5 year old wetting every night

[cordobasarah]

Hi, My DD has just turned 5 and has been problem free during the day for 2 to 3 years now. However, she has still been in nappies at night. If we try to leave her nappy free at night, she wets every night. We have tried everything - waking her up when we go to bed to do a wee, not drinking in big quantities after teatime etc but she is still very unreliable. She doesn't appear to be woken by the need for a wee at night, she just sleeps straight through, and it seems to me her bladder just isn't big enough to get her through a night, if that makes sense.
So - what would you do? Put her back in nappies for a bit longer? Or persevere?
She seems old to be in nappies to me, but I don't want her to get a complex about it as I think that will cause even more problems.
Thanks in advance for your help!

I know a couple of 5 year olds like this, so i think it is more common than you think. The mother of one spoke to the HV about it when child was still 4. HV advised that night time dryness relies on the brain making a particular hormone, which may not happen until they're 8.

My 5 year old still wears nappies at night despite being dry in the day since she was 2. There's no way I'll take them off until she is actually bothered herself IYSWIM. She's still wet every night so no point.

I'd keep her in nappies, it sounds as if she's not physically ready yet. Dd1 (6) is seen regularly in enuresis clinic for night wetting, she's been dry in the day since 19mo. We were referred when she was 5.5 but I don't think they generally refer before then. As a first line we were told to encourage drinking through the day to 'stretch' her bladder. They also suggested that when she goes for a wee she should sit on the toilet and count to 10 before weeing. That didn't do the trick so in February when she turned 6 she started on desmopressin tablets at bedtime to mimic the missing hormone. She's now reliably dry I would say 6 nights out of 7 so after the next appointment we'll be trying her off the tablets.

Don't stress about it, contact your GP if you want a referral but otherwise there isn't much you can do.

Just read this thread with interest. My DD(5.8) and DS1 (4.2) both have bricks for nappies in the morning. Neither wake when they need a wee - I too have tried everything mentioned above. I might get DD referred if still no change by Sep. I'm not overly phased but when I'm spending £30 month on pyjama pants it's irritating. Interestingly DD was dry at night for about six months when she was 3 but then went back to wetting.

My 5 yo has spells of bed wetting, we just ignore it, shower her, change the bed (we have a couple of heavy cotton mattress covers) and that's it.

It is a bit inconvenient, but she is not doing it on purpose. She'll grow out of it.

I would take the nappies off, and deal with the wet beds in a similar manner.

Does your daughter snore at night? I ask because I've recently learned that this can be a sign of enlarged adenoids and tonsils causing paediatric sleep apnea, which is in turn linked to bed wetting. Here's a link to an article with basic information in case it is helpful:

www.patient.co.uk/doctor/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-in-children