Sudden Bedwetting in 3.11yo DD

[Bunnyjo]

Evening all,

I am not the first and won't be the last to post about this, but I'd appreciate some advice and reassurance that we are tackling this problem the right way.

DD will be 4 at the end of August and she has been night dry since she was 2.8yo, which I know is considered fairly early, but was something she instigated and not us. She has had around 3 night time accidents in the last year, before this week. Anyhow I will get to the problem...

The last 3 nights she has wet the bed and not woken up, on Monday and Tuesday night it was around 5hrs after she went to bed, but tonight it was 2hrs after - she was in bed at 7:30pm and was wet at 9:40pm when I went to check her.

There is a lot going on in her life at the moment, she has recently become a big sister to our DS - who is 10wk, she just finished nursery on Friday, she starts primary school in September and we are moving house before then (only by 5 miles but she will be attending a different school to the one we originally accepted)! Now, I know that all these changes together are, more than likely, the reason for the bedwetting, but I'd like advice on how we can help her overcome this before it becomes a greater problem.

At the moment we just strip and change her and the bed with little fuss, take her to the toilet to see if she needs a wee and then settle her back to bed. What would you all recommend? I was planning on just monitoring the situation over the next week or so, but would appreciate advice and experience if it doesn't resolve itself. I am at pains to do something drastic like putting her in pull-ups, but I need to do something - I have her and DS to look after for the vast majority of time (DH works 12-13hr days, 6 days a week) and I am on crutches for a knee injury that requires surgery - probably something else DD is worried about. I have tried asking her if there is anything bothering her, but she just smiles breezily and says she is happy...

TIA

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Would she mind wearing pull-ups? Or pyjama pants of some form? But I am sure that not fussing and giving lots of reassurance is helpful.

Thanks Pareital. I would rather not use pull-ups or pyjama pants yet (will definitely consider if it continues). The reason she became night-dry was because she point blank refused to wear pull-ups and only wanted to wear knickers - her pull-ups had been dry for a good few weeks so we went with her wishes. I just worry that she would see the pull-ups as some form of punishment and resist it? Probably over-thinking this, but I know she is dealing with a heck of a lot of change and uncertainty and I don't want her to think any of it is her fault and that we are punishing her in any form, if that makes sense...

Hi Bunnyjo I had to reply as my DD was eactly the same, she refused to wear nappies at night from 2.10 and we had very few accidents for year until she turned 4. Then out of nowhere she started wettting the bed every night and after about 2 weeks we put her into pyjama pants.

Six months on and she is still in pyjama pants at night, and we have only had a handful of dry mornings. So until she is consistent again she will be staying in them as changing a bed at 4 in the morning is no fun.

I don't know if this is normal, but from my experience there seems to be a lot of emotional development (sudden crying, tantrums, overreacting, being unable to control emotions) that goes on around the 4 year mark so I have put it down to being part of this.

Your DD is going through a lot of change at the mo along with the arrival of a new sibling so I think the best thing to do (for your sleep/sanity as well with a newborn!) is to put her back into pull-ups with as little fuss as possible, afterall it's not something she can control.

Hope this helps

Thanks so much for your insight from experience sleepdeprivedby2 - like your name, sums up just how I'm feeling! I have to say, as much as I don't want to, if we do not see an improvement in the next few days, I am going to bite the bullet and put her back in pull-ups, for both our sanity! It cannot be nice being woken up by mummy changing you every night, poor girl.

I am now throwing another thought into the equation, something I only had an inkling of today, and that is I wonder if she has a UTI? Today, she has been holding her girly bits quite often and has been confused as to whether she needs the toilet during the day - she tells us she's going to the toilet, then comes back saying she didn't need it, only to rush to the toilet again a couple of minutes later. She doesn't really have any other symptoms, though, and isn't complaining of pain/ discomfort, but her toilet behaviour today definitely indicated she had some ort of bladder irritation...

Well, I am crossing my fingers and toes that the bed wetting was a blip and related to some sort of bladder irritation - DD hasn't wet the bed since Wednesday! I do realise she could relapse back, or it could be an intermittent problem, but - for now - I am relieved not to be washing mountains of laundry every morning! I am also relieved because DD was upset each time she realised she had wet/ was wetting the bed, despite our attempts to ensure no fuss was made - she's a sensitive wee soul, bless her.

Thank you.

Morning bunnyjo, I hope am glad you had another uneventful night and seems to be just a blip.