6yo wet every night

[Ellemeg82]

My 6yo still isn't dry at night. Has been dry during the day since 2.5.
I know they can't help it but as I load another lot of sheets into the wash that are now hard to dry as it's cold and wet out (I don't have a tumble dryer) I dread heading into another winter like this.

We've tried every brand of nappy and pull up. Supermarket brands and the expensive ones. They all leak. I don't give drinks after 5pm. He goes for a wee before bed. Some nights I even change the nappy about midnight if it seems wet and yet we still have a wet bed every night.

I tried reaching out to the nurse at the doctors who said they couldn't help as he's under 7 and doesn't have special needs.

He's a deep sleeper. I've never tried waking him for a wee at night as I read that doesn't help your body learn to wake for a wee.

Can anyone who's older ones took time to be dry at night give me some advice? Is there a brand of nappy/pull up that will keep him dry, what tips and tricks are there or do I have to wait it out.

All my friends who have the same age kids say they were dry at night years ago now.
Any advice gratefully received.

There is a book about this that's is very useful. I'll find it and post the link for you.

My eldest DS is an extremely heavy sleeper so when we night trained him we had a lot of wet nights.

As suggested by the aforementioned book we would get him up before we went to bed and stick him on the toilet. It really helped him progress.

Our other DC is four and while not a heavy sleeper is a very heavy wetter. We are a LONG way off them being night dry!

Good luck

Have you tried a kylie on the bed to protect the sheets? Also, are you sure he's emptying his bladder properly before bed?

Bedwetting alarms can work for some children but not in every case. Have you been on the Eric website, because they have lots of information on there. They also have a helpline which I've used before and they were great at advising on my individual situation.

Try self referring to the continence team if you can in your area they may be able to help, or if not look into children's continence nappies there are websites that sell them and they are more absorbent than the regular nappies

Not sure about a particular brand, but my nephew suffered with this - it's hormonal apparently - they can't help it and it will stop when it stops I'm afraid. Just buy whichever pull-ups will fit him and go with it. No big deal. He will literally grow out of it one day. No point making him feel bad about something he was born with.

My DD is nearly 6 and isn't dry at night and doesn't seem to be anywhere near getting there. She is wet every night. Luckily we just use size 7 pulls ups from Aldi that are fine and don't leak.
I think one of her problems is that she doesn't drink enough at once during the day so isn't used to holding a large amount. It is a battle to remind her to drink water. She doesn't have juice as not fussed about it.
Her older sister was dry at night at 2.5 without us doing anything at all.
Sorry I am not much help. I did think about going to the GP but guess they won't be much help. Especially if they need to be over 7!
Not sure what you can do about the sheets but not great washing that every day over winter. Can you get some sort of waterproof underwear that could be worn over a nappy? Not sure it exists.

OK... this one is hard... I have a teen who still has issues so here are my thoughts...

• no drinks after 5pm might not be helping. He needs to train his bladder not restrict it. But make any later drink milk/water.

• stop all fruitshoots or similar own brand bottles... they are the work of the devil and ALWAYS cause wet beds here.

• cut out blackcurrant and other dark squashes - they have similar impact.

• try to take the stress points out of it. They are not helping him or you. This is who he is right now. Its hard. I know...

Bedding - look at 'umbrella sheets' which are a fitted sheet or a mat which covers the area he sleeps on that goes over his sheets. The mats should be fine at 6. These are really good at preventing having to wash the whole bed. Then have thin quilts (self covered so its only 1 item?) And then layer on top with blankets, another quilt whatever he needs for the weather. This will mean you'll probably only need to wash the layer closest to him. I had quantities of bedding such that I didn't need to turn around in 1 day as even with a tumble dryer it made life harder.

In terms of nappies I don't know what's current but Aldi standard nappies not pullups used to be the most effective. We also used reusable ones which were better/cheaper. The leaking suggests he is either full bladder emptying- which any nappy struggles to cope with at that age/size or he's wetting alot over the night - which makes me think hes retaining fluid especially with such an early 'no drinks'. Have you tried the pajama pants... think they are huggies as they're made for slightly older kids.

Good luck OP.

We found an alarm very effective; we were referred to a clinic when DC turned 7, and the alarm worked within about a week. Until then, we just layered sheets and puppy pads in the bed so we could strip one layer and have a fresh layer ready on the bed.

My sympathies, it's not easy.

Thanks everyone for the advice there.
Helps to hear from other parents who've been in the same boat as the other parents I know don't seem to have this problem and it's difficult to get advice in real life.

He only drinks water/milk. I have wondered about if it's linked to not drinking enough during the day. Since he's been at school it's even harder to know how much he is drinking.

I'm thinking of waking him at maybe 11pm and taking him to the toilet. My DH thinks we shouldn't do that as he thinks DS should wake on his own to go (he never does!)

Waking him at night won't teach him how to wake up to wee. That's hormonal and you can't train it.

However if you wake him at night and he does a full wee then it should cut down on the washing.

Can you check and see if he wee's at a regular time each night? And wake him before that?

I completely understand the frustration. 2 of my dc were over 8 and then it was like someone has flicked a switch one night.

Leaking can be a real problem with even things like the age up to 15 drinites. I think they do such big wees that it leaks out before it can be absorbed.

