Emotional attachment to night time pull-ups?

[PetraBP]

DD recently turned 8 and still wets the bed.

We have tried various things to get her out of the night time pull-ups, including going cold turkey, drinking lots of water to stretch the bladder etc but to no avail, so I came to the conclusion that I’d just let it be for now.

Recently when she was getting ready for bed she said to me “I love wearing my pull-ups”. I asked her what she meant by this and she said “they’re warm and cosy and make me feel safe”.

I quizzed her on whether she has been wetting them on purpose and she denied it, but went bright red when I suggested it.

I’m a bit concerned- can a child develop an emotional attachment to pull-ups?

Is there anything to be concerned about here?

If she is using them on purpose just so she can keep wearing them, should I tell her she can keep on wearing them even if she’s dry just to see if she can be dry?

😵‍💫

Can you go shopping for some fancy pants for bed only? Favourite character maybe?
Is there any reason at all she may not feel safe?

Dd2 wasn't dry until after she was 9.

If you think your dd is wetting deliberately, there's no harm in telling her she can keep wearing even if they're dry. It would certainly show you whether they're necessary or not.

And, maybe once you've established this with her, have a gentle chat about wearing knickers to bed instead and how she feels about wearing pull-ups for sleepovers with friends. Not to shame her (dd2 had to wear hers for beaver and cub camps as she was unable to be dry). But just to explore why she feels comfortable and safe to continue wearing them. Has she ever been told off for bedwetting, or knows someone who has, and therefore she is worried about her parents response.

No, she’s never been told off for wetting the bed. If anything I feared we’ve always been too lax but we did go Cold Turkey recently (with her agreement) which didn’t work and she didn’t like waking up in a soaked bed.

I had a long hard think about this and I’ve come to the conclusion that its just an item
of clothing like an old jumper or something like that.

So I’ve told her that she can carry on wearing them for as long as she wants to even if they’re no longer wet in the mornings.

I’ll be interested to see what happens next.

I think it will be easier to move her on from
them once I know for certain whether she really needs them or not.