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Parenting

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Original poster

My son is about to start school and still wears nappies at night.

52 replies

sockyhallstreet · 20/08/2007 13:28

My son, despite being nappy free during the day since 2.5, has to wear nappies at night. He is wet every morning without fail. I have tried going nappy free and hoping for the best but I just can't cope with all the washing. He is happy and content, and not at all bothered by the nappies unless we are away from home. I have 2 older boys and neither of them had any problems at all, both being dry at night before 3. Please help!

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MaureenMLove · 20/08/2007 13:32

When was the last time you tried nappy free? Perhaps you sould have another go. I'm not going to teach you to suck eggs, since you've got other kids, but have you done the no drink before bed and taking him for a wee as you go up to bed?

GooseyLoosey · 20/08/2007 13:34

I think night dryness is hormonal and not sure that there is anything you can do as young as 4 to deal with it. Sorry, no help at all I know.

Is there a problem with him still being wet at 4? My ds is just about to start school and of the children who will be in his class who I know, I would say at least 1/3 are not dry at night.

PandaG · 20/08/2007 13:36

Not at all uncommon. Not being dry at night not considered a problem by GPs until at least age 7. DD is 5, she was in nappies until her 5th birthday in March, they were wet every night but we went cold turkey on her birthday. We had a few accidents, I thought we had it cracked but had 2 accidents in the last week, due to sleeping very soundly as very tired I believe.

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WigWamBam · 20/08/2007 13:36

My daughter is 6, about to start year 2, and still in nappies at night despite being dry since before she was 3.

There's a hormone (anti-diuretic hormone) which suppresses urination overnight, and until they start to produce that there is nothing at all you can do to "make" him dry - it's not something you can train.

GPs don't consider it a problem until children are 7, by which time that hormone should have kicked in. It's pretty common; about one in 5 five year olds are still not dry at night.

Don't stress; it will come when he is ready.

Pinkchampagne · 20/08/2007 13:38

My eldest son was still in pull ups at night when he started school, despite being dry in the day since he was 2.10.
I think it is quite common, especially with boys.
I was advised to cut down on soft drinks, and only offer milk or water after teatime, and to try lifting him when I went to bed.
He was totally dry before the end of his reception year, and has had very few accidents since.

My youngest son starts school in 2 weeks, and decided to ditch the nightime nappies himself, despite not really being ready!

throckenholt · 20/08/2007 13:41

snap. My twins are exactly the same - we have been trying over the summer but have just given up because I am fed up with washing ! Their older brother was also dry at night by 3.5.

They did manage the odd night dry but somehow they lost the knack after a week or so !

I am just going to try it every now and again for a week once in a while.

Original poster

sockyhallstreet · 20/08/2007 14:03

wow! Thank you so much for your quick advice. Will try cold turkey again every couple o f weeks. Have heard about the hormone thing before and wasn't sure if it was just made up to make us parents feel less stressed! Not really worried about him, it would just be nice to get rid of those Damn nappies after 10 years.

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MrsPuddleduck · 20/08/2007 14:08

So is it possible to lift a 4 year old out of bed and get them to go to the toilet just before you go to bed?

DS1 is 4 and still wears a night nappy - my Mum is putting pressure on me to get rid of them but I am ignoring her.

Hulababy · 20/08/2007 14:13

Los of children are still wet at night when they start school. It isn't a problem.

There is nothing you can do about it really. It's a hormonal thing and nighttime wetting is not something you can train.

DD is 5yo and has only recently become consistently dry, and even that had a knock back during/straight after our recent holiday abroad.

GPs aren't interested until about 7 yeras old AFAIK. Not seen as a problem before then.

I thought lifting wasn't recommended. We do take DD to the toilet when we go to bed. However we wake her up so that she goes there herself. Not sure if this actually helps TBH though.

aloha · 20/08/2007 14:15

It's not a problem. My ds is nearly six and still in night nappies. The other kids don't know or seem remotely interested.

lexcat · 20/08/2007 15:58

dd is 6 an about to start y2 still in night nappies, and often so wet the nappies leak. Was dry in the the day by 2. Don't worry he won't be the only one in his class, I know of 3 other child that started school with dd (intake of 21) who also had night nappies.

lapsedrunner · 20/08/2007 16:00

DS has only been dry at night for the last week and he is about to turn 5.

