Nighttime dryness - 4.5yr old

[amysmum18]

DS is nearly 4.5 and in Reception. He potty trained during the day just before he was 3 and hardly ever has an accident. We are struggling with night time though. He was worn pull-ups at night since he was dry in the day and we were waiting until he was consistently dry at night before taking them away. We're still waiting....... He can go a couple of nights dry and the they are wet again and since he's started school, they are heavily wet every night. We didn't have this problem with DD, she went dry at night at the same time as the daytime dryness, so I'm not sure what to do.

Should I just wait for him to become dry on his own or should I be pushing the issue? x

Firstly you are not alone and your child is one of millions his age and older wetting the bed . Night wetting is far more common than you think.

I would really recommend visiting www.eric.org.uk/ where there are loads of resources both for parents and kids and a forum dedicated to this issue. Our son is 7 and we have struggled for 4 years with night wetting. He got dry in the day quite quickly but has struggled at night.

In terms of taking action, if you 're thinking about rewards etc you know your child best. We didn't go down this route as we felt the sense of failure if he didn't stay dry would be worse for him than the benefit of the sense of success when he managed it.

Try and take steps to prepare for wet nights by having everything you need to hand so it is less stressful for you all. That certainly helped us. We also take our son yo the toilet when we go to bed. He has learned to almost stay asleep when we do it so his night isn't interrupted. Some people advise against this as they believe it stops them learning to stay dry but for me the priority is that he has good quality sleep and that we reduce stress over it where possible.

It may be that since starting school he is more tired and sleeping more deeply so doesn't wake up and once he is in his rhythm things will improve. We also find big changes seem to make it worse.

There is advice on the site about the 3 main causes of wetting at night and lots of ideas on how to help.

Good luck

Our DD wasn't