Training at night - How long did bed wetting go on for

[QueenFeeUntoUsAChildIsBorn]

I have just taken my DD out of nappies at night. She is 4.5. We have had dry nappies in hte past for long periods but recently she has just acted as though she can't be bothered.
My dr has recommended we get her out of nappies at night as her skin is irritated by them. She not had one on for 3 nights but have seen no improvement. I just wondered how long this usually went on for or if she should be starting to get the idea by now. I don't want to carry on if she is really not ready as I feel it would cause further problems later but she does have this prob with the nappies so is it worth persevering?

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I'd also say she's probably not ready.
My dd 5y6m and still in nappies at night, although we do get the occassional dry nappy in the morning now.

How are the nappies irritating her skin? Does it still irritate if you put vaseline on when you're putting her nappy on?

WEll DD is 6y8m and still has occasional accidents. Not been in night nappies since 4yo though.

I haven't tried vaseline so might try that. I feel that she is not ready and the nappy thing wouldn't bother me if she wasn't getting sore. I have tried loads of brands. Would cloth nappies be worse or better do you think?

I use cloth nappies and have been fine with them. I do put vaseline or some barrier cream on dd bottom if it looks like it might be becoming a bit pink/sore looking. Hasn't happened very often, though.

DS1 - 9, DS2 - 7, both still bedwetters (DD - 5 is too but she is incontinent so it's not really bedwetting)

What nappies are you using? DD always got an awful reaction from the disposables, turned out she was allergic to something in them, so all mine wear terries.

If it's a case of her being lazy and not getting up then that is different, but otherwise I would leave her with the nappies. After all if she isn't objecting to them then her waking up in a wet bed will be far more stressful.

I just read "Diaper Free Before 3" which is an excellent book on potty training with much more research into the issue than most others on the topic. One of the things the author pointed out was that nighttime bed wetting has been a problem throughout history and doesn't really seem to respond to training -- it's a matter of physiological development that varies among children, and a significant percentage will be unable to stay dry at night up to age 6 and beyond.

I'd say, try different nappies or a good waterproofing system for the bed. You could also try a middle-of-the-night nappy change if it's at a regular time, to keep her dry.

I heard it's about 10% of 5 year olds who regularly wet the bed so I agree with aikigypsy.

Some parents try all sorts of things like alarms and taking away the nappies so they wet the sheets and have to change them, I think these just make the child stressed which can lead to wetting.

I'd just leave it, 99.5% will grow out of it and if it wasn't so common why would there be so many bedwetting products?

if u do not want to put her back in nappies, you could try lifting, which is basically getting the child out of bed to use the toilet before you go to bed, ie 10-11pm. I have never tried this myself so cannot vouch for its effectiveness!

My dd2 is bed wetting as she recently decided she did not want night nappies, she is only 3 so we are going to put her back in nappies as the bedwetting is making us grumpy with her and turning it into an issue!

Good luck and happy new year!

My DS 6 years 9 months old sometimes wets bed. He can go for weeks okay and then suddenly slips back into bedwetting again.

I have put in back in those pyjama pants at moment as find it hard work having to get up and start washing each night. When he wets, the whole bed from top to bottom is wet through so I have to pillows and duvet too.

My youngest has just turned 2 yo and am dreading potty training him.

Any advice on how to get this right? I don't want to go through the same again, and worry that maybe I did something wrong with eldest

little moosh - my DS1 (8) still wets everynight, I'm currently waiting for his prescription for the drug that stops the bladder producing urine to make it to my doctors for him (had the alarm and it didn't work for him).

DS2 was dry at night at 3yrs old - and I didn't do anything with him, he just refused to wear a nappy one night and was dry!

Thanks GoldFAQ, hope my 2 yo doesn't end up bedwetting.

How do you find out what the problem with bedwetting is? We've also tried one of those alarms but this didn't wake him up, we've tried nightlifting, but again we can't actually wake him up to go to the toilet.

When he was 3/4 yo we did take him to the toilet in the middle of the night and he would do a wee but he was asleep whilst doing this so I think perhaps we made the problem worse by doing this.

He did recently go for a few months with no accidents and now suddently started wetting again

The problem is that there are many causes of bedwetting and because it's hard to find the right problem it's hard to find the cure. (if there is one)
Reasons for bedwetting can include:

1. Sleeping too deeply - the child just doesn't wake up to the sensation of a full bladder. Alarms may help with this

2. Often going with the first one is having an unusually small bladder - if this is the case there are exercises a child can do and can usually be recognised by a frequent use of the loo during the day

3. Not producing the hormone that tells the kidneys to concentrate the urine - This hormone makes your urine more concentrated so you don't have to go as often. This can be treated with a drug but it can cause health problems in a very very small percentage of people. This type of bedwetting generally just stops rather suddenly.

This list is not exhaustive and your child could have a combination of the above so one cure alone may not be enough.
If you, your husband, or both of you wet as a child then your children are more likely to.

It's normally not often anything your child can control and there isn't always a miracle cure, so just ignore those who tell you there kid was dry at night by two, it's no-one's fault yours isn't.

Hi, i have 4 boys that still bed wets, all stll have to wear nappys at night.
e-mail if you wish.
Lois@Grant