doesn't waken at all for the loo.

We have had periods of dry nappies in the morning and my rule of thumb is a week of consistently dry morning nappy and we'll try nappy free (he is top bunk and shares a room so selfishly and practically I can't be dealing with frequent bed wetting)

He has started to become a little conscious about it, I offer reassurance that he will grow out of it when his body is ready / he is such a good sleeper he just doesn't recognise the sensation yet / he has been daytime dry for a long time and it's always harder to be nighttime dry etc.....

Crunchymum · 05/01/2018 14:26

What are "red drinks" ???

MadamPatti · 05/01/2018 14:45

Red drinks - black currant, summer fruits etc. Supposed to be a bladder irritant.

CHERRYBL0SS0M · 05/01/2018 14:47

OP, I'm sorry I didn't have time to read all of the replies, but wanted to let you know of our experience.

My child is not dry at night at 6 1/2, they have other (unrelated) health issues that stop them getting out of bed so we were not massively concerned, assuming it would come with time. Was dry in daytime at about 4 1/2, but had a few accidents in reception year, and year 1 as couldn't get to toilet in time. Part of the night-time routine was wee when getting ready for bed, put pull up on, and then another wee before getting into bed. But, still every morning, there was a full pull up (huggies are great!) and often the pull up would leak as to much wee and result in wet bed.

During a visit to school nurse in Oct, we were discussing all health issues and mentioned about not being dry at night. She said she would refer to local Enuresis nurse for guidance.

Within a few weeks we had an appointment and were seen by the nurse. She explained:

1 - it is hormonal - there is a hormone that tells the bladder to make concentrated wee when you are asleep (why 1st morning wee smells), its this hormone that is often lacking in late bed wetters
2 - it can be genetic (DH was 10 before totally try - he took medication)
3 - Can be due to small bladder
4 - lifting and sitting on loo whilst half asleep is not recommended as its not teaching them not to go, just they can go when asleep.

There are things to help - something that rings an alarm when they wee at night so they wake up and take themselves to the loo, thus no wet bed.
Medication that gives the body the hormone to help.

As my child cannot easily get on of bed at night without affecting other treatments, the nurse suggested to try the medication. They are small tablets that dissolve under the tongue. The medication last 8 hours only, and there is no build up with it, so if none taken, no effect.
1 improved matters, but still wet pull up, so nurse doubled dosage. Much better now, but still a little wee in pull up most mornings. So suspect a small bladder so being referred to specialist for further investigation.

Please do seek guidance asap! The nurse in my area will soon not be able to run her clinic, the service is being withdrawn, and she doesn't know what will happen to her case load. Apparently, it is being closed throughout the country so the sooner you can get help the better.
Also, I was told by her that they liked to know about children that are not dry at night from when they start school, so support can be offered as soon as possible.

I hope this helps, and sorry it is so long!

Needmorehands · 05/01/2018 14:47

DS2 is still in pull ups age 7, he went through a dry at night phase but is heavily wet every morning atm. DD1 has only just moved from pull ups age 9. we found brolly sheets a god send, easily washable/driable, not crinkly/noisy/sweaty, easy to pull off the bed in the middle of the night, protecting sheet underneath/mattress...

macnab · 05/01/2018 15:11

cheesypastatonight my DS was on two drugs to begin with, Cystrin and Desmopressin. If I remember correctly he was on both for several months, then we had to drop the cystrin and he was then on Desmopressin (high dosage, once a night) for about a year, then moved to a lower dose for several months and then weaned off them. In fact, when we tried to wean the first time it didn't work he was wet again before the end of the week so he was back on them again for 3 months and then we weaned again and he's been dry since. So it was a long process for us, maybe your DS needs longer on the meds?

macnab · 05/01/2018 15:13

Sorry I should also add we were not advised to lift him at all, as this would interfere with the process? We were under the care of a private consultant, referred by our GP. Maybe you need to get a special referral? We were also advised to up his fluid intake throughout the day, limit fluids 2 hours before bedtime and not to give blackcurrant juice.

elliejjtiny · 05/01/2018 15:27

I would put him back in nappies. It's perfectly normal at this age.

cheesypastatonight · 05/01/2018 15:48

macnab, thanks.

It seems different doctors advise different things! Our doc said as the drugs were not working after two months, not to bother. Who knows which is correct?

Chocolateteabag · 05/01/2018 16:14

DS1 has just turned 7 and still not reliable through the night - he wears the pull ups with the Spider-Man on them (Huggies?) He can often do a week dry, then gets v tired and has a lapse. I think he just has occasional bouts of really deep sleep and wets then.

DS2 just turned 4 - and has been dry day and night since the summer. He just decided he wasn't wearing nappies any more and that was it so don't think it's anything we can have "done".

user1494409994 · 05/01/2018 16:18

Mine was in pull ups until he was 6 1/2 and still had an occasional accident after that. My nephew was even later. They both grew out of it.

RedTitsMcGinty · 05/01/2018 16:21

My DD is 7.5 and has only just stopped wearing pull-ups at night, despite being dry in the day time from 2yo. Her body just wasn’t ready before now. She has the occasional accident but is by and large dry at night. I just stayed relaxed about it and every now and again tried her without the pull-ups, until she got a run of dry nights.

4boysthatilove · 05/01/2018 16:23

Hi
I know exactly where you are coming from as the mother of a 10 year old who is still a bed wetter. He is on medication from the hospital and seen regularly there. I really feel for him because his younger brothers are all dry at night and his older brothers got dry at night very soon after getting dry in the daytime. Practical tips - cut out all red and purple drinks, we have done this and it's made a huge difference. My son wears dry nites nightwear, we have a re-usable washable bed mat on the bed and a disposal one underneath the sheet. Hospital encouraged me to try not wearing the nightpants, but there was no way that was going to happen, not prepared to wash duvets etc daily. Can get them to wear normal pants under the night pants then he is meant to feel himself getting wet and hopefully wake up. My son sleeps like the dead so alarms from hospital didn't work and nor did lifting him. We generally have 2-3 dry nights per week now, before the tablets and cutting out certain drinks every morning he would be soaked despite the night pants etc. Two wees at bedtime is a good routine, one downstairs when he says goodnight to everyone and a second one upstairs when he brushes his teeth before going to bed. We have avoided sleepovers and residentials and at times I have been privately in tears for him but have been told its very very rare to go into teens/early adult still with this problem. They will do it when they are ready! Hope that helps

Angrybird123 · 05/01/2018 16:29

DS (8) was wet every single night, sometimes twice. Tried all the options of various types of pull ups (leaked ), restricting liquids at bedtime etc, even lifting him actually made no difference . Two months with an alarm and he's sorted ..it worked brilliantly. He now often has a good drink right before bed and is still dry. Meanwhile i gave up on pullups and used the disposable bedsheets which he preferred. Just resigned myself to lots of washing and had a spare duvet in a cover ready to use for that used to be soaked too. The alarm was about £30..best money I ever spent.

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