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Children's health

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Original poster

6 year old son still frequently bed wetting

33 replies

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 22:43

At 4 our son was diagnosed with sleep apnea which gp associated with his almost nightly bed wetting saying his brain would rather concentrate on restarting his breathing than waking him to pee.
In nov 2012 he had tonsils & adenoids removed, apnea cured!
For a week he was dry, but now as bad as ever.
We have tried everything ( limiting fluids, loo before bed, taking him at night at both a set time then at random times) and wondering if he is past the age where he can learn to wake to pee without help.
Would a dr help him?
Even be nice to know we are not alone!

OP posts:

VerySmallSqueak · 07/04/2013 22:46

It's still not that old tbh.
You could ask for a referral to an enuresis clinic but he may well be considered too young.

bigbuttons · 07/04/2013 22:50

I know a 6 year old who still regularly wets and my 11 year old dd still has the occasional accident and at 6 she was definitely not dry. It is pretty common. I guess most parents just don't want to discuss it openly hence you idea that your son is in a minority. When I went to the dr wrt my dd he said it was common and most will grow out of it eventually.

betterthanthat · 07/04/2013 22:52

You definitely aren't alone! My dd had no other issues but was regularly wetting until well after 6. I did research, tried to get her to drink more and hold on for longer as this was recommended but didn't make a big deal about it and it resolved itself almost overnight around her 7th birthday. Chances are your ds will too. I did mention it to her teacher once as was concerned about teasing and they said this is really common at that age and they still had some wetting themselves in school in yr 1. Try not to get too stressed about it although I know this is easier said than done!

Original poster

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 22:53

I didn't realise it was so common no, my eldest dry at night before 2 so no personal experience of this.
Guess I'll just keep washing the sheets then.

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Foundapound · 07/04/2013 22:54

My 6 yo is still wet at night, and to be honest our main aim is just to make as little fuss as possible. Her father wet the bed till he was about 11, and it is my understanding that this can be hereditary. We haven't even mentioned it to medical professionals, as I'm sure it will sort itself out by the time she leaves primary school. I am aware they can use drugs to treat it, but I can't really see the point at this stage. Her father was given alarms, etc, and none of it helped, just embarrassed him and made him anxious.

The last time we tried without a pullup, she did manage a couple of dry nights, maybe 6 months ago, so we think she's gradually improving and may try again soon.

Should say also, my 10yo had a fair few control issues during the day till she was about 8/9, and was wet at night until almost 6. Was more awkward, as she was dry for about 6 months, so we felt we couldn't really go back to nappies. Anyway, she's fine now. Middle child was much more typical, dry at 2.5 day and night.

Jojay · 07/04/2013 22:54

My 6 yo Ds is still in pull ups at night. They rarely come off dry.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 07/04/2013 22:55

Our 7.9 year old ds1 still wears pull ups which are wet 99% of the time.

He is getting more upset about it and so he has been referred to an enuresis clinic - we're waiting for an appt.

It's a lot more common than you realise.

Original poster

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 22:56

I don't particularly stress about it (more the water bill than anything!) but sometimes he will wet twice a night, also, being wet doesn't wake him up which I also thought a little odd but I suppose may be normal if people aren't discussing 'older' bed wetters....

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Foundapound · 07/04/2013 22:56

We use pullups so not lots of sheetwashing. Also have cotton-coated rubber mats that we use on top of the sheets if trying without pullups, a lot less hassle to wash than sheets. HTH.

2kidsintow · 07/04/2013 22:56

My DD was refused a referral at age 7 on the basis that she was too young.

We tried waking her (impossible), a wetness alarm (disaster:woke the rest of the house, but not her), lifting her while asleep for a wee (possible, but back breaking and ultimately unhelpful if she wasn't waking herself).

At 9 she was referred.
She was medicated and given some really good advice.
None of it worked reliably. Not even the meds (desmomelts), although they improved things a bit. And the advice got more and more restricting. No dark drinks. No acidic drinks. No milk (too salty).

She's used the meds as a crutch - so took them mostly when on school trips or sleepovers when an accident would have been a disaster (socially).

The rest of the time we concentrated on the rest of the advice. Drink plenty in the day and go to the toilet frequently. Last drink an hour or more before bed. Going to the toilet several times while trying to get to sleep. Telling herself she was in control and that she should wake to pee.

She's 12 now and mostly dry. But will still have an accident once in a while.

Time will out. Meds will help a bit if needed, but still aren't a sure thing.

Good luck. ERIC online has some good advice.

