REALLY worried now....... he's 4.2yrs and still not dry....

[Toothache]

... at night.

We cut down his apple juice intake to one small cup at bedtime. He does a big peepee before bed.... a big peepee when he wakes in the morning, but his nappy is STILL sodden. We have spoken to him about it and he is really keen to stay dry all night and never have to wear a nappy again. He even wets when he falls asleep for an hour sometimes. It's really getting him down too. He's such a sweet sensitive wee boy and he can't understand why his nappy is wet in the morning (or his sheets if we try with no nappy).

Please tell me it'll all just fall into place one day.... or at least that is normal. It's really getting us all down.

isnt it normal to be wet at night at this age? sorry have forgotten

but I would ditch the apple juice at bed

try no drinks after 5 and just go for it, buy lots of care mats and keep trying?

Message withdrawn

you need the Cod

she is brilliant at virtual potty training

It will! And it is! Honestly, toothy, some kids take much much longer than others and I will try to find the percentages for you but it's something like 20% of 5-yr-olds still wet at night.

Tell him he will be dry one day, keep him in Dry-Nites and try not to stress about it, either of you

It's a physical maturation thing - his sleeping brain doesn't yet recognise the full bladder signal.

agree it's normal. My mate's almost 5 yr old dd isn't dry at night yet and she was out of nappies daytime v quick. Please try not to worry as he may pick up on it.

netdoctor - 15-20% of 5-6 year olds, mostly boys.

People don't tend to talk about it so nobody knows how many other people are in the same boat.

PHEW! Thanks everyone.
Our kids have a late routine, they don't get their dinner until 6.30pm as we don't get in from work until 6pm. He'll have a cup of juice with his dinner, then one at bedtime (8pm). I have tried to tell him that he would be able to go all night if he didn't have that drink. But the HV told me not to limit his fluid intake if it's in the form of water or fresh fruit juice.

i think apple juice makes them wee more

I am sure I've rad threads on MN where peolpe were talking about sleep-overs, and 1 or 2 of the 6yo guest boys were still in pull-ups... Talk of 8yo boys not quite having cracked it. I feel very lucky that ds1 got it by 2.5yo.

DD is almost 4 and still no chance of her cracking it at night. I'm just grateful that she seems to have finally cracked days (reliably), both wees and "Big Jobs". I thought she was going to have accidents forever. So much for the idea of girls being forward.

Limiting drinks is supposed to be bad psychology, because if they're thirsty they think about drinks and other liquids! But water would be better at bedtime because toothbrushing after juice is bad for teeth.

Agree with your hv re: fluids. I wouldn't even discuss it with him tbh as he's very young. If it isn't an issue with you then he may not get so worried himself? I know it's easier said than done. My ds2 is almost 5 and starts school in September and I've just got him to wipe his own bum properly and I was a little concerned but that's also normal.

Ohhhh yes, beety - forgot about the hormone! That's another physical factor, toothy - until it kicks in the kidneys don't slow down at night and go on producing at the daytime rate, so the bladder can't hold on all night.

Agree with everyone else-dont worry about it at all!
I certainly would not limit drinks-although you could try giving milk-based ones only in the evening. I find that water-based juice drinks do tend to go through them more quickly.

also brown drinks not good ie cocoa

The hormone doesn't wake them up, just stops them needing to. 3 possible factors in bedwetting:

1. vasopressin (the hormone) not being produced yet so too much urine

2. brain doesn't recognise full bladder signal when asleep - often in child who wees little and often all day so bladder empties before needed

3. child sleeps very deeply and brain doesn't receive signal

My dd1 is 5.10 and still sodden every night. HV told us not to worry just a bit neurologically immature (she was a small for dates baby and quite poorly at birth). I would like not to have the expense of Dry Nites but it's just one of those things. Dd2 has been dry since 3.

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