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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

5 year old still in pull ups at night

27 replies

Bronte · 27/05/2010 19:24

I have tried leaving them off and woken her up to go to the toilet but my daughter will still invariably be wet in the morning. She will soon be at the end of her reception year and I would love to crack this delay in her development before she starts year 1
Any advise please!!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 27/05/2010 19:25

It isn't a delay in her development.

it is perfectly normal for 5 year olds to still be wet at night.

aberk · 27/05/2010 19:26

dd has just stopped weeing at night, just stopped, 3 days after her 8th birthday!

wilbur · 27/05/2010 19:28

I will be watching this thread with interest as ds2 will be five in August and the few times we have tried to ditch the night nappy, I have just ended up doing an awful lot of laundry. He gets so tired at school and sleeps so soundly, I have no idea how this will resolve. We tried lifting him at 11pm, but he never did a wee, just sat on the loo and cried with tiredness.

bumpybecky · 27/05/2010 19:30

it's normal

10% of 5 year olds wet the bed
5% of 10 year olds wet the bed

it's not considered a medical problem until age 7 or later

try to be as relaxed as possible about it, no amount of fretting, nagging or shouting is going to make it any better

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 27/05/2010 19:30

Having had 3 children i suggest you let them wear their pull ups until they are dry. Lifting doesn't work and is a waste of your time.

Dancergirl · 27/05/2010 20:14

Completely agree with the others. Don't stress about it and don't set targets. You may love to ditch the pull-ups but it doesn't sound like your daughter is ready. My oldest wasn't dry at night till 7 or so. It doesn't matter at all, children are all different and are ready at different ages.

hillbilly · 27/05/2010 21:29

I would also agree with everyone here. DD will be 5 in June and nowhere near ready to stop wearing pull ups. We tried before Christmas but just had lots of laundry!!

littlemissindecisive · 28/05/2010 12:03

Same here - DD 5 in August too and I was hoping to try and have ago over half term.

She went through a short phase or 3 or 4 nights dry each week, and has since been wet every night no idea what to do.

5 just seems old to me - she's done 3 years dry in the day now but not at night.

I actually wouldn't have thought 10% of 5 year olds wet at night being 'normal'. That obviously means 90% are dry.

Runoutofideas · 28/05/2010 18:11

My dd was 5 in March and is still in pull ups at night. It does seem to be more common than you think - I know she's certainly not the only one in her class. We tend to get a few dry nights then wet again. It does help if I remember to not let her drink too much in the evening and make sure she goes to the loo just before bed. I'm not particularly concerned about it, but it's starting to become more of an issue as dd herself is becoming a bit embarassed by it and tries to hide the pull-ups in the morning if they're wet....!

fruitful · 28/05/2010 18:22

Isn't there some hormone that stops you making urine while you are asleep, and children don't make that hormone when they are small?

So until they start making it (between 2 and 7++) they are going to need to wee frequently at night?

(somebody will either correct me or tell us the technical term in a minute)

Therefore it isn't necessarily anything to do with what you or your dc do.

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 28/05/2010 19:57

You are right. You can't train them to be dry at night. DD had 11 dry nights and then wet for months then suddenly was dry. She was 6.

cockatrice · 28/05/2010 20:01

yy fruitful, spot on.

Ds is nearly 6 and still in pull ups dd is 2.3 and has been dry at night for a couple of months, so I have one at each end of the scale. There is no logic to it, they will do it in their own sweet time.

wearymum200 · 28/05/2010 21:03

Vasopressin is the hormone; lots of children don't develop ability to be dry at night tillover 5. No night-wetting clinic will even consider a child under 7. It's normal.
Ds dry by day at just 2 is still wet evry night in pull ups at 4. He'll get round to it one day.

Original poster

Bronte · 28/05/2010 21:06

Lots to reassure me here. Off to Asda tomorrow to stock up on the trusty pull ups!

OP posts:

MorningCoffee · 28/05/2010 21:10

Same here, dd is 5 and still in pull ups at night, although ds was dry at 3, i am not threating about it, what will be will be.

mamsnet · 28/05/2010 21:17

I myself wet the bed til after six.. My parents were fab about it but my older siblings did use it to tease me..
It's lovely to see how understanding you all are of your DCs, they'll get there..

Just one thought.. My DD night trained at about 3.5. I'd suspected for a while that the wet nappy in the morning was actually happening just as she woke up and had the security of the nappy being there.. when I tried her that was exactly how it was.. If I got her up in the morning before she woke up completely we were fine.. if she was there a little longer she wet herself. She was fine very quickly..

