2nd dry night for ds 7.4. Is this it?!

[Whereisegg]

Ds has had very few dry nights in his life, and even fewer of these have been in a row.

At 5 he had his HUGE (surgeon said biggest he'd seen) tonsils and adenoids removed due to sleep apnea.
Dr had mentioned that his brain was so concerned about keeping him breathing, it didn't care if he wee'd but that this would likely resolve itself after surgery.
It did, for 3 nights.

Fast forward a couple of years solid of brick-heavy pants every morning (and occasional wet beds too despite pants), we are on our second morning in a row of bone dry pants.

I don't want to be too outwardly excited at home in front of ds as he can't control it, so I want to be excited here please!

Could this be it, or just a lucky streak?

I'm so glad to read this post and well done to your DS. My DD2 is 7.4 and only ever had 2 dry nights (both when she had been poorly so I guess just dehydrated). My first two DC were both dry at 3 so wasn't expecting it.

I have been thinking about going without pants and using mats but I don't know if it will make any difference. My DS2 is 3.2 and not showing any signs of being dry at night either so it looks like I might be in for the long haul :(

DD2 had a one night school sleep over and managed fine - although I had discussed it with one of the more senstive teachers beforehand. There is a Brownie camp in July but it's 3 nights so I'm not sure about that.

Dry again! So that makes his seven. I think we'll have a go at ditching the pull-ups and going for a mat at the weekend.

We have used a wet-stop alarm with DS (7.6). For three weeks it appeared to make no difference at all: the alarm woke everyone in the county except DS, and we had to shake him to wake him. However, we persevered with the prescribed routine, which is that they have to turn the alarm of themselves and go to the loo, even if there is nothing left to widdle. Three weeks we had of this, and then suddenly, seven nights ago, he got up in the night for a wee, and was dry. He seems to have missed out a few of the stages somewhere, but the alarm had clearly triggered something in his little body.

It's so lovely to hear other stories!

Oh I'm so glad this thread is a comfort to you all

I've always been very relaxed with ds about him not being dry through the night, it's not as if they're thinking "Tonight, I'd really like to wake up in the early hours covered in pee" so you know, I have a washing machine, might as well use it!

The ERIC website is very good if any of you haven't heard of it, some great tips about upping daytime fluids and avoiding dark drinks like blackcurrant.

As I said, going pant-less didn't work for my ds, but it might for others.
Showing him that the pants went up to age 15 really reassured him too, I said something like "if nobody else needed them, nobody would make or sell them".

See you all in the morning if not before, fingers crossed for us all

I have an 8-year old who wets the bed a couple of times a week - but only a little bit, which I find strange. If I start peeing, I cannot stop!

lemon ds and I had agreed a week of dry pants would equal a no pants trial, after reading your post I might try and nudge him towards starting the trial on a weekend...

countess that is odd! Any chance he has a little infection?

whereisegg I don't think so - it's been this way for years. Weird.

Does it coincide with any specific meals/ingredients?

Sorry you've probably thought of all these things!

Actually I haven't thought of that. Do you think it could be food-related?

Might be something he's a bit sensitive to that's irritating his bladder.
Try a food diary for a couple of weeks?

Thanks for the top tip. :-)

Might be a non-starter, but you never know!

Hello! May I interrupt for advice please?

My dd who is nearly 7 wets the bed probably 6 out of 7 nights. I have a cotton covered water proof mattress protector and a sheet, and a 4 tog duvet and all three are washed every day. That is fine and I don't mind, it's never a problem and dd is showered every morning and made a big fuss of after a dry night, but no fuss at all over a wet night.

I have seen on the thread that there has been mention of pants, what type of pants are these please? Would I perhaps be better using them than just washing the bedding every day? Would they help?

Also, I lift at 9pm, which sometimes helps. should I not be lifting?

Any help is gratefully received. Thank you, and sorry to but-in!

We use the drynites, pull ups, whatever is on offer at the best price tbh.

I use them because ds gets tired and upset at waking up wet in the middle of the night, and sometimes he wouldn't wake until morning and then his skin would be a bit sore too.

