When should I consider it a real problem? 5.5 yera old boy still needs night nappies

[IlanaK]

I have been really laid back about his until now. He is 5.5 years old and we still use night time nappies. I know boys can be later than girls, and he is a very deep sleeper which is part of the problem. But I am wondering how late is too late?

We limit any liquid in the evening. We eat dinner at 6 and he drinks water during the meal. Then nothing after until just before bed (7:30) when he is allowed one last sip of water. He goes for a wee just before bed. And we get him up in the evening before we go to bed for a wee. Sometimes we are too late and his nappy is already full, but usually he will do a wee on the toilet then. But his nappy is usually still quite wet when he wakes up.

It is definately not a behavioural thing. HE just sleeps so soundly he does not wake to the need to wee.

Should I just leave it still? What age is it considered a problem?

I think around 7 its considered worth investigating medically .. HTH

7

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There is a hormone that needs to be released before they can be dry at night. This can be any time between age 1 and 7. Until it happens, there's really no chance of getting them dry.

Ds1 was dry(ish) at 4 - nearly 5, but he still doesn't 'wake' for a wee and we still lift him when we go to bed.

I thought he would NEVER be dry, but it just happened one day. The HV said it's not considered a problem till age 7. Ignore all those people who say 'ds was dry at 2, just take him out of the nappies'.

I had the same worry with dd1when she was just turning 4 and spoke to my Gp about it. He said she wasn't ready yetand night time weeing was a different process in the brain and something to do with chemicals that are released. We have loads of it released at night to slow down the needing to unrinate but some children it takes longer for this to happen. If your worried go to gp.

DD finally got out of her night nappies at 4.5.

Ok thanks then. We have a little way to go before he is seven so maybe it will just kick in one day. NIght nappies cost a bloody fortune though!

It's not magic 7 either. My ds was around 9 when he was mostly dry. On the note of it being boys one of my dds was turned 5 before she was dry at night.

My ds is the same age and still in night time nappies (or pyjama pants as he insists I call them!). He is getting to the stage of being self-conscious about it and we tried earlier this week without one as he rrally wanted to give it a go (he is often dry for 2 or 3 night in a row), but the bed was wet in the morning...

You may not be helping him by waking him up to do a wee before you go to bed. I know it seems logical to do that, but what you're actually doing is taking the responsibility for waking away from him and preventing him from waking on his own if he needs to pee. His brain needs to learn to respond to bladder signals when he is asleep as well as when he is awake - and waking him may blur the difference and make the learning process longer.
Make sure he has lots to drink during the day, so that his bladder is active, and restrict fluid intake for the two hours prior to bedtime. Make it easy for him to go to the loo, perhaps by having a portaloo or potty in his room so he can go immediately he wakes.

It's not only boys ... my dd will be 6 in May and is still nowhere near being dry at night. It's not a problem; it can be a bit frustrating sometimes but it will happen when she's ready and there's no point in either pushing for it, or in stressing over it.

I definitely appreciate the point about night nappies being expensive though! We use Tescos own, much cheaper than the branded ones - I did try her with some washables, but she hated them, so it was back to forking out for the disposables again.

She gets a bit self-conscious about it sometimes, particularly if someone comes to play or if she's got a babysitter who might see her nappies, but we hide the nappies, and we play it bright and breezy so that it's a non-issue. If she ever gets negative about it we make plenty of positive statements so that she doesn't think we see it as a problem. And as long as she's out of nappies by the time she gets her first boyfriend, it's no great shakes really

Thanks again. Its interesting, he is not at all bothered by it. His nappies are out in his room and he does not bother if he has a friend around. We buy them at our local chemist (no large supermarkets around here!) and they specially order them in for him. He has no problem going in to ask for them.

My dh is the one who started the waking before bed thing. I think he feels like it is a step towards dryness. Better than doing nothing in his eyes.

Why not save money and use good old fashioned terry nappies? You don't have to leave them aroun in his room then, or bother going to the chemist specially.