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Housekeeping

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Original poster

I am night training both my children and my house smells of pee

53 replies

colditz · 21/07/2010 16:13

Ds2 not utterly reliable in the day

Ds1 not reliable at night

I can't train one and not the other - my children just don't work like that.

My whole house seems to smell faintly of urine.

Apart from washing things ASAP (not always an option!) and cleaning wherever I see the pee, what can I do to shift the whiff?

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 21/07/2010 16:20

But ... children can't be night trained ... either they're hormonally ready (i.e. already dry) or they're not ...

bumpybecky · 21/07/2010 16:23

you cannot train a child to be dry at night, you have to wait until they are ready

suggest you go back to nappies / pull ups and open a window!

IPredictADiet · 21/07/2010 16:23

use a lidded bucket with a little disinfectant in it as a temporary resting place for soiled linen if you can't yet a wash on right away.

citrussy room diffuser like this helps.

pets at home sell a spray antibacterial disinfectant that's really good at zapping the smell of wee. you spray it on and leave it after you've finshed cleaning. It's not on their website, but it's just the own brand stuff in a spray bottle. We use it to deal with our errant cat, but given that cat wee is so much fouler than DC's wee, I'm sure it will suit.

coventgarden · 21/07/2010 16:23

You can't train children to be dry at night. Put back in nappies/pull ups until they have the hormone level they need to go all night.

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:24

Ds2 is ready now. He didn't wet last night. Ds1 wants to at least try, because he is seven years old and can't bear the idea of wearing pull ups any more.

And even if a child is hormonally ready, if he has always weed in a pull up at night, asd Ds2 has, he's not going to suddenly stop weeing in his pull up. He's a reluctant toilet trainer anyway.

they are 7 and 4 BTW, not toddlers.

OP posts:
Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:24

I cannot keep a 7 year old in nappies, his self esteem on this issue is at an all time low and he wants to try.

OP posts:
crumpet · 21/07/2010 16:24

But must hormonally ready mean they are already dry?

dd had never had a dry nappy when I started and bar a couple of accidents she was fine.

ds had had a dry nappy and is taking longer, but even though he is not yet dry (we have a dry night every few days), the pattern is changing and he is going for longer.

mummyrex · 21/07/2010 16:24

what they said, you can't train them.

littleducks · 21/07/2010 16:27

bicarb for the smell?

I agree with you in regard to training dd is 4 and i put pants on her at night, she can stay dry but had become used to night napppies and peeing at night/not going fully before bed/being bothered to get up

It got better very quickly though so hoopefully wont be too long to be smelling pee!

How about disposable bed mats under sheets?

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:27

I have to let Ds1 stop wearing nappies.

Because I cannot keep his little brother in nappies to appease Ds1.

It's not fair on either of them.

OP posts:
Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:29

Ok - so, pets at home spray and bicarb ... what do I do with the bicarb?

I already have a washable bed mat - I might order another one.

OP posts:
coventgarden · 21/07/2010 16:31

No need for his self esteem to be low over this. Lots of children are still wet at night. My son was 7 1/2 before he was dry. DD was 6 3/4. Ds2 is 5 and nowhere near.

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:32

his self esteem is low because his little brother is just about dry at night and he is not. I have explain that this is something that happens.

What do you suggest coventgarden?

OP posts:
bumpybecky · 21/07/2010 16:35

you don't need to keep ds2 in nappies to keep ds happy. My dd1 has seen both of her younger sisters come out of nappies and be dry at night. dd3 is 7 years younger than dd1. Some people are ready before other people. Nothing to be ashamed about, just fact of life unfortunately.

how are you encouraging them to be dry?

advice from the enuresis clinic was to..

*increase liquids during the day
*stop nay dark drinks (e.g. blackcurrant) and no caffeine (cola, tea, coffee etc)
*no drinks after dinner
*wee before bed then wash and do teeth then wee again
*not to lift the child in the night
*to get them to be involved in changing bedding if there is an accident
*to double up on bedsheets for quick changes, so sheet over waterproof layer, over sheet, over second waterproof layer
*star chart to record dry nights (bit dubious about this personally, but it was advised)
*no shouting or nastyness if there's an accident (not that I'm saying you would!)

and lots and lots of luck

coventgarden · 21/07/2010 16:35

There isn't anything I can suggest as you can't train a child to be dry at night, lifting isn't advisable and the other option is to go cold turkey. I feel that you are making more work for yourself though I guess your son feels bad that his younger brother is dry at night. He needs to know it isn't anything he is doing, he just has a different hormonal level and no one can change that.