You can get washable nappies and inco pants for older children. I found a good combo was using the dri nite pull up and then putting a big nappy wrap (so just the wayerprtof layer not the bulky cloth nappy part) over the top.

I have wondered about if it's linked to not drinking enough during the day. Since he's been at school it's even harder to know how much he is drinking.

It may be. Simply put, if kids don't drink enough they don't develop the bladder capacity/control as well.

Hi, good luck sorry I can't be of help, but letting you know it's normal to still wet the bed, and my 7 year old DD is still wet every night. However it might be worth checking medical tests beyond bedwetting if she's so wet every night as that's not normal. We use the aldi night pants and they hold plenty, so if they're leaking that much it might suggest other medical issues?

Have you tried Dry Nites pyjama pants. Sizes 4-7 or 8-15. Very absorbent.

They come with age appropriate cartoon characters.

Just to come back and update.
I tried getting him up at around 11pm for a wee. Tried for 4 weeks. That hasn't worked or helped. Some times he'd go, other times he didn't. Still soaked through despite changing him.
Have tried every nappy and night pants. They all leak.
So frustrating as the washing is endless. I'm up every night changing beds. My son is embarrassed and upset. He's also tired for having been woken up by a wet bed every night.
He only has water and I feel he drinks as much as other kids during the day when I compare with friends whose kids have long been dry.

Feel so alone. Everyone I know has kids who were night dry by 3 or 4. I know he can't help it but it doesn't make it any easier.

Think the leaks are because he's putting his hand down there and therefore things aren't lined up straight!

We tried everything- 11 pm lifting him to wee whilst sleepy and a bed wetting alarm but neither really did the trick after months and months of persevering until eventually ( he was 7 and maybe even 7 ½) and it was like a switch clicked and he can now go 13 hours without a wake up for a pee! He is still the deepest sleeper I have ever come across it he needed to develop his bladder control in his own time

DS was 11 before he was dry at night. He was also wetting in the day quite regularly until age 9. He was seen by the continence nurse with some success but honestly what worked best was just being patient.

You are not alone, it feels like it I know, but there are lots of kids going through it, you just don't know any day to day. In the vast majority of cases it is hormonal and you just have to wait it out. I wish I hadn't stressed so much when he was younger, it wasn't good for him or me.

Have a look here, and give their helpline a call after Christmas: https://eric.org.uk/ they also have a support forum which is really helpful.

Buy some of these: Washable Bed Protector/Pad Without Tucks - Pack of 2, Pink https://amzn.eu/d/1OcHApo

They wash and dry very quickly, are soft to sleep on and save you constantly washing sheets.

We found DryNites worked fine with DS right up to age 11. Occasional leaks were often caused by things not being tucked in properly when he put them on, so do try and stop him fiddling if you can!

More generally he needs to be drinking way more in the day than you think to train his bladder to hold more. The Eric website gives you a guide and it might be worth checking his output over Christmas hols while he's off school to see where he's up to.

I'll be honest we never cracked the daytime drinking with DS and he still gets up for a wee every night because of his tiny bladder but he wakes himself to do it and never has an accident so we're happy with that.

Honestly though, you're not doing anything wrong. My younger DS was dry at night at 3 and has the bladder capacity of an adult (we've checked!), they're just built differently!

Hang in there, it will get better.

Rest assured, you are not alone. We found with ours that onesie pyjamas helped with this part of the issue

Could he wear a nappy that fits and then an adult style one over the top? What gets more wet the quilt or the bottom sheet? Disposable bed pads might help with the washing. A dehumidifier will massively help dry the washing

Coverless duvets (ours are Asda) are amazing, dry quickly, no sheet to put on and off. Buy two or three if you can.

Hi - I have similar boy who is 7 in Feb, it is draining but just wanted you to know you aren't alone. Until 6 months ago, I probably would have said the same, wet sheets every night, but we've made sure he goes for a wee before bed every single night and I don't know something has changed recently, hopefully this magic hormone kicking in so he isn't wet every night, maybe 50% dry, 50% wet and much less sheet changes, thankfully. I'm hoping in the next year we'll be able to get rid of pull ups but who knows.
He has an older sibling, dry by 3 and a younger sibling who is 3 and pretty much dry also although don't want him to feel terrible still being in a pull up when younger sibling is not. He's also a deep sleeper.

You are not alone. My boy was referred to the enuresis clinic around age 8. He was also a very deep sleeper. The best thing I found was a bed wetting alarm that went off by radio signal in my bedroom - so that I could jump up and wake him as soon as he started wetting. That helped but fundamentally his body needed to be ready and nothing we tried before that made much difference. (The NHS alarm was a spectacular fail as he could pull the sensor off his underwear to stop it bleeping without even waking up). He was dry by around 10 or 11. It's so frustrating but he will grow out of it eventually I promise.

Thank you everyone for your kind replies reassuring me I'm not alone.
Some people I know in real life (such as my mother in law) are questioning my parenting skills when I'm not sure what more I can do!

Sounds like I need to be patient for a while longer and hope nature will sort things out.
I will take another read of the Eric site over the Xmas holidays.

Hi it could be due to chronic constipation even if you're not aware of it.

The ERIC website and Bowel and Bladder UK charity have lots of information that might help plus a helpline at ERIC.

Also gp's can be useless about this sort of thing (our experience) but continence nurse service can help if you can get a referral x