How to help 6 year be dry at night - please help.

[WalkingThePlank]

My 6 year old still wets himself at night. We did put him back in pull ups as we just couldn't get the bed linen dry quickly enough in the winter but decided to give it another go last night. Typically, he was dry when I went to bed but woke up soaked through this morning.

I am predicting weeks of non-stop laundry to no positive effect. How can I help him? He just doesn't wake up when his bladder is full.

What did the dry nights have in common that the wet ones didn't? A different bedtime, the amount of pre-bed drinks? (I'm not a fan of withholding pre-bed drinks, I think it just makes life miserable).

Some folk are dead against lifting but it worked well for my daughter. I'd carry her to the loo before I went to bed and make the psst sound that Elimination Communication uses to trigger babies to pee. Might this work for your boy as he's already shown he's able to be dry?

I don't think there was anything different about the wet nights so quite frustrating.

DS listened to the Hypnosis CD tonight so we'll see how that goes. He was surprisingly excited about it.

Bless him, he's trying just as hard as you are. Hope it's a dry week for all of you, sending cuddles and chocolate for all of you and for you in particular!

OK, so we're totally back to square one

We've tried the CD which I'd say hasn't worked which is a shame because I successfully use hypnosis in my life on a regular basis.

DS has had 4 wet nights in a row and is upset despite me and DH not being at all negative with him. Last night he said that he wants to go back to pull ups. I don't blame him.

We have a enuresis clinic appointment... for mid June... which seems forever away. I spoke to the enuresis nurse today. She said absolutely not to go back to pull ups and just to tell him he has a problem with his bladder that his totally normal and lots of children are in the same position.

Can anyone help me with how to help DS on a psychological level as I want to be able to help him and make him feel less miserable about it?

Just keep on with the reassurance about being normal I guess- the ERIC site has some leaflets and there might be a suitable one written for him to help him feel ok about it. Am in a similar situation with my 6 year old. If it's any reassurance for you my 9 year old was similar, he slept very heavily and suddenly got night dry just before age 7, so it can work. But we used to lift him until then and he wore pants at night. (We forgot one night and found he no longer needed it!) my 6 yr is still in pull-ups and very wet every morning. He was a nightmare sleeper, but sleeps heavily now, and I was reluctant to start lifting him once he was sleeping through at age 4 as he could quite likely refuse to go back to sleep. Also he didn't day-train til nearly 3 and has had his 'wet moments' during reception class last year, though absolutely fine every other way. Reading what you say, though, it sounds like we need to bite the bullet and ditch the pull-ups too. now summer is here, and he is keen to try I guess we should give it a shot too. Let me know how you get on. How are you tackling the bedding? We have some low cost thin duvets but they still won't fit in the washing machine.

Ps forgot to say it is really positive that you have had some dry nights. Hopefully they will just become more and more frequent

The weather has really helped with the laundry. DS is always super hot so he has a very thin duvet that has been washed in the machine and dried in the sun. He floods the whole bed so the pillow needs doing too but that has to go in a separate load.

I am worried about what we'll do when we go on holiday in the summer if this continues

The most common cause of night wetting is constipation and child can be constipated without any classic signs so you may not be aware of it.

Not the case here, I assure you. I've just read a medical review of the evidence from different research studies on primary enuresis (ie never been dry at night) and it suggests that alarms work best in 7+s that are highly motivated and that if the child is not distressed by it and there are no underlying issues then they recommend no treatment and wait until physical development catches up. So after a couple of very soggy nights in which DS was totally oblivious and slept soundly through in a puddle, we are going back to night training pants and a laid-back wait and see for another 12 months. Horses for courses I guess.

here's the review in case anyone is interested (sorry I can't work out how to link)
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722619/