Getting 5 yo out of nappies at night

[BelJo]

Hi everyone,
My 5 y o daughter has never been dry through the night while in nappies, so a month ago I took her out of them to see how she'd get on. She's still wetting the bed 1-2 times a night, every second or third night. I don't want to put her back into nappies as that seems regressive and unkind. She is on a reward chart for dry nights and very into that, so it's not on purpose. Any advice, please? Many thanks.

Well night wetting isn't behaviour they can control so I would lose the reward chart for sure. Have you tried waking her for a wee when you go to bed at 10/11?

We bought the bed mats and lots of spare sheets. We changed the bed and pjs without comment and said it was sad it happened. It took to age 7 and then it just stopped.

I did find getting dc up at 11pm for a quick wee reduced the incident. Sometimes it's just an immature bladder

I was going to suggest a night wee too, if you aren’t already. We still do this for DS1 (nearly 6) on our way to bed. Otherwise pull ups? And just explain to her about her body simply not being ready rather than it being a failing. Loads of children are still in night nappies at 5 (both mine were).

Reward chart is pointless as they can't control night wetting in the same way as during the day. Night wetting is linked to a hormone they need to produce to reduce urine during the night and they also need to be able to wake with a full bladder. Until they produce that you will fail at night training.

Go back to nappies/pull ups and try again in a couple of months.

Thanks, everyone - we try the night wee... wow, does she kick off (still half asleep). But it's either that or back into nappies, and she really doesn't want that, and I don't want that to seem a punishment/shame her.

I wasn't sure about the hormone/age thing, but as it seems to be OKed here, I'm reassured.

Thanks again.

As previous posters have said, a child can't learn to be dry at night, it just happens when they start producing the hormone that's needed - it may not be until they are 6 or 7.

Go back to pull ups and try again when you've had a few dry nights in a row. It's kinder to go back to pull ups than to subject them to disturbed, wet nights if they are not ready.

They need to be aware of what they are doing if you take them to the toilet at night or you're just teaching them to pee in their sleep

You can get alarms that go off when they need to go, and that sort of trains their brain into recognising the need to wake up when needed. It worked for my brother.

Hi there, OP.
We hope you don't mind, but we're going to move your thread to our Parenting board now - we thought you might get some more advice there.