Referal for 7.5 year old still not dry at night?

[IlanaK]

I have posted about this once before a year or more ago and have read the many threads on the topic too (though generally for younger children). I have always takent he approach that one day he will be dry and we just need to wait. However, now I am beginning to worry if I need a referal to a specialist clinic.

Ds1 is 8 in July and not dry at night. We use those pyjama pants things at night. It is not a behavioural/laziness issue. He just does not wake up to the need to go. We tried lifting in the past and it made no difference. Recenlty we tried it again and for the first 5 nights it worked and he was dry in the mornings. Now though, he is wet when we go into lift him and then wet again in the morning. We do restrict drinking at dinner time and he has nothing before bed. He definately has the ability to hold his wee for a long time during the day. He has been dry in the day since 3 and has no accidents ever. He can go ages if out and about and there is no toilet around.

I truely did believe the theory that a hormone needs to kick in but he is getting older and older with nothing happenning. He wants to stop wearing pull ups at night, but there is no way to do it yet.

What do you all think? Have any of you been to one of these clinics? What do they do? Is it easy to get a referal? Is there something else we should be doing? My dh wants to get a cd that is supposed to help - I think you play it at night. I am skeptical.

Any help really approeciated.

My son is 7.11 and was only regularly dry at night aged about 7.6. He still will have the odd damp night and he is such a heavy sleeper it is ridiculous.

One of our dc was 9+ before he became dry at night (and even then not totally reliable for another year).

I did a lot of washing during that time as he didn't wear pullups etc for quite a while before that.

We had a mattress protector, sheets and easy to wash quilts that fit in the washing machine.

We did do the avoiding fizzy drinks at night, lots of drinks in the day, reminding about the toilet before bed etc. I'm sure you know most of that.

Our gp said it wasn't really a cause for concern until after they turn 8. By that time we decided it would come right by itself in the end (which it did). Also found out that other members of the family had been late at night-time dryness (some around 11-12yo) so thought it was probably hereditary.

So possibly your ds is still waiting for the hormone to kick in.

This worked for a friend of mine:

She picked a time in the night when her DS would be dry - say, 2 AM. Then she set her alarm for 2 AM and took him to pee.

Every night, she set the alarm 10 minutes later, until it reached 7 AM, their normal waking time.

Thanks everyone. Yes, Juuule, I have read so many tips and I think we do them all. That's why I am beginning to worry. As far as I am aware, there is no history of this in our families.

CotedAzur - that won't work for us as when we get him up around 11pm before going to bed, he is already wet. We would have to be getting him up within an hour of him going to bed to catch him dry I think.

Someone on MN posted a while ago about her daughter suddenly becoming dry at night when she was really quite old probably 8ish so it is a hormone thing. I would go to your gp and ask for a referral simply because it will probably take ages to come through!!!

DD2 is 6.5 and still not reliable but is getting there but she is just the heavy sleeper issue I think.

We have the same problem with ds1 although he was dry at night from about he had frequent wet beds on and off. Every September when he started back at school he started wetting the bed again. He was 8 last Sept and I put him in the night time pull ups as I couldn't cope with all the washing & drying. He is now 8.5 and hasn't had a dry night in 6 months so you are definitely not alone. I try not to let it worry me though and just hope he will be dry again one day.

I missed out 4 in my last post - when we first got him out of pullups

DS is 11.5 and not dry yet. Our GP refered him to an enuresis clinic who prescribed desmopressin, an artificial form on the hormone, vasopressin which helped him stay dry longer but didn't stop him wetting.
He's just started to have some dry nights which is fantastic!
DD is 8 and not dry yet but because of our experience with DS we haven't worried at all.

At the clinic they advised us to get him out of pull ups. We have a waterproof mattress protector and put one of the nappy change pads under the sheet to absorb most of the damage.
This means all you need to wash is a sheet and a pair of pjs a day which is no trouble. They also would probably advise to wait until spring when it's a bit warmer then ditch those pants!
Good luck!

I know this is a minor consideration, but the cost of the nappies is killing us too. Especially at the moment when we are lifting him and finding him wet, we are chinging it so going through two a night. There is no way I will take him out of them though as I have enough washing to do with 3 kids without adding in his bedding each day.

Ds2 was dry at night around 3.5 years old so I just don't get this.

Thanks unfitmohter - I was posting when you did.

Why take him out of the pull ups? Surely, if it is not a voluntary thing, it will make no difference. I understnad in young children when pitty training that they need to feel what "wet" is like, but in an older child who can't seem to help it (lack of hormone or whatever), surely it only creates more washing for me?

I would definitely have him referred. My friend's ds had a similar problem and it turned out he as permanently constipated.

Dd has been lightly incontinent (mainly in the day) as part of her hypermobility syndrome; we saw a specialist who made some dietary changes but eventually prescribed medicine. It worked very well and was well worth doing.

Other treatment involved advising her not to drink Ribena or Coke.

I was told that there would be progress whilst he was in them as they have no idea when they have wet, DS ditched them at about 7.5. He wears them if we are away from home though.
An enuresis clinic will dry different things such a bed wetting alarm and will try and establish the cause of the enuresis before resorting to medication.

My dd has progressed wearing nappies at night. Sometimes we end up with a wet quilt despite the nappy and an absorbant under sheet. It's difficult because there is a limit to how much extra washing you can cope with in a family of 6 when it includes washing & drying a quilt!

I know some people just privately rent the alarms because they wake the child up as soon as they start wetting.

Thanks everyone. He does not drink anything except water. Interestingly, we noticed tonight at dinner that he was really thirsty again and thought back through the day. I think what is sometimes happening is that he is not bothering to drink anything in the afternoon and so is really thirsty at dinner and drinking too much then. We are going to try to be really conscious about reminding him to drink during the afternoon and restrict him to one cup of water at dinner. I will also ask for a referal from the GP. He is definately not constipated - he goes regularly and has never had problems with this.