Hi there, I am after some advice please.
My DD1 is 4 1/2, she has been dry in the day since just over 2 years. When I first took her out of nappies at night, I can't actually remember how old she was, probably around 3, I lifted her at 11pm and she never wet the bed. I then stopped lifting her and she did then wet the bed, not always but it would go in phases, if she was particularly tired or ill. It got to a point that it happened many nights in a row, so I started lifting again. She started school full-time in September 2010, and is often very tired, and in the last few weeks has wet the bed several times despite me lifting her at 11pm. She was ill just before Christmas and I think this has probably been part of it. Last night she woke up herself at around 10.30pm and said that she needed a wee, this has never happened before!
Now I have always been conscious that lifting her may not be helpful in the long term, the view that it will teach her to wee in her sleep, but when I stopped doing it she wet the bed and when everyone, especially her became really tired by waking in the night, I thought it was best to lift her and everyone get a good night's sleep. Now she is at full-time school and tired, I feel this view is even more important. However, I do not want to be creating a problem that is hard to break by continuing to lift her. I keep reading that if it is actually to do with the hormone development then she would wet the bed even if I lifted her, but that only happens occasionally. She doesn't drink after about an hour and a half before bed. My DD2 is 3 1/2 and came out of nappies day and night around 2, I took them both out of nappies at night at the same time, she has wet the bed less than a handful of times, and could gulp water all night long and not the wet the bed.
What do people think, if DD1 has been lifted she doesn't need a wee on waking, so makes me think perhaps she does only wet the bed when ill or very tired, and perhaps I should just accept that if it happens and stop lifting. But on the other hand it only seems to take a few nights of an accident and she gets so tired that it seems more likely, and becomes a catch 22 and it might just be better to keep on lifting for a little longer. As long as it is not going to train her bladder to think it is ok to wee in her sleep and cause unnecessary problems.