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Child bed wetting.

4 replies

ifoundthebread · 31/12/2022 21:00

My dd is 7 years old. Was potty trained around age 2.5 and wore pull ups to bed until about 3. When she started school full time she would frequently try and hold her wee until she physically couldnt and would wet herself, this was at home and school but never overnight. She complained often of her stomach hurting, so i took her to the drs, went through issue with them, dd was referred and had scans and tests which showed no physical issues, they said it was a behavioural thing she would have to toilet train again essentially. So back came the sticker charts, when there was a reward at play she would go weeks with no accidents, the school were brilliant and put plans in place like reminders at set times of the day to remind her to go. Once the sticker charts were gone after a couple of months she would be fine for a few weeks then it would start again. When school finished in july the accidents stopped, she had the odd one when they started again in September, maybe one a week, the school helped and the day time wetting resolved, she has been dry during the day now since mid October. But since then she has started wetting the bed and this is happening everynight, every other night at best. She complained of her vulva hurting when going to the toilet, so drs were called antibiotics given as a precaution but results came back clear. Ive spoken with the school who have not noticed any change in behaviour or any issues socially, they have put her in a support group for how to deal with different feelings and giving feelings a name etc, no change to the bed wetting. I shamefully have shouted out of frustration, as having to wash and dry her bedding daily is a pain, ive also tried ignoring the issue as not to add to the possible anxiety causing it? Im now at the point i dont know what to do, how do i help my 7 year old stop wetting the bed, when she has preciously been dry.

OP posts:
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ifoundthebread · 31/12/2022 21:02

*previously been dry.

OP posts:
catsnore · 31/12/2022 21:23

My daughter was almost exactly the same! We tried everything - charts, drinking more, drinking less etc etc. We moved house when she was 6 and she wet the bed every night for about 6 months. The washing was a nightmare and I frequently felt like it would never end. Docs checked her out and nothing was wrong physically.

Weirdly, lockdown sorted it out. She's barely had an accident since! She was 7 nearly 8 then. She only occasionally has an accident if she is extremely tired and sleeps very deeply. I can only surmise that it was either caused by school related anxiety or school routine causing more tiredness than staying at home all the time. Or simply that she was ready to grow out of it.

There is a website called Eric or something like that which has a lot of useful info. You may need to be patient for a bit longer x

FlorrieFosdyke · 31/12/2022 21:24

I have a slightly younger daughter who has never been dry at night - so different scenario. I've been getting help from ERIC - eric.org.uk/

They have resources online that might offer help. I've found them very helpful.

What has the GP said about it?

MolkosTeenageAngst · 02/01/2023 11:31

Is she drinking enough during the day? If she is restricting her fluid whilst at school to avoid daytime wetting then the impact of that could be that she is either drinking lots in the evening to compensate or she’s slightly dehydrated so her urine is too concentrated and causing her bladder to be irritated and void overnight. Drinking more in the day also helps stretch the bladder and ensure it can hold overnight so upping how much water she drinks across the day should help.

Also, have a look at the ERIC website as there is lots of good information on bedwetting there: eric.org.uk/childrens-bladders/bedwetting/

In the meantime personally I would put her in pull-ups (eg: Drynites) while you get this back under control to cut down on the washing.

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