Lifting isn't recommended because it doesn't get their brain to wake them up when the bladder is full which is obviously the aim.
I also read somewhere that if you lift at the same time every night, it is thought you are just training them to pee at that time iyswim? Like clockwork.

Tbh if your dd is agreeable I would try pants for a child that is wet 6/7.

Oh, someone may well be along and disagree with me entirely you just need to find something that works for your family really.
Atm, pants work for ds which means they work for me

Thank you, a lot.

She would be agreeable to the pants, she feels awkward about wetting the bed bless her and is a little bit sensitive about it. I tell her it's fine and that I wet the bed when I was younger, which I did. I will see if she fancies trying the pants, it will save me two wash loads a day if nothing else.

I thought that I had heard that you shouldn't lift them, but I wasn't sure. Tbh, it doesn't make that much difference as in it is still hit and miss so I will stop lifting her. The gp did say that her bladder needs training so perhaps not lifting will help.

Have a look on the ERIC website too
Good luck!

I will do, thank you for your help!

My first mn flowers

It is such an emotive thing isn't it, she wakes up embarrassed, shameful, I reassure her, shower her, tell her it's ok. It's a part of everyday life, and she knows that not everybody does it. I just want to help her in the best way I can, but also you don't want to talk about it to people for fear or her feeling embarrassed if she thought that people know. I feel for her, I really do, which is why I want to help her in any way I can. And you have helped me to have new suggestions/potential solutions to make her life easier possibly, or ease the way until her bladder is strong enough to last through the night.

We presented pants as a grown up decision when ds was upset with waking up wet.

We had some special time in his room together listening to his favourite cd and nattering while we cleared some space in a drawer for them.

Went just me and him each time he decided to try them again, got them from town rather than a supermarket, making sure to fit in a stop for cake and milkshake.

Put him firmly in charge of them, so putting them on by himself was added to bedtime jobs, taking off and binning added to morning jobs.
Letting me know when he was running low.

Of course I would check his supply, and a sneaky bottom squidge was added to evening/morning cuddle to make sure they were on/off.
I now lift them up out of the bin sneakily every morning to check how full they are rather than question him.

Mn can be so wonderful for things like this, so common but you would never know it!

I agree, Mumsnet is wonderful for things like this. It makes sharing easy, non-judgemental.

thank you, it does mean a lot! I'll be sure to look you up again

Pants work for us, too: DS is 7.6. Drynites come with slightly different fits for boys and girls. At full price they work out at about 50p a pair, but one of the supermarkets or other or Boots often had them on 2 for whatever or three for two, and you can bulk buy. They've worked for us.

Yyy to what Egg said about lifting: they will be dry while you are doing it, but if you don't, they will usually ewe at that time anyway. The Eric website is full of great advice, and we decided to try an alarm, as we knew that DS was a really heavy sleeper (understatement) and that there were no daytime continence issues or obvious medical problems. We were also aware that the wait for a referral can be a long one, and so we felt that, even if it didn't work, we could feel that we were doing something.

We've been pretty relaxed about it, but knew that DS was starting to feel self-conscious about it and wanted to end the days of wearing pull-ups at night. The alarm helped him to feel in control, I think. Anyway, I've recounted his story a bit up thread, and (fingers crossed he reaches 8 dry nights tomorrow) we're going to have a go at sleeping commando on Friday, with just his alarm. Although he hasn't needed the alarm this past week, it reassures him somehow.

I know that it's hormonal, and that something is meant to switch on for them, but for DS it's clear that he needs help to make it happen.

There are no ewes: they might, however wee at that time! Oops

And Yyy to keeping them in charge of their pull-ups: keeping them discreetly in his wardrobe, putting them in the bin himself, and making sure that he takes them off as soon as he gets up - there was a period when Mr Lazy was quite happy to leave his night pants (as we call them) on in the morning so that, in his words, "I don't lose my concentration with my Lego".

It has also helped to have known other friends in the same position, although we have sadly also learned who in the playground he needs to ensure doesn't know.