Can someone please tell me how I can get DS (5) out of nappies at night?

[startingtolooklikemother]

DS is 5, normal happy little boy. Perfectly able to go to the loo on his own during the day but still wears a nappy at night.
We were waiting until the nappy is dry in the morning but this just doesn't seem to be happening. Am I supposed to wake him up at night to go to the loo or what?
What have other wise MN's done - do I just no-longer put a nappy on at night and let him wet himself or do I just wait it out until the nappy is dry in the morning and then assume he no longer need it anymore?
I know it's not the end of the world but he's going to have to go without a nappy during the night at some point so what comes first, the dry nappy in the morning or the hard-core removal?

I'd wait another 6-12 months before doing anything.

Do you know at what point in the night he wets himself? ie is it the night or is it when he wakes in the morning but knows he has a nappy on?

Yes, I would silently, take him to the toilet, before you go to bed, then tuck him back in, and off you go.
This helped us.

Ok that's all great advice, I thought I had read somewhere about it being hormone related but wasn't sure if I had made that up in my own head or not. I guess just sit and wait it out then? He was a wee before bed and if he does wake up in the night we will start to take him then as well.
Last thing I want to do is stress him out about it

No! He's not ready to be dry at night. When he's ready he'll stop unless he has a medical condition and it's too early to tell. My dd was dry at 2.5 in the day but continued to wee at night until she was 6. Don't stress, his body is not ready.

Do you know if he's weeing in his sleep though or just when he's awake? I'd try without a nappy to see which it is. If he's weeing in his sleep then he's not ready but if he's consciously doing it then you just need to go cold turkey!

I'm pretty sure he's just weeding when he's asleep

Obviously he's not weeding OR weeing in his sleep

OP we pondered this same thing when ds was reliably daytime potty trained. His nappy always contained wee in the morning & we had no idea when he was doing it. We left it a while thinking we should wait for him to be dry in the morning but it never happened. In the end we did as twoinjuredswans suggested & tried him in pants at night. First night he had an accident, after that he was fine, just woke up in the night if he needed to go to the toilet. We never bothered with lifting him before we went to bed.

I'd say give it a try - he might surprise you. If after 3-4 days he is still bedwetting every night - you know he's not ready. Hth

We lift my just-five-year old every night around 10pm: saves the expense & faff of nappies, and he isn't waking when his bladder is full as occasionally we get a wet bed in the early hrs or around 6am. Interestingly he has twice woken with upset tummy needing a poo and headed for the loo independently in the middle of the night!

Might need to work out what time works as we find too soon after he has fallen asleep and he's too deep asleep, but around 2 hrs later he stays asleep but will stand and wee. Sometimes needs a bit of verbal coaxing.

Hope that's helpful!

When we first potty trained dd she had dry nappies on waking and went straight on potty rather than in nappy. It was a hard slog for us potty training to DP was insistent we leave nappy on for a bit. Until a few months later when we realised we had no pull ups at bedtime, it was a Sunday and all shops had closed. DD went cold turkey. We didn't make a big thing just left potty in her bedroom and told her to use it if she needed a wee. I think we may have had one small accident since and a few times a poo has started to come out so had to put her on potty then.

Oh and after the dry nappies at night she started filling them again.

Not read all your replies so apologies if I am replicating what someone else has said. My son was not dry at night until he was past 7. I used to put bed mats on the bed so that he got the feeling of a wet sheet but the bed was still protected and he did not feel like a baby wearing pull ups. If he had a sleep over anywhere I told he parents to discreetly use the bed mat and I gave them a sheet to use too so they did not have to worry about soggy sheets. Oddly, he never ever wet the bed when he was staying elsewhere. He just sort of stopped it on his own during his 7-8 year. I used to remind him every bed time that he needed to get up if he wanted a wee and made a point of bringing it to his attention before bed. He hated the fact he did it so the little reminders from me at bedtime made him more aware. Chances are he would have stopped at that time anyway but it was more of an inconvenience to me than a worry. Good luck!

Mine is nearly 7. Still full in morning.i wet the bed till I was 12. I'm not expecting him dry any time soon..in fact they often leek😞

Snakesalive we are in the same situation. Ds is 7 and still in nappies (well dry nites pj pants), at night, very full in the morning and often leak. I'm not expecting any miracles soon.

I'd leave it a bit
dd1 was very slightly younger, but we did not see one single dry night nappy until a week before her fifth birthday. Within a fortnight of the first dry nappy she was totally, 100% dry at night. It was as if someone had flicked a switch.

I would lift him for a try and put a bed matt I know about the hormone but i think lifting gets them into the habit do it at the weekend or over halfterm lift him 2 hours after he goes to sleep saying that my friends son was 7 before they got a dry week

Dd is 6 we are 2nd week into alarm we bought. She's doing brilliantly.

My Dd is 6 in December, I just chatted to our GP about this, we have a family history of wetting the bed until teens. He's going to see what the local health board recommend and call me with any suggestions. But he did stress it's still very common at this age.

These are such helpful responses thank you. When I've brought it up in conversations with mums who have kids the same age as DS I get a bit of a look about the fact that he's still in nappies at night.
Some great tips about sleep overs as well, he's not ready yet but not far off it and I desperately don't want him feeling embarrassed by it

It is a bit unusual but not rare he will get there.

It's not unusual at all. GPs will rarely offer any support until the child is 7 because it is ENTIRELY normal.
Lifting is a terrible idea. If you are lifting, and not waking the child up properly and putting them on the loo, you are essentially teaching them to pee in their sleep. That ain't smart, and can be counter-productive.
Alarms and medications are options for later on (past 7) but until then not really necessary, as bed wetting is quite normal for this age group.
Having run youth groups with sleepovers, I can assure that there are plenty of kids at 7 and beyond in pull-ups. Parents who pull faces and treat it as an oddity or something to be concerned about are making something entirely normal into something shameful. That also is counter-productive for kids who DO struggle, later on.

Polter I had read somewhere that the hormone- related wetting is only 10% of children, and 90% can be encouraged to be dry with more drinking in day / less at night time / other interventions. Is this not right?

Op my son stopped as soon as I got him to drink a lot more liquid in the day, which is step 1 of what they get you to do when referred. He drank four large water bottles a day and became dry the week after! Maybe coincidence, but it seemed like magic.

Interesting replies here, I read this thread with interest!
OP I'm in almost exactly the same situation, my DS is nearly 5 and we have the same. I'm waiting for dry or nearly dry morning nappies before trying without