Age 6.5, not dry at night

[LouLouLove]

My DS is 6.5 and still in pull ups at night. He has been dry during the day for over 3 years but wakes almost every morning with a full nappy. We have tried him without but within a couple of hours he is soaked through but hasn't woken up.

We haven't pushed it because we have figured that when he's ready he will stop but now I'm wondering if we are wrong and should be doing more to actively help him be dry at night. Please can anyone offer any advice, he's my only child so I have no other experience but I know that friends children are mostly dry at night by now. Thanks in advance.

I pushed it with my DD when she was a bit younger because she had done some dry nights. I swapped the very comfy and dry disposable for a very cold and I comfy when wet cloth nappy. She was dry at night in 2 days.

If your DS isn’t doing any dry nights, it could simply be that he’s not producing the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). Sometimes it develops later. If you are concerned, the GP can arrange a blood test.

Give it another six months then ask for a referral to an enuresis clinic.

Have you tried lifting him to go to the loo 2 hrs after he goes to bed/ at your bed time?
Male sure he drinks enough during the daytime and not drinking lots before bed. Avoid any dark drinks blackcurrant/ cola etc completely.

Does he have any fears that may prevent him from getting up to go to the loo?...

Hi my Ds was same , from my reserach about it online turns out some kids arnt getting the message to brain they to pee at night. After trying loads of different thibgs inckuding limiting fluids at night , lifting him in to tolet at night nothing worked. i bought the roger bed bedding alarm on line and in a few nights he was dry it is expensive aboyt €100 but the best thing we ever did. i recommended it to a work collegue her Dh was 7 and still bed wetting and its been a successful with ger dry after a few nights . have a look at it on line best product ive ever bought.

He will become dry when he's ready, just carry on using pull ups and act like it's normal. I'd much rather change a wet pull up than wet sheets

Do look at the ERIC website - some fab advice on there that I used with my DS (who was probably about 7 before he finally started to be dry at night). I did what they advised, lots to drink during the day, cut down in the evening, go to the loo before bed, and then go to the loo again. I didn't use pullups - which makes for quite a lot of washing but was right for us (lots of undersheets).

Enuresis clinic advise not to use pull ups, as they decrease children's awareness of wetting.

An enuresis alarm may work, they are available online fairly cheaply.

My 8 and 6 year olds still wear pull ups. The 8 year old does not wet as much as he used to - he used to wet it every night but now its just about once or twice a week. I went to the GP about it and she wasn't concerned and said it is quite common for a certain amount of children this age and older not to be dry at night. Sometimes it can be genetic - I used to wet the bed as a child but grew out of it. Luckily we have pull-ups nowadays and don't have to change soaking sheets.

DS only came out of pull ups at 6.5 (they were full in the morning) and it's taken us nearly a year to get to the stage of not having a wet bed most nights. When we took the sleep pants away we would take him for a wee when we went to bed and this sometimes worked but sometimes didn't. He's recently turned 7 and is now dry most nights. I wouldn't worry. Is he drinking enough water in the day? DS doesn't really and I think this doesn't help as the bladder doesn't recognise how to 'hold on' when it's full.

Thanks for continued comments, his pull ups are getting less full, mostly but sometimes soaked! I've bought an alarm so am going to try that and see if he's ready. Silly question but would it work to try and alarm with a pull up, just to avoid changing sheets at night if he does have an accident or does that defeat the point?!

The alarm will work inside a pull-up or nappy but I found it was best to put it into a muslin nappy ( or, when away from home, three or four big tissues) and then with the moisture sensitive side towards the child's body - obviously in the most strategic place to catch the first drops. If you bury it in the pull-up or nappy you may find that your DC is wetting quite a lot before it rings which I think defeats the object of developing a quick response. Good luck - we found once DS1 was asking to be out of nappies, the alarm worked well.