Original poster

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 22:57

He gets really upset at the mention of pull ups :(

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Foundapound · 07/04/2013 22:58

DH didn't even wake with the alarms when he was a kid! You know the ones that go off when they wet. He feels he was just a very deep sleeper.

Original poster

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 22:59

Thank you all.
Even being able to have a moan with people who 'know' and not just sympathetic friends is lovely!

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Original poster

Whereisegg · 07/04/2013 23:01

Where can I find these mats please? Are they disposable or washable?

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Jas · 07/04/2013 23:05

DS is 7 and wet more than 50% of nights (but was 100% at 6, so is improving slowly). If he wakes fully and is wet, he strips and puts fleece blankets on his bed himself, but often doesn't wake at all.

As a previous poster saud, it seems to have a hereditory factor, and his father (and my brother) were both in double digits before they were dry at night.

It seems more common in boys, but dd2 also had occasional accidents until about 11.

It doesn't bother him, except that the only sleepover he has been on are to close family and sympathetic friends. I would consider asking for a clinic referral in the future if it upset him, but at the moment we make no fuss about it at all.

Foundapound · 07/04/2013 23:06

Well then, our mats are brilliant for absorbing, but I don't know where you'd get similar, as we got them from Green Baby who are no more. I'm having a google for you. I make the bed with one under the sheets, and one over if no pullup. If child wakes, or you discover them wet, is easy to remove, and can pop another in if needed. Change of pyjamas too of course, and duvet may get wet, but it still reduces the laundry.

Our dd1 couldn't have gone back to nappies, so I know where you're coming from there, luckily dd3 prefers it to wetting bed.

Nice to know you're not alone though, isn't it?

Foundapound · 07/04/2013 23:08

I use washable ones, but you can get disposable. I like that ours are not crinkly or sweaty. I'm not finding quite the same thing on google, will keep looking.

Foundapound · 07/04/2013 23:12

www.eric.org.uk has things that would do same job in their shop, brolly sheets. Lots of info on there too.

jammydodger · 07/04/2013 23:12

we use huggies bed mats from tesco, they are great, and have sticky pads to keep the stuck on the mattress (previous ones didn't and always moved and therefore useless).
tesco pull up pants or huggies dry nites go right up to age 8-15 years. All available at tesco with weekly shop..

VerySmallSqueak · 07/04/2013 23:19

If you look for adult incontinence aids you will hopefully find somewhere that sells washable bed mats - they are a lot less 'sweaty' than the plastic mattress covers so much more pleasant.
They're not cheap,but they last and last,and worth it compared with disposables.

Jenny70 · 07/04/2013 23:23

Google brolly sheets - they go over bedding & are washable... saves heaps if bed stripping etc. Also great for vomitting children & comfy to sleep on (plus good for protecting hotel beds if you travel).

Our 5.5yr old was dry for about 3 months, but reverted - sometimes when I check him at 11pm he's wet, sometimes it seems to be only small wee in early morning & he wakes up.

We went back to pull ups, after 3 months of bed stripping every day (pre brolly sheet) it did my head in. He was reluctant to go back, but not totally distraught.

There is a hormone that reduces wee prodn overnight (out of his control), the bladder needs to big enough (so stretch out day wees) and wee can't be too concentrated that it irritates bladder, so lots of daytime water.

It is so frustrating for us to go back to nappies, but wetting every night was no progress for us either.

Nandocushion · 07/04/2013 23:49

Why not just let him wear nappies at night? Our daughter took a while to be dry at night, so we let her keep wearing them until we noticed they were regularly dry in the mornings. Saves you the hassle of washing the sheets all the time. I think boys usually take longer than girls to be dry at night, and 6 isn't very old.

Nandocushion · 07/04/2013 23:50

Sorry, x-posted with many others.

Summer115 · 08/04/2013 02:12

Don't worry. It is not a big problem.It is normal for a 6 years old child to have bed wetting occasionally.

Original poster

Whereisegg · 08/04/2013 10:17

He doesn't want to wear nappies or pull ups and gets upset at the mention of them.
We even tried calling them different things 'night time pants' for example but this only persuaded him for a short while.
Just to be clear, this is not occasional bed wetting, it is rare to have one dry night a week, and sometimes will wet twice the same night.
I'm not trying to come across as moaning.
We never mention it to him, just quietly and quickly strip and sort the bed and him, we certainly aren't under the impression that he's going to bed thinking 'it would be really fun to be woken up covered in cold urine tonight' but, as some of you have said, people don't/won't discuss it after their children are past toddler hood so it has been some relief to hear stories from you.
I think my next course of action will be to source and purchase some bed pads.
Thank you all xx

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