Could anyone give me some advice about DS's bedwetting?

[Doigthebountyeater]

Hi there,
DS (aged 5) was dry at night from 3 but this year was diagnosed with nocturnal epilepsy and is now on medication for it. As soon as he started on the meds, he began wetting the bed every morning (about 5-6 am so just before he get up around 6.30-7 ish). We blamed his first med as bed wetting can be a rare side effect and took him off it (he had other side effects with it too). He is now on another med (Keppra) and still wetting the bed every morning unless we take him to the toilet at around 11pm which we do most nights.

Anyway, the consultant is not really helpful about the bed wetting. He says it may not be the medication but regression in toilet training. They say they cannot help us because of his age as he is too young for the bed wetting clinic and offered us tablets but I refused them. BTW, he is not wetting the bed because of his epilepsy. He doesn't wet himself in his seizures (he has had hundreds) and is now seizure free and has been for months.

So (to get to the point) has anyone got any tips for stopping him wetting the bed? We are making him drink more during the day (he drinks very little and does not go to the toilet EVER during the school day) Also is the fact that he is nearly going through the night a good sign? He woke up this morning in the process of wetting the bed and told me and then did some wee in the toilet. How do we move from this to him waking before he wees the bed?

We are still lfting him in the night. I will not put him in pull ups as I know it would be really detrimental to his confidence and he has enough on at the minute with the diagnosis of epilepsy and the arrival of his first sibling to contend with.

Sorry this is so long but I could really do with some help here.

Hi, my DS was diagnosed with absence seizure epilepsy when he was about 7 and was put on Epilim to control it. He also started wetting the bed again once on his medication but this settled down again after a few months and only had the occasional accident after this. The medication also made him a bit drowsy and I think he was just in a deeper sleep as a result of this. I stopped him drinking anything about an hour and a half before bed which seemed to help some nights.
I hope this is helpful.

I don't have any experience of epilepsy, but I do have experience of bedwetting children. I think you should try to get him to drink more in the day. This willl help to stretch his bladder, so he can go longer at night without needing a wee.

If he wakes weeing first thing in the morning, that seems like a good sign.

One of my DCs was 13 before dry, and nothing helped him except time. 5 is very young, and lots of chilren regularly wet the bed at 5.

Hi,
the fact that he is managing to go most of the night sounds like diuresis overight is not yet occuring, in many children the develpoment of the hormone, vasopressin which causes this does not happen until quite a lot later. There is a drug called desmopressin which can be given, this maybe what your consultant mentioned.
There is little you can do to hurry this up. I agree about avoiding pullups, I used a bed mat under the sheet and washed the sheet & pjs daily.
As my DS used to wake on uninating the enuresis nurse suggested a bucket by his bed so he could catch it quick.
He'll get there, when he's ready, DS did!

Thanks I need to hear some positive words!

Clione - interestingly, it was Epilim which started his bed wetting.

No experience of epilepsy or the drugs, but I posted something very similar recently:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/potty_training/1097949-DS-6-still-wets-the-bed
My DS(6) seems to have phases when he is dry at night and then phases of wetting, usually coinciding with him being a bit under the weather or extra tired, or (I suspect) a growth spurt. Most of his accidents, when they happen, are at 5-6am and it is often only a little bit. I think it wakes him up and he then finishes off in the loo. He still occasionally has a full on accident, but these are getting fewer and farther between now.

Having just had a particularly 'bad' spell (hence my post above), for the past week he has been dry . We have stopped lifting him in the late evening, as I don't think that helps. I suspect we are not quite there yet, but I think it's just one of those things that some children (especially boys) take longer to do than others. Apart from trying to encourage drinking during the day, I don't think there is a lot more you can do.

Sorry not much in the way of advice, but just that you are not alone!