8 year old bed wetting

[sunshineandsparkles]

8 yo ds potty trained etc at normal rate, just before age 3. At age 5, following some life events, he started bed wetting again, as well has having accidents at school (wet and soiled).

He is still soaked through every morning, despite wearing pull ups and going to the toilet before bed, not drinking late at night etc.

We are sitting watching TV and he has just wet himself!! I just don't know how to deal with this anymore, it seems to be getting worse, not better.

I've been to the GP to rule out infection and he is reluctant to prescribe medication as he wants him to learn how to do it himself.

Any advice please?!

GP for referral to consultant?
You need to find the root cause of the incontinence and rule out anything insidious.

I'm torn between thinking he's a lazy little so and so, can't be bothered to put his gadgets down etc; or wondering if there is anything wrong. But the GP doesn't think we need to take any action.

NICE guidelines state that treatment to tackle bedwetting can be effective from aged 5. The GP sounds unhelpful. Can you make an appointment with a different one? There could be many underlying causes, emotional and/or physical - all possible causes should be considered by a good GP - not dismissed. Www.eric.org.uk has lots of info and leaflets that might be useful until you can see a GP that can help your DS.

Oh just had a look at that website. Got some helpful stuff on there thanks.

Only one GP at our practice. We know it's linked to emotional issues that cannot be resolved, so it's difficult to know how to treat it really.

Our GP said still quite common at 8. We took our DS

Hi, our son at 3 was putting himself on loo three times a night. We moved bedrooms and suddenly wetting himself at night (and day ). The day time was lazyness after a while (it was remembered sadness at first ) but we tried everything at night , those alarms, pull ups, star charts etc. We just put him on toilet twice a night and expected him to remake his own bed if he still wet it, from age 8, which he did. Then we went down to putting him on loo once a night. Since Christmas he has been fine and gone through without needing loo or wetting himself . He is nine. Just offering hope that sometimes it just clicks in.

Have you tried a bed wetting alarm? They can be very successful. Also, is it definitely not possible to resolve the emotional issues? As he was dry for 2 years I would say that shows that physically he can be dry at night but he may need help working through whatever the emotional difficulties he faces are.

Our DS aged 8 has similar issues. It isn't as uncommon as you would think and more likely linked to hormonal development than laziness. Some children just don't wake up when they need a wee. It's apparently more common in boys. Our DS is a very heavy sleeper!

He was referred to a local enuresis clinic. Their advice was to stop using pull ups as he would not start to wake up when he needed to go (we use bed mats under his sheets) Also avoid anything with blackcurrant in it as this can act as a diuretic. Make sure he is well hydrated through the day as dehydration can make the problem worse but avoid drinks an hour before bed. We also tried an alarm which would sound when he started to wee, this is meant to train him to wake up.

All these things have been helpful. DS still has occasional accidents but much less often and is improving with time.

He soaks through the pull ups and the bed and still doesn't wake! I've tried to make sure he is hydrated and he only drinks milk or water at anytime. He's a very heavy sleeper, sleeping for over 12 hours a night and not waking to things in the street/next door that wake me up.

Speak to your school nurse, she will give good relevant and up to date information to help out here. Good luck x

Thanks all. When the GP said not to take action, I felt a bit stupid and embarrassed to go back again or to try elsewhere. School nurse is a good call!

If it's any use, our rather old style consultant advised to get the child involved in the clean up as much as possible. So he strips the sheets, puts them in the washing machine rec. It helps to bring home the impact of what they are doing.
Worth a go!

This sounds more like secondary than primary enuresis - he was dry and started wetting again after some problems which could have had a psychological impact. I have a nephew whose parents parted and he started bedwetting after being wholly reliable - a good child psychologist was of great help in assuring him that he was loved by both parents, the split was not his fault etc. She thought he ws unconsciously looking for the security he had felt as a much younger child. Combined with an alarm he stopped wetting and has been reliable for over a year again now. You might feel that some sort of help for the emotional problems is the best initial approach.

My son is 8.5 and was 8 when we self-referred to school nurse. They've been fantastic and after discussion with him we went with astric bed alarm. He was a heavy sleeper and it took 3 weeks to have any effect (got worse before it got better) but now seems pretty much fine. He wakes once a night to wee or sleeps through. Try school nurse (our clinic runs throughout vacations as well as term which is handy)

Hi, been reading through the posts....
My son is 6 and has never been dry at night, he's always worn the pull ups. He says he doesn't feel the need to go during the night etc
I thought it was just something he'd grown out of. I'm now wondering if it's worth going to the doctors?

weasledee, my DD still wets at night and has never been dry, though she's only 4. It came up in conversation with a friend who's a GP (DD brought it up, I wasn't worried!) and she said it's worth seeking help if a child reaches 7 and still isn't dry. Hope that helps!

I believe it's 7 as well.
We went to the GP when DS hit 7 and was still wetting.