7 year old still wet at night - any advice?

[Moondust]

My 7 year old dd (just turned 7) is still wet at night about 90% of the time. I've looked on the ERIC website and tried to follow all the advice:

• plenty of water during the day (she could do better with this to be fair)
• No drinks an hour before bed
• 2 wees before going to bed

ERIC also suggested trying without pull ups for a week to see if this triggers something - we tried, it didn't and there was a lot of washing to do!

She had constipation issues about 2 years ago but this was resolved within a year so for the last year or so she's had no particular bowel issues.

She's fed up with it and so am I to be honest (not that I would ever say that to her or show it in any way). I thought by 7 she would be dry and I'm starting to worry it will never happen! Anything else we can try before I go to the GP?

Go the GP! My nearly 8 year old has only started being dry after a combo of demepressin and an alarm from the eurensis nurse

My DC1 got there naturally at 7yo, whereas DC2 and DC3 were 2yo and 3yo respectively, it's just one of those things that varies a lot. They were all dry in the day at 2yo.

Try one of the alarms OP. DD was just like this and she was dry in 2-3 nights (can’t remember, it was a few years ago). It was amazing!

I was dreading the broken nights but it was so quick for her. And - slightly bleugh but - they are expensive but you can resell on eBay for a surprisingly high price.

See the gp to discuss by all means and get information about alarms and meds.

2 of mine were 8 though and it happened naturally and seemingly overnight. Sometimes you just have to wait and keep reassuring them that since you can buy the pull ups for up to age 15 in Tesco that it really isn't that unusual

This might sound random... but does your dd get tonsilitis a lot?

Go to the gp by all means they can give you advice. My dc stopped overnight on his 12th birthday. It went from being an all encompassing issue where I thought he would have this problem forever into not existing. If your dc gets referred it may be worth tracking input and output during the day to check that bladder capacity is correct, this is what we were told to do on our first referral and it would have saved time if we’d had that information ready on our first appointment however I would wait until you see the doctor first

@Moondust solidarity. This is hard, the laundry required can stretch your patience paper thin no matter how much you love your DC. The need to be extra prepared for long journeys or any night away adds a layer to every activity or holiday. Sleepovers (and school residentials) are tricky. We persevered for years, various medications (bowel and bladder) didn’t seem to make much difference, tried alarms and everything.

I don’t want to discourage you but in the end it seemed it was a growth thing for my DC because we turned a corner when DC had a growth spurt - at 13 - but DC is a very heavy sleeper and we eventually got dry at night almost overnight. A friend succeeded with the alarm for their DC when they were your DC’s age.

I would encourage you to go to the GP and persevere with the NHS - they can be helpful and my DC needed a medical card and the understanding of school, which the NHS continence service was very helpful with. I just do wish someone had said to me that it might just be a growth/hormone thing.

Monitoring drinking enough Every. Single. Day. has also become a way of life for us and I think we’re all better for it.

Our ds was 8 when finally he got referred to the enuresis clinic. With a combination of medication and the alarm he finally got dry. I remember how stressful and it miserable it all was. Definitely push for help.

Thank you for all the replies. It sounds like a trip to the GP might be the next step then. Or oerhaps looking into buying an alarm to see if that resolves the issue first.

@WhamBamThankU no she doesn't get tonsilllitis but interesting if there is a link there.

Following with interest. DS still isn't dry at night. Desmopressin hasn't worked so far, but nagging him to drink more during the day helped- his pull ups became noticeably lighter in the mornings. He's been backsliding a bit this last week- hasn't drunk much and his morning pull ups have been fuller again. I'm hoping that a combination of drinking enough and giving desmopressin another go mean that we don't have to resort to an alarm- they're pricey, aren't they! (He's on the pathway for an autism assessment, which I'm sure is related).

@Robinkitty that sounds so similar.

It's lovely to see all the posts here and I hope @Moondust that it is some comfort to you and your DC they’re obviously not alone. I hope your DC will get there eventually without too much stress.

My DGD was nine before she was dry at night. She didn't seem bothered at all and was happy to wear pull ups, then suddenly decided one day that she didn't need them anymore. As far as I'm aware she hasn't wet the bed since.

It's so nice to hear from people who are in, or have been in, the same situation. If ever I mention it to anyone they're like "oh wow!!" so I feel like it's not very common and everyone elses children got dry years ago!

@Moondust

A friend went through this and their child got tonsilitis constantly. Once tonsils were out the bed wetting stopped, and it was to do with a sort of sleep apnoea due to permanently swollen tonsils. The child never gets to a deep level of sleep and the constant waking makes them unable to realise they need a wee. Fascinating!

We're there with you too OP. DD 6 has never had a dry night in her life. She's an incredibly deep sleeper and I fear she just needs to get to the point where she doesn't need to wake up to wee because I can't see her ever waking up to do it!