Good luck.

bumpybecky · 21/07/2010 16:37

also if he understands maths at all,

at age 5 10% of children wet the bed - that's 3 in his class

at age 10, 5% of children wet the bed - that's 1.5 in his class

now all you need to explain is the half child issue and you're sorted

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:40

i don't do star charts, ds1 obsesses over them.

I wake them (NOT lift them) before I go to bed - I was too late last night at 11 pm and Ds1 had already wet, but Ds2 used the toilet.

They don't get anything but water after 4pm - I try to encourage big drinks in the morning

Ds1 changes his own bed with my help (ds2 cannot do this, he isn't big enough, and besides - he's never wet the bed)

OP posts:
Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:43

BUt as he is seven, there is an extremely high chance that the only child in his class who wets the bed is HIM. And he really doesn't care about anyone else, he doesn't want to be outstripped by his younger brother.

And what message am I sending to Ds2 about his considerable efforts not to wee himself in the day if his older brother is free not to try to use the toilet at night? Ds2 will NOT understand the difference between day wetting and night wetting, and may decide that wetting the bed is perfectly acceptable if you can't be arsed to get up. They share a room, they damn near share a bed - this is not something that can be kept between child and mummy I'm afraid.

OP posts:
coventgarden · 21/07/2010 16:46

Maybe you need to work on his confidence so he cares less about his younger brother achieving something before him? I don't mean to be critical but your younger son hasn't really achieved anything himself - he hasn't worked for it - he just got lucky with the hormonal side of things.

sitdownpleasegeorge · 21/07/2010 16:48

I explained to ds1 that his body just wasn't making the chemicals yet that stopped him weeing in the night and he liked the scientific explanation. He was 7+ before he was dry at night.

It's difficult when the younger sibling has started to develop the relevant hormone but if he can accept that it will happen, he just needs to be patient and his brother just happens to have developed it earlier, luck of the draw.

Good Luck

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:48

Maybe I need to get rid of his brother then, because his brother is outstripping him in every way.

OP posts:
nickschick · 21/07/2010 16:49

Hres what Id do Colditz obviously your ds1 is having a rough time and its having a knock on effect( lots of kids wet the bed at 7 its one of those taboo topics) Id say to ds1 and ds2 heres the deal - you sleep in underpants but because I know sometimes its hard and because I know learning is about sometimes making mistakes what we have to do just for a bit so mummy doesnt have tons of washing and so the house doesnt smell like wee wee - over the top of your bedtime pants your gonna wear a pull up - if you keep the pull up dry then we can use it again and again if you make a mistake and it might just happen at least your bed wont be wet and its just a pull up.

nickschick · 21/07/2010 16:51

Colditz I know you say get rid of his brother in a lighthearted way please dont feel sad like that my ds have all done stuff before the other and its just the way it goes - they catch up and find their place eventually - theres 5 years btween ds2 and 3 and ds3 was nearly reading before ds2 .

Original poster
colditz · 21/07/2010 16:51

Ok sorry here's the drip feed (which actually wasn't relevant as I only wanted cleaning advice, hence why I posted in Good Housekeeping)

ds1 was dry at night for 6 months until he was nearly four.

He started wetting the bed again, and I think has developed a HABIT of wetting the bed. I really think he can do it.

And before it starts, he's not abused, he isn't being bullied or mistreated in any way but he does have autism and adhd and can find strange things very stressful.

I didn't mention it before because I have no doubt in my mind over what to do, i just wanted to get rid of the smell of wee.

OP posts:
coventgarden · 21/07/2010 16:53

Of course you don't and I can understand you snapping like that. I am honestly trying to help you. My younger 2 were dry in the day much earlier than my eldest son was and he isn't bothered.

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