bed wetting: to lift or not to lift

[GColdtimer]

DD (3) was dry for months but recently she started wetting the bed 2-3 times a week. My MIL kept on at me about lifting her out at 10PM. I have lifted her out for the last few nights and it has worked but I am not sure its a habit i want to get into.

Do I carry on lifting her or not lift her and cope with the bed wetting. I don't want to go back to nappies - we have been months without them.

anyone?

when dd went through a phase of bed wetting I did the lifting thing too for a couple of months. We then stopped lifting and she was dry again.

As Seona1973 really, we go through phases of lifting and then stop and ds is dry for ages then starts wetting again so we lift again for a while, I think (hope) we have nearly cracked it now.

I would rather lift than do daily bed washes.

So do I just do it for a bit and then give it a go without lifting her and see what happens?

I think I would also rather lift than have the bed washes (and the drama in the middle of the night).

I really thought we had cracked night time training!

my dd took a long time to be reliably dry at night, she would be dry for several months and then start wetting the bed again. I would have been happy to put her back into nappies, but she hated the idea, so we would lift her for a while and then she would be fine again. easier than washing endless sheets and easier for her too - she just slept through it, rather than having to wake up all wet and smelly in the middle of the night.

it worked well for us, I recommend it.

I was going to post something similar today!
Ds (2.7) has been dry in the day for 2 weeks and the last 4 nights a dry nappy in the morning. Not rushing to no nappy yet, just wanted to canvass opinions on the lifting thing. My ex-dp is in favour I am against. Have read that it just teaches them to wee when half asleep not actively encourage "learning" dryness?
I have bought some puppy training mats for the bed (cheaper than Pampers care mats about £11 for 40 from Argos) as I remember the nasty sweatiness of waterproof sheets.
twofalls I would love to hear how you are getting on.

I didnt do lifting with dd until she started wetting after a period of dryness. I havent lifted ds (2.6 years) since he came out of nappies at night a few weeks ago. He had had dry nappies for a while so I figured he would be ok without them. He hasnt wet the bed yet and has come through in the night or first thing in the morning to do a pee. I would try without lifting first and see how he gets on.

My Ds2 (6.8) is still not dry at night. He currently wears pull-ups.

I am not prepared to lift him, while I appreciate it works for others it is not the route we are going to take.

We have a meeting with the school nurse at the end of the month to discuss what to do next, however the one thing that has been suggested in the mean time it to ditch the pull-ups and use a washable bed pad.

Oooh wilts my dd is 6.2 and still in pull ups. My friend has just been to the clinic for her nearly 8 yo and they suggested putting proper pants on under the pull ups to make them aware of the wet feeling so their brain learns to recognise it.

HTHH

bargainhuntingbetty - Thanks, although I am sure Ds2 will just sleep through the wetness which is why I am not too keen on the bed pads as I don't want him to be uncomfortable .

It is quite tricky for us because the logical part of us knows it will rectify itself eventually and not to stress over it. But the other part of us is worried that he is nearly 7 and we don't want sleepovers etc to be a problem in the future.

I know what you mean. My dd1 was 5 before she was dry in the night but dd2 just doesnt seem to be ready at all and I know that she is going too want to do sleepovers etc soon and it is a real worry.

I tried no pull ups durng the easter hols and I am goingg to try again during the summer hols. Hope it works this time, I really do.

thanks everyone

lankylato, I didn't lift to start with because she was dry all night so i wouldn't start it if i were you. I brought a couple of hippychick waterproof sheets that aren't plasticy at all - they have a waterproof backing but a terry top. I think mothercare do them too. I put one on top of a normal sheet so if she wets in the night then I only have to strip the wet sheet and put her in clean pjs. the normal sheet underneath is still clean and dry.

that said, I have lifted for the last week because I have had to be up and out of the house at 7am and couldn't face her wetting. I will try not lifting her over the weekend to see how we get on.

Good luck

Lifting is ok if you do it as a means to an end ie avoiding wet beds and not as a way of trying to achieve night time dryness.

Lifting reinforces the 'wee whilst your asleep' message to the brain so in no way can help in the child learning to be dry at night. However lots of parents lift because it avoids wet beds which I can totally understand.

In our clinics we promote a good drinking/toileting routine, avoidance of brown and berry drinks, 3Ts at bedtime (toilet, teeth and toilet again) and no pull-ups or lifting. Pull ups keep the child dry so mean that the brain isn't getting sent the 'wake up you're weeing' signal.

Just to add :

The hormone tablets/melts 'desmopressin' worked for my child, prescribed from the continence clinic (horrid name)

In the meanwhile shower your child on awakening, for social reasons, we all remember going to school with a 'smelly' child

Don't restrict fluids, steer away from red and purple drinks iirc (irritates the bladder?) so stick to milk/water

School nurse will be able to refer to clinic

Double or triple dress the bed - waterproof/top sheet, another layer and another layer, whip off and no faff in the middle of the night

You're right BALD but desmo and enuresis clinics are usually only for older children. Desmo usually given from 5, and clinics from 7 depending on the area.

Thanks for the update twofalls.
I bit the bullet and left off the nappy and he has woken up, called out for me, done a wee and gone back to sleep, relatively easily. So fingers crossed. He is a terrible sleeper anyway so I don't mind being woken to do a wee. Where do you get hippychick sheets from? I looked in mothercare but was a bit confused.
Good luck at the weekend.

That is impressive, i hope it continues for you.

I got mine from argos

The mothercare version is here

Will let you know how it goes at the weekend.

Sidge, that is helpful to know, thanks.