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Original poster

Never been dry at night....Ever

26 replies

4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 11:01

My DD is 5 and has never been dry at night. We would really like her not to wear nappies at night anymore...they don't even properly fit anymore. Don't seem to make them for that age here (back home can buy them big no problem). But we are at a loss as she has never ever woken up dry. We ran out of nappies last week and told her no more. We are getting her out of bed 3 times at night to put her on the toilet and she still wakes up wet.

No we don't give her lots of fluids before bed and we limit fluids after dinner...however she does drink more than the average child her age during the day. Some days she can drink two liters without blinking.

I just don't know what to do. Anyone else had this?

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Chopstheduck · 09/09/2012 11:06

some children, the hormone just doesn't kick in until later on. My ds is 7 and still in nappies at night. He was dry once for about 6 days with a reward chart, and then went backwards again. We've even been to the GP and he has had a course of desmopressin which is supposed to help sort it out, but that didn't even work. I know it works for some children though, so might be worth a look?

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 11:08

Where on earth do you find nappies for a 7 year old that fit?? The biggest ones we buy here (size 6) cut into DD's legs.

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ContinentalKat · 09/09/2012 11:10

Not being dry at night at 5 is fine.
Ds was dry at nearly 7 and dd at 6.
I do feel your pain, though. Just don't let the other mums whose kids were dry day and night at 8 months get you down Wink

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 11:15

DD spent the night at a friends house where her friend (same age) has been dry since 3...she laughed at DD because she put a nappy on at night. DD was very distressed and doesn't want to wear them and needed reassurance that she is 'normal'. She does not want anybody to know now that she still wears one at night. This is why we are trying to help her...but nothing seems to work.

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OrangeLily · 09/09/2012 11:57

She's very normal! 'telling her ' to be dry at night is absolutely pointless.

What can work is getting her up for a wee as you go to bed and visiting a doctor. What worked for me and my brother aged seven for me and about nine for him is a wet alarm. This clips on to your pants either inside a sanitary towel or in a nappy and when it detects any wetness it very loudly goes off. The sound box is clipped to the top of the PJs.

Please don't blame her, it's quite traumatic!

Seems to run in our family, my father and cousins on both sides had it too. That helped normalise it for me.

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 12:16

We don't just tell her. We limit fluids close to bedtime and we do get her up...3 times a night to go to the toilet (when I go to bed, I wake up in the night again and take her and when DP gets up for work at 5am).

We don't blame her in anyway. She HATES wearing a nappy, she wants to be rid of it just as much as we don't want to buy them. It never became so much of an issue until her friend made fun of her.

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OrangeLily · 09/09/2012 12:21

Have you spoken to your GP, there are other solutions?

Sorry didn't mean to sound judgemental or anything just saying what did and didn't work for our family.

OneOfMyTurnsComingOn · 09/09/2012 12:25

I don't think you should worry. My DD is 9 in January and still wets every night. She is going to the enuresis (bed wetting) clinic about it but I am still not too worried.

Your daughter is very young.

colditz · 09/09/2012 12:25

Buy drynites by Huggies. They go up to age fifteen and are available in boots.

colditz · 09/09/2012 12:28

There is no point getting her up at night. Night time bladder control is influenced by a hormone that only kicks in at a certain age, and that age is massively variable. Both of mine were still wet at six, ds2 is still wet now. It runs in the family, a close relative wet the bed until twelve years of age and that was in the sixties. Bed wetting has always been common and all the telling, lifting and her own embarrassment won't stop it.

The girls drynites have pretty pictures on them.

colditz · 09/09/2012 12:30

I know of two little girls who were not dry at six .... And I don't know that many little girls.

colditz · 09/09/2012 12:32

Oh and the funny thing is, once they are dry, that's it. It's like a switch flips in their heads.

I know it's embarrassing for her, ds2 is very embarrassed, but I have dealt with it by putting him in charge of it. He puts his pj pants on himself, and bins them himself in the morning. I don't praise his for the odd dry one, I don't comment on it at all because he cannot control it. To praise a dry nappy is to imply control.

Indith · 09/09/2012 12:37

Oh bless her. It will come.

My ds has only recently become dry at night at 5 and a half. Before that we had to buy the most absorbant expensive nappies possible and also lift him when we went to bed otherwise he would just wee out ofhte nappy because it couldn't hold it all. Dd is 3 and a half and in nappies at night. Come people's dcs seem to become dry at night the same time as training in the day, some don't.

5inthebed · 09/09/2012 12:39

Buy her pyjama pants, they go to age 12. My neice is 8 and still not dry at night, my sister was the same as as our dad.

Twonker · 09/09/2012 12:56

Has she got a small bladder?

You can measure it, and try to extend it by giving lots of fluids early in the day.

The hormone people are talking about is called vasopressin.

Many children suffering from bed wetting have the space for their bladder restricted by constipation, which is not always easy to detect.

lljkk · 09/09/2012 12:57

Where are you living?

Lifting them at night is supposed to be very bad, stops them from learning to hold it in for long spells, does no good at all in long run. Drinking lots in day is good, though. Only limit fluid close to bed time.

DC3 (chunky lad) wasn't dry at night until past 7yo. Lidl pink package pullups fit him until he was 6yo. I bought some large pullups online from Bambo Nature, and then switched to cloth, but DryNites can be bought pretty cheap too, often on offer, sold widely (Supermarkets), fit up to age 15 yrs.

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 13:05

No idea if she has a small bladder...but she drinks ALOT and pees and poops ALOT. So definitely no constipation! She poos about 4 times a day and pees constantly. Although like I said she drinks heaps, I fill up her water flask multiple times during the day, not to mention glasses of milk and other stuff.

Guess I am going to have to convince her that she still needs to wear the nappies and it is ok.

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thereinmadnesslies · 09/09/2012 13:07

Which country do you live in? Amazon sells Pampers and Huggies nighttime pull ups for ages 4-7 and 7+.

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 13:09

The UK

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Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 13:12

'goes to look at Amazon...didn't even know they sold nappies, thought it was only books, music, electronics'

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thereinmadnesslies · 09/09/2012 13:17

DS was still in night nappies at 5.5, he chose to take them off but to be honest he still wets the bed regularly.
You can set up with Amazon that they deliver a batch of night pull ups on a monthly basis, one less thing to remember!!

Original poster
4goingon14 · 09/09/2012 13:22

Ah thanks...to be honest I did see those once in the supermarket...but as I am North American I thought that 'pyjama pants' meant trousers (pants =trousers) and I thought there is no way DD is wearing papery trousers to bed...that will drive her nuts. But they are actually just a pull up...I didn't know. Blush

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ContinentalKat · 09/09/2012 19:03

Dry night pants are not nappies and only for big children, you only have to look at the pictures on the pack and point out the age range. Worked for us and ds was very quick to point out the difference to anybody who dared to comment on the "nappies"!