bedwetting

[wenus]

My 7 year old still wets the bed most nights. Im getting exasperated as I dont see any improvement despite trying all the usual things . It,s not something openly discussed so I,d be glad of any advice. We have seen the nurse at the bedwetting clinic ,and tried a buzzer (which my daughter hated ) and even the medication which didnt work . I am worried that this problem will affect her self esteem .

Does she use pyjama pants?

Maybe it is time for a hospital referral.

Being exasperated is not going to help her self esteem.

If a child has never been dry at night it's usually because they are not yet physically able to. There's no point putting her through all these 'treatments' unless she is giving any indication of readiness.

I feel quite passionate about this, as I come from a family of bedwetters, and I remember the great distress I felt at my parents trying to help me. I just wasn't ready and I won't put anyone else through what I wnet through. Including my dc.

Dh's family were all dry within weeks or months of being toilet-trained, so my MIL expected the same from her dgc.

All of ours have been or still are in night-time nappies. When they showed signs of readiness we started lifting them. By readiness I mean that their nappies were still dry when we went to bed. Often they'd be wet again in the morning. But when they were consistently dry in the morning we started rewarding them. Not because it would encourage the child to be dry - it's out of their control - but because it boosted their self-esteem. Particulrarly for dd, who is on long-term medication for bladder control problems.

Ds1 was reliably dry from age 8, after lifting him for over a year. Dd's nappy has been dry every night for the past month, and last night she went to bed for the first time ever without a nappy (shit I'm crying as I type this). I'm so bloody proud of her - given the problems that she has had ever since she toilet-trained, and the consultant warned us not to expect her to be dry at night for many years. I know I said that it's outside the child's control, but I'm still proud! She's 6.

Backt to the point: ds2 is showing signs of readiness, with his nappy sometimes dry when we go to bed, so we'll probably start lifting him in the next few months. He's only 3.

So you see it varies from child to child. But there really is no point getting them or yourselves upset as they cannot do anything about it until their bodies are physically ready. You need to give yourselves all a break. Use pyjama pants, tell her it's not a big deal - she's tried her best, now you'll take a rest and try again in 6months/nest year/when she's 8/when you're all ready.

Unfortunately, there is no immediate cure for bed-wetting and medicines may have side effects, but managing the problem with hygiene and economy is so much easier with diurnetix.com/washable-briefs/girls/childrens-washable-bedtime-pants.html

Waking at night only disturbs sleep.

My ds will be 7 in may and still isn't dry...we are going through the clinic thing at the moment, but what PC said has really struck a cord with me...I was a bit when the nurse suggested a sticker chart ffs - this ISN'T something ds is doing deliberately, he clearly has no control (sleeps like the dead, wees and sleeps in it)....I will see how it goes, but cetainly am not going to push it (dp's side of the family were all late), it is certainly no good getting annoyed about it. Get on the ERIC website and do some reading.....also some very good threads on here - dig around....

my dd is 11 and still wets occassionally - about once a fortnight. it has declined over the years, used to be every night until she was about 8, then started to reduce. we tried sticker chart when she was little - that worked for a while, then the novelty wore off. All I can say is that I HOPE we are now at the end of it. Also I think it is hereditary, i wet the bed myself, reglarly, until i was about 12 and my older sister until she was about 16. my parents were driven to the depths of despair, but i can confidently inform everyone that i am now, aged almost 30, fully dry at night! I think it generally just tails off eventually as they grow out of it, but it is really essential to not get cross about it and to reassure your child with some stats - like 1 in 5 7 year olds wet the bed, so there will be 5 or 6 in your child's class, that can be quite reassuring about the normality of it.