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Parenting

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Serious bedwetting in six year old, what to do?

37 replies

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 13:18

Was coming on to post the same thing. My boy is six and a half and has never had a dry night. We've been reffered by our fabulous school nurse to the bed wetting clinic. She says they don't see them until at least seven usually but as his is an extreme case, she's pushing for an early referral. We've taken him out of night time pull ups for the last week as the nurse said the clinic would be insistent on this. He is soaked two or three times every night. He doesn't always wake up but when he is wet, it isn't just a bit its from his knees to his armpits. He potty trained early but has always been for a wee lots of times during the day, sometimes every half hour. His wee comes out really fast and he cannot hold it for long. Nurse has given him excercises to do to try to strngthen his bladder, drinks at certain times of day to ensure bladder is being stretched and excercised etc. She thinks he'll need some investigations. Does anyone have any experience of such prolific bedwetting? Did it sort itself out? Anyone know what the investigations will be? Any help would be gratefully received!

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littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 13:19

Sorry, ignore first sentence, started to relply to another thread, realised it would be a bit of a hijack and started my own.

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:23

yep.

ds was referred to paed and clinic. had ultrasound investigations etc.

we use an enuresis alarm and desmotabs, and tbh the issue is mostly resolved.

they don't generally bother until 7 though, as it's still within the bounds of 'normal'

never heard the 'out of pull-ups' line though. we tried it a few times, but short of buying new mattress tisn't practical advice lol. ignore that and keep him in pull-ups. we used the dry-nites and sometimes tried the 8-15 yo ones as they do hold a little more. the fact that they are sold in normal supermarkets is kind of reassuring tbh. if it was that unusual then they wouldn't bother lol.

i do understand your pain. i have been through more washing machines than i care to admit...

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:24

dd1 was the same - she's 9 and just became dry at 8 using an alarm btw - ds1 was a bit more complicated...

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:25

have you tried an alarm? we use a malem one with 8 diff tones/ vibrate.
i strongly recommend!

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 13:28

Don't think an alarm wuold wake him up to be honest. we once put shelves in the airing cupboard in his bedroom using a drill and he didn't wake up. Having kids who sleep deeply is great for somethings and not so good for others! Is desmo forever or just until they do it natualy? Does it have side effects?

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:31

no, that's quite normal - to start with the alarm wakes you up lol, and you charge into the room like a bull elephant putting the light on, shouting and clapping.

with dd1 she was dry within a fortnight

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:32

you can get them off desmo eventually i think - we're not at that point with ds1 yet. i'm keeping him on it for a bit. he's 7.5 and i figure a year or two...

drugs didn't work for dd1. her issue wasn't hormonal, twas deep sleep.
like i said, alarm wakes you lol

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:35

essentially, three reasons why they are wet

a - deep sleep
b - hormone production not established
c - mix of both above

dd1 was 'a', ds1 is 'c' lol.

so, 'cure' for
a - alarm
b - meds
c - alarm and meds

very unlikely that paed will suggest anything else after they have checked normal physicality and function.

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:36

our alarm is 8 tones and vibrating for that reason btw - the tones alternate each time, and so the body can't zone the sound out as easily - particularly if it associates the sound with being shaken roughly awake with the lights full on and dragged out of bed lol

i know it sounds barbaric, but honeslty, after 8 years of solid laundry, i can do 'cruel to be kind' lol

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:37

dd1 loves being dry. sleepovers no longer involve angst

Blackduck · 18/06/2009 13:38

blackduck puts up her usual link here

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 13:51

Thanks for link. Have been on ERIC site lots! Part of me thinks "no worries, doesn't really matter, what the heck." and part of me sees the future with a bedwetting 15 year old! Laundry is hideous this week! Washing line permanently full of sheets, bed protectors and pjs! I'm knackered from being up in the night, like going back to having a newborn except that we all have to go to work, school etc the next day. Might also add that there's a strong history of bedwetting in my family and a slightly less strong one in DH's.

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littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 13:54

I too am a bit Attilaish, am the routine and discipline police actually. generally Totally In Control Of All That Goes On so this is causing me more angst than is strictly necessary. DS remains resolutely laid back, easy going and keen to tackle the challenge though!

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 13:54

we used a baby monitor to listen out for alarm btw - our walls are super-thick

Blackduck · 18/06/2009 13:56

Why take him out of pull ups if all that happens is you get a pile of laundry? Get the referral and explain the situation. Explain that when they give you a strategy to follow (alarms/meds whatever) you will do it, but there is no point having a soaking bed and soaking laundry just to prove the point...BTW I am in similar situation - ds still in pull ups. Had a dry night other night (more to do with not having drunk anything than anything else), and I would not put him, or myself through the hell of wet beds just for the referral...

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:07

quite. like i said before, both dd1 and ds1 got referred in pull-ups lol. i have never heard of any child having to earn a referral by creating more work for their parents.

i'm guessing it's part of an old-school 'letting them feel the wet' idea, but it's farcical if the kid doesn't wake up whether wet or dry. ds1 didn't wake himself up once in over 7 years lol, (my mil once memorably tried the 'pull-up off' theory when he stayed with her for a week. at least she had a nice big garden to dry the washing in lol)

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 14:11

You've misunderstood. he can't not have a refferal until he's out of Pullups!!! The bedwetting clinic would want to know that he's tried without to ensure that he isn't doing it out of habit. if I go to the clinic and say he's in Pull ups, I'll have to go and try without. if I go and say he's tried without I can start the next stage. Hope thamakes sense. it makes perfect sense to me!

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:11

the alarm does require only a pair of pants next to skin though (goes off when pants are wet) but you can put either another pair of pants or a pull up over)
we went with the two pants idea, because as soon as he started to leak, the alarm went off and we went into 'bedlam' routine to wake him up and get him out of bed. they do have to be 'woken' too - none of this lifting malarkey - it's the body deciding it doesn't like being woken up unpleasantly that eventually teaches them to wake themself up if they need to wee - dd1 doesn't now, she sleeps through.

ds1 is still a little variable - he occasionally needs to get up.

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 14:12

Please don't tell me what I'm doing is farcical!

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:13

just tell them he's out of pull-ups. seriously.
no paediatrician in their right mind will care once you have a referral!

just do it for a week (stock up on old towels and pile 'em up)

then put him back into pull-ups.
no-one cares!

Blackduck · 18/06/2009 14:14

But you HAVE tried it haven't you, so there you go

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:15

lol, i'm confusing myself - if you haven't tried it, just try it and tick the box. no no, didn't mean you were farcical lol - meant the requirement to have tried it was a bit weird...

littlebrownmouse · 18/06/2009 14:17

I am doing it for a week! Thats what this whole thread is about really! Am fine about doing laundry, have duvet protector and waterproof mattress protector anyway. He's keen to give it a go. Where's the harm?

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madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:17

my mil enjoyed it

we continued it for another two weeks until i went completely mental and told dh he could shove his mother's theory where the sun don't shine.

i bought dry nites and halved my laundry in one shopping trip. he still flooded them lol, but not all the time.

i don't miss that 'whump' when they hit the bathroom floor though

madwomanintheattic · 18/06/2009 14:22

no harm at all lol.
dd1 had to do all the weeing and measuring business too.
having re-read the op, i have wandered a little from the original lol
tis a bad habit. i was under the impression that the wet was with the pull-ups on, which was a particular ds1 fave - which is why i was blethering about the foolishness of taking a child out of pull-ups who could swamp a bed a couple of times a night through them lol...

i'll go back to 'me! yes, dd1 and ds1 have been the same' 'but are mostly fixed now '

apols, mousie. ran away with myself!