ScarlettCrossbones · 29/05/2010 11:19

My DS has just turned 5 and is just the same. He wakes with a sodden pullup every morning - it's only been dry once or twice in his entire life, and there was usually a reason for that (not enough to drink the previous day, for example). It didn't occur to me to even worry about it!

They're all different - DD suddenly got dry day and night aged 2 and 7 months, so she's totally "leapfrogged" DS, but of course we don't make a deal out of it.

honeymunster · 30/05/2010 21:25

Bronte - my DD is 4.5. She potty trained with no problems really and was dry in the day almost straight away. However, was still getting up with heavy nappy in the mornings. I was waiting for her to wake up with dry nappy but it never happened. Then last summer I just decided to stop putting one on at night. I prepared her by telling her that she wouldn't be wearing nappy at night and that if she needed a wee in the night she was to get up and go to the toilet. I also made sure that I had spare sheets at the ready in case of any accidents! She wet the bed the first 2 nights, then after that we had success! Probably had another 2 accidents in the first week but none after that. Although it worked for me, I totally agree that they all do it in their own time, and it's what you feel happy with

harpsichordcarrier · 30/05/2010 21:28

same here! dd1 was dry completely day and night before she was three and has never wet the bed and only ever wet herself during the day once or twice.

dd2... is 4.5 and absolutely nowhere near dry at night despite being completely dry in the day for almost 2 years! we have occasionally tried without a nappy at night but it is pointless, she is not ready.
it's no big deal. just wait till she's ready

whammum · 01/06/2010 21:26

DD no.7 turned 7 last year and was still bedwetting (heavily) every night.

As she was becoming fed up of it herself (she didn;t like waking up wet or the smell of it) i decided to get her referred to the local continence advisory clinic.

The specialist was a wonderful lady - kind and understanding and didn;t make a big deal of it at all. As others here have said - it's really not something to worry yourself about.

The course of treatment my DD was given was:

1/ DD had to drink alot more water (particularly toward the beginning of the day. This was because the specialist believed DD may have the 'small bladder syndrome' and by drinking lots more her bladder would naturally stretch/grow.

2/ DD was encourage to wait as long as possible before passing water in the daytime. I.e. when she needed to go - she could go to the bathroom and maybe even sit on the loo ... but instead of passing water she was encouraged to wait (maybe read some of a book or something). To both stretch her bladder and also to strengthen her pelvic floor muscles.

3/ Lastly ... she was given a nighttime alarm which would go off as soon as she started to pee. It took a couple of nights to get hte hang of it ... it went off alot and i was very tired for a while. BUT withing abt 2 weeks she was bone dry and that was over 6 months ago and we've not looked back.

HTH

Hullygully · 01/06/2010 21:28

My dd trained herself at 2. ds still in pull-ups until around 9/10. It can be hereditary (eneurisis sp?), my brothers were the same.

whammum · 01/06/2010 21:29

oh ... and i was told by the continence lady NOT to lift her to go for a wee when i go to bed ... this just makes them tired and crabby and won;t really help the situation (she was right ... even though i used ot lift her it didn;t make any difference and she'd still wet her bed).

all the best, x WHM

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 01/06/2010 21:36

Try not to stress about it. That's the approach I'm taking. DD will be five in October and has been dry in the day since she was two, I think she's only ever had two accidents since being trained. But, for night-time, she just isn't ready.
She'll get up and go to the loo for a poo no problem but just does not recognise that she needs a wee. We do find that she has lots of dry nights in a row, she is better if we dont get her drink a load in the evening, but I also think that's not really fair if she says she is thirsty.
Have decided not to stress. She'll be ready when she's ready. She does get up on the weekend mornings, potters to the loo for a wee, puts her pull up in the bin, puts her pajamas back on, and climbes back into bed with us

MyCatIsABiggerBastardThanYours · 01/06/2010 21:38

whammum that is really interesting. I might try some of that.

My DD is 4 1/2 and has really had no signs of being dry at all with wet pull ups every night and the very occasional dry night. So about 3 weeks ago we decided to start lifting her onto the toilet at around 10pm. She is half asleep and doesn't know she's been to the toilet but she has been dry in the morning for about 75% of the time, which is a vast improvment.

Last night she went the entire night without wetting or weeing when we lifted her. I'm hopeful that over the next month or so this will see it cracked. If not, no biggy, we'll just carry on or put her back on pull ups til she's ready (if she'll wear them again, that is).

It has been quite a relief to read that others have similar.

PiratePrincess · 01/06/2010 22:21

DS2 age 5.10 still in pull ups which are wet every morning.

DS1 was dry at 3.9 years.

Am intending to potty train DD this week (for some reason, I keep hearing girls are better at it but not sure after reading this thread )

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