Got friends 7 year old DS staying - he's still in night nappies

[dilemma456]

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dilemma

I think it's natural to be surprised if you've not come across it before and also natural to feel a little touchy and defensive if you have been affected by it. You should have seen my posts in response to a thread a while back which suggested that wetting the bed after a certain age was due to laziness on the part of the parents.

Ds1 was still in night nappies at 7. We're not talking about the odd accident - we're talking sodden nappies every single morning. He was referred to our local eneuresis clinic, had a night-time alarm, and was dry by almost 8. dilemma456, I think it's nice that your friend trusts you enough for her ds to sleep over at your house - ds1 didn't go on any sleepovers because of the bed-wetting (and I remember thinking he would have to miss his first primary residential trip in year 4 - luckily he'd cracked it in time).

People should be more open about it, I agree - because it is very common (probably at least two kids in your average class of 7 year olds).

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its perfectly normal to still be in night nappies aged seven.
in fact, it isnt considered a problem till a child turns seven
as a child who only became dry at night aged 6.6 and still has the occasionla wet night, aged 7, i find the op incredibly insesitive.
it happens. he has nappies so you dont have to do laundry. he probly handles it all himself, just like a girl would her periods. just deal with your own issues.

oh, and ds was desperate to be dry , he just couldnt do it. its all down to serotonin production in the brain. and if they brain doesnt get the levels right, doesn tmatter what you do or dont do

For all you getting upset, replace the smileys with "I'm a bit surprised and confused"

My nearly 7 year old has just come out of them three weeks ago. He's an overnight convert to nappy-free nights. NOt at all uncommon but he was often a little too embarrassed to go for sleepovers because of it.

Our three and a half year old stopped at around about the same time.

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Dilemma456 let it go........ please don't get offended we're a touchy, protective lot when it comes to our children and wetting the bed.

I'm glad you posted

My ds is 6.2 and I've told him that he's coming out of nappies/pull ups as soon as the summer hols start. Now, having read all the other posts, I think I'm going to take him to the doctors and get him a refferal to the U clinic as he also wets himself in the day on a regular basis - mind you it's not as much as he used to.

Can't be bothered to read all the thread atm but to the OP, your point/problem is? I am sure the mother doesn't want your pity.

Yep - label me surprised too. I certainly thought 7 was late.

Oh - seems from that first link it is:

"The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition) defines nocturnal enuresis as wetting at least twice a week. A large cohort study found that, using this criterion, the prevalence at 7 years old was 2.6%"

2.6% can, I think, be regarded as a small minority?

Does it really matter what the number is? Some children wet the bed later than others. There has to be some dry at 2 and some still wet at 15 for there to be even an average to be got.

lizinthesticks - that research appears to give a much lower figure than most of the other research stas, which says that up to 1 in 20 children are still wet at night at age 10.

Surprise is OK, 'concern' is not as it suggests something is wrong. And wetting the bed at 7 is within the normal developmental range. If yours isn't, lucky you - but it's nothing you or they have done. It's not something that is within a child's conscious control.

I know of 2 children in a class of 20 who had night nappies at age 7. That's one in 10. There could have been more that I didn't hear about, and no, I wasn't gossiping, the mum of one of the children brought it up when arranging a sleepover with me.

Lizinthesticks, I think those stats are incorrect. After teaching for years and running a lot of school camps for Yr 7s and helping out of a lot of Yr 6 camps more recently, my personal experience of this is that it is much higher than that. I have had numerous conversations and phone calls from anxious parents worried about their child needing to use night time nappies and fears of bullying/teasing from their peers.
I hope this thread helps raise the profile of bedwetting as an issue as it can cause so much worry amongst parents and children who suffer from this. Please don?t feel bad about your OP - it is great that you brought the topic up and so many parents have shown that it is something that is not so unusual or strange.

Great thread, so glad this issue is getting some air time

Bed wetting is not considered a medical issue (ie a problem) until the child is a teenager

glad i found this thread (thanks palaver!) reassuring to know that my 6 and a half year old dd is not the only one with sodden nappies at night. she has been dry through the day since 2 years but i have tried a hypnosis CD, star charts, bribes etc with no luck. guess she will stop eventually

My cousin was in night nappies til he was 12. I was very at this but no idea really if it is that unusual. His mother is super-obsessive about cleanliness to the point of OCD and this was definitely a factor.

Poor mum must have agonised over letting him come for a sleepover fearing what the reaction might be. My eldest kept soiling his pants quite regularly until he was about 9. It was horrendous but he came out of that phase in the end. I dreaded him going anywhere where someone would notice - would have been very worried about sleepovers

Try not to judge.

Um, where did anyone say that, Daphne? Thread is all very calm and polite atm, why are you stirring?

By itati on Wed 09-Jul-08 14:17:30
Can't be bothered to read all the thread atm but to the OP, your point/problem is? I am sure the mother doesn't want your pity.

A little unnecessary, the OP has handled the defensive posts v.well and researched into the problem and said she is no way judging, just didn't realise how common it was.

i have been 'lucky' that dd's have been dry at night at the same time as being dry in the day.

i was a bed wetter, past 7years old, and a few times when older if somewhere different. fortunatly it didnt happen at school residential trip.

but night wetting stops once signals kick in, nothing to do with 'training' as such.