what IS the way to go? DD just 6, still soaking at night.

[piratecat]

We have had some daytime issues due to emotional probs over her dad, but she is now dry during the day once more, after introducing a reward chart.

Yet before this, and now dd is still wet at night, has never had a dry/dryish/ half full nappy in the morning.

Last night I said I would get her up before I went to bed to go for a wee. Yet her pullup was already a bit wet. Well anyhow, I got her up again at about 2 in the morning, same thing, bit more wee in the pullup, and she also did a bit onthe loo for me.

Will this slowly help her get the connection, or is there no point?

I know about the chemical in the brain connection thing. That has to 'join up' before they can do this. Yet I get frustrated when I hear of 2 or 3 yr olds being dry at night!!!!

How much is she drinking before bed. My DS will wet if he is asleep (ie falls asleep in the day) but at night I get him up like you say and he never wets but that is because i think he has no more to do IYGWIM.

To be honest i think i would just go for it. .

Work with a reward chart and see how she goes.

dont let her drink anything other than milk and water from about 5 oclock.

A friend of mine who son still has problems at night, was told be his pead to make sure that he drinks more during the day to stregnthen his bladder musels.

My daughters pead told me that about 10% of 5 year olds are still in nappies at night, so try not to stress to much about it.

she has a drink with her tea, at about 6.00. Then she alays has a wee before lights out which is normally 7.45-8.15

I went in at 10ish, and there was wee. I do believe in letting them mature at their own pace.

Some sites have said that less and less urine in the nappy in the morning suggests they are getting there.

I mean, if I dodn't gether up she would be soaked atm. If I get her up then its just me doing the signal isn't it, not letting her 'get' the signal/feeling she has to get up for a wee.

i don't really know why I am stresing, but tbh, I am not really able to afford these pullups anymore and they are also not able to 'contain' the amount she is doing!!. Have never bought drynites as they are very very expensive.

thats another ting, she has always drunk loads of water, and I know she drinks less inthe days now she is in yr 1. They don't encourage them to have thier drinks bottles in class, like they did in reception.

I read that regular drinks thru the day as well as beneficial healthwise, also promote a bladder that can hold more.

I must not stres, as we have only just turned the corner on the regression of the daytime weeing (having been dry for 3 yrs).

Hi Piratecat,

Have you tried her in cheap pull ups or nappies.

Huggies and pampers absorbe that well that they dont really feel wet.

Are her school aware that she is having these difficulties? She need to drink more during the day to help her with this, surely her school can accomadate on this. Have you spoken to the school nurse?

It may be worth getting a referral to a paediatrician...

whilst it may be completely normal for her, and may just improve on its own with time, there is a nasal spray called desmopressin, which can reduce the amount of urine produced at night. This can be especially helpful for trips away/ sleepovers, and could mean that she doesn't need pull-ups which can be embarrassing if you are the only one.

The paeds have access to specialist nurses, too, who can help with things like alarms to help get her into the habit of being dry.

I know that with ds there was no point. He stopped by himself, when his body was ready, at age 11. Before that he wore pull-ups. The bigger the deal we made of it, the less it got us anywhere. It runs in families.

The paediatrician said don't even begin to worry until age 8, then we got him checked at age 9, to reassure ourselves that nothing was actually wrong. That is certainly worth doing.

Your GP should be able to refer to an enuresis (bedwetting) clinic, but most clinics won't see children until the age of 7; 6.5 is the earliest. We took DS1 at 6.5 to see the enuresis nurse and the first week we measured his bladder capacity and made sure he had 6-8 glasses of fluid before 4.00 and limited fluids afterwards (a lot of children don't drink much in the morning or at school and then drink loads at tea/playtime). She recommended no fizzy drinks at all, including water, no blackcurrant or chocolate drinks, and nothing but water after 4.00.

Enuresis nurses do not recommend 'lifting' the child or taking them to the loo in their sleep, as this can reinforce the 'weeing when asleep' association. It doesn't in any case help the child become dry, though practically might save on the laundry.

She suggested an alarm would be the most effective thing, but that DS1 had to want to be dry, otherwise it would be ineffecive and even counterproductive in the long run - he would associated it with previous failure later when he was bothered. DS1 was not bothered so we left it with her calling every 6 months to check on progress. We carried on with the drinking guidelines.

6 months later I was able to tell her that he was dry 2 or 3 nights a week and a few months after that he was dry every night. It just happened for him at 7 and a bit. He has wet the bed a handful of times since then, but he is 9.5 now and hasn't for a year.

Honestly, if her brain and body are not ready, no amount of reward charts will work, and they will only make her miserable. By all means try for a couple of nights without a pull-up, but if she is double-wetting, as DS1 was at that age, I think it might be wet and exhausting.

hello, I have taken all your replies on board, it's such a variable thing between all the children, all your stories show that fact.

Ihave decided to not be bothered, I shall just carry on emphasising with here about going to the loo whislt she is awake, and not doing it in her pull ups, when she is in bed awake.

I shall just find the 2 for one ones, as they are a fiver for a pack of 14.

I will repost back if there is any improvememt over time. My gp, who I saw about the daytime weeing, wasnot concerned abotu the night time efforts.

The school were informed and allowed her to just leave the class whenshe needed to go, rather than jave to ask. As sometimes she was going 'just in case' when re learning to go to the loo.

I have now found out form dd that there are water fountains at break time, and she canhave a drink at snack time. Luckily all she has ever drunk is water, she doesn't like juices/squash.

The last thing she needs tho, as was said, is pressure, if sher is not ready. my friend has a 9 yr old who i s still wet at night, so I really should not worry.

thankyou for your answers.

I wonder if trampolining might help since it helps adults in this way?!!