to think that its a bit much to let a 7 year old change a wet bed at night

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My dd is currently under the enurisis clinic for bedwetting. She is 7. We are following all the advice and instructions but, one of the things the doctor wants her to do is strip and change the wet bed at night and record the time, without help from me.

Now, I would almost certainly hear her fumbling around trying to do this and it breaks my heart to think that I could leave her struggling with all this. Also, she cant tell the time so she wouldnt be able to record it anyway.

I told the doctor that I didnt feel comfortable doing this but she just said that she was advising me what to do and thinks I should follow the advice.

I've only just seen this - via a search because I took ds to see the nurse yesterday. He's almost 7 and not dry at night.

We were advised to get him involved in helping to change the bed, put linen in the washing machine, re-make the bed etc.

The difference is that there is no need for it to be unaided and certainly no hint of punishment, it's just supposed to help trigger his unconsciousness into recalling consequences of wetting.

DS was quite up for the whole thing and it'll be interesting to see how it works in practice.

I waited to take ds until he told me he wanted to be dry at night. Hopefully, that will make a difference.

Would be interested in knowing what you decided to do and how it worked out.

Hi I used a bed alarm with my DD when she was 7 and not dry at night - it worked a treat and she was dry within 1 week. I was very dubious about it working as her nappies were sodden in the morning, but its been almost 1 year now and she has had no accidents at all and still take a drink to bed with her. We only used the alarm for around 3 weeks before we decided we didn't need it anymore as she had been completely dry every nightfor 2 of them

My DD is 8.8 and is not yet dry at night. There is no way I could leave her to change sheets in the night. I don't think she'd wake up anyway though so she would just end up spending the night in a wet bed. She wears night time pull up pants at the moment.

I'm going to look into gatting an alarm after reading this thread

Yep, I've just read more of the thread

Ok, I'd go along with it then, as long as she knew she could call me in the night if needed (which I bet she would!)

Right, I'm going to get an alarm, ditch the nappies, and get DD to at least help with changing sheets.

I do think maybe 7 is a bit young to change the sheets/bed at night alone, but I do agree with making the child take responsibility for themselves and that it is not a punishment.

MY DSS is almost 14. He has always wet the bed almost every single night. His mother kept him in pull ups until about age 8 when DH decided to take him to the GP himself, his Mother has never made him take responsibility for his bed wetting and he doesn't feel in the slightest bit embarrassed or self conscious about it. Quite frankly, he doesn't give a shit and recently admitted that sometimes he is awake and aware he is wetting the bed (although I doubt that has always been the case) but 'can't be bothered'to get up and go to the toilet. I think in his case it has always been so normalised that he just doesn't care less.

DH and I did get advice from ERIC and bought DSS a bed alarm. It worked at first really well and he was dry every night for the first two weeks of using it while he stayed with us. Then he went home and kept forgetting to put the alarm on and Mum wasn't reminding him. Then when he was using the alarm it wasn't waking him and Mum didn't want to wake him (as advice suggests) and in short, he went back to wetting every night.

I give up, if his own Mum won't help him, what's the poor boy supposed to do? He now has to attend scout camp etc wearing pull ups at night. DH and I hope his peers don't find out as I imagine the bullying will be intolerable.

midlori, have you tired medication?

I know a lot of people are against medicating, but it might be an option for scout camp

dd1(12) is taked medicatation for bedwetting and it's very effective. It can be prescribed by the GP is needed

Yes, he tried medication some years ago and again more recently. He has tried desmopressin in two forms and also some sort of antidepressant not for it's antidepressant effects but as one of the side effects was it prevented urine production at night apparently. Neither worked sadly.

I am not 'allowed' an opinion on it, and his mother, quite frankly, doesn't give a toss. At one point she was even sending him to school, having wet the bed the night before, having had no shower or wash or anything. If she doesn't care about it, why should DSS?!

eugh poor thing

I can only imagine how frustrating the situation must be for you.