TwoToTango · 20/08/2007 16:11

The hormone thing is definately true. My DS wasn't dry until half way through year 1 - just happened overnight when he was ready.
Try not to worry - I went to see the school nurse and she said they don't even try to do anything about it - refer to clinic etc until they are 7. I think is is one of those things you don't hear people talking about - but I know my DS certainly wasn't the only one in his class.

snowwonder · 20/08/2007 16:19

my dd starts school this year, and wears a nappy at night time......... to be on the safe side as i cant bear the thought of having to wash sheets everyday.....

this week she has started to get up and wee during the night in the toilet- so hopefully this may be a turning point.....

i really wouldnt worry about it to be honest... it is very difficult how do you teach someone to wake themselves up and go to the toilet during there sleep...

Anchovy · 20/08/2007 16:26

I think this is much more common than you think.

My nephew has just finished Year 2 and is 7.3. He has only been dry at night for about 2 months. My brother was telling me there was a group sleep out thing at the end of summer term that some of the boys and their fathers in his class were doing, and my brother and his partner were determined to see if they could get DN dry at night by then. They did, but DN literally only stopped wearing nappies about a week before. My brother said that of the 10 or so boys 1 or 2 were in night nappies and several other fathers confessed round the cammp fire that their sons were only just out/unreliable.

My DS was out of night nappies at 2.4: DD is 3.11 and nowhere near being out of them.

Dodaday · 21/08/2007 08:34

What sort of nappy do you put on a 6 or 7 year old, and what type of wrap?

elasticbandstand · 21/08/2007 08:43

my HV effectively blamed me for my 4 year old's night time wetting! she said dd was not happy getting out of bed in the night, i did used to sing Wee Willy Winkie as a threat to getting her to bed! the problem did resolve though, somehow

EscapeFrom · 21/08/2007 08:46

Mine too. don't sweat it. It doesn't actually matter, in my opinion.

Dodaday · 21/08/2007 09:13

I'd still be interested to know from anyone what sort of nappy system you use on a 6 or 7 year old. My 3 year old ds is still in nappies at night, and not always reliable during the day. I use terries with pull-on plastic pants, but the thought of trying to get them on him at the age of 7 does'nt bear thinking about!

numptysmummy · 21/08/2007 09:20

My ds was 6 and a half before he was dry. We didn't try without pull ups until he had been dry in them for a wk because he got too upset when he was wet. We used pull ups supplied for dd1 who has a chromosome disorder. I think you can get pull ups on prescription for any older children who aren't dry. Check with your h.v.
Out of interest,was his dad or grandad late? My dh waqs 6 before he was dry as were both grandads.

bozza · 21/08/2007 09:26

When DS was first night trained we used to leave a potty by his bed for him. And then he had a torch to help him find the toilet at night! I think though he was mainly going in the early morning rather than during the night IYSWIM but in winter it was still dark. We also made him go on the potty before we went to bed.

OTOH with DD we did none of this. She just started being dry at night at a very young age. But our payback for this was that recently she has started shouting us because she wants a wee in the night because she knows it is a sure fire attention tool and she was never taught to take herself to the toilet.

harpsichordcarrier · 21/08/2007 09:29

my dnephew still wore a nappy until he was ? seven at least. the GP said it was not an issue until then. it just happened naturally after that, he was just dry for several nights running.
luckily he was skinny so could still wear nappies.
I honestly wouldn't worry, I bet this is hugely common

Crocky · 21/08/2007 09:35

My ds is just about to turn 7 and there is no sign of him being dry at night.
He is now under the enueresis clinic and I am coming under some pressure to ditch the night pull ups but life is so much easier without wet sheets every day.
Dd on the other hand ditched her nappies completely the week after she turned two and has been consistently dry.

Clary · 21/08/2007 09:56

Yes my DS2 is suddenly dry at night now (he's 4.5) but was earliest and most reliable of 3 at beign dry in day (just 2). I gather there's no correlation between the two.

DS1 who is 8 and has just finished yr 3 has a pal who I believe is still in night nappies - they had a big yr 3 away weekend and he was in DS1's room so I asked him not to mention it etc but AFAIK there was no teasing or anything.

Another friend has a DS aged 8 who is only just dry and a DD aged 6.5 who is unreliable and wet every couple of weeks. She got a result with her DS with an alarm thing she bought but DD just unplugged it lol.

I wouldn't worry at all about a 4-5 yo - there will be lots and lots.

dodaday I think most people use those huggies nighttime pyjama pants which go up to age 10 iirc.

tortoiseSHELL · 21/08/2007 09:59

Ds1 was 4.11 when he came out of pullups at night (i.e. towards the end of the reception year). But he still had lots of accidents, and still does occasionally have an accident. Dd is starting school in September and is still in pull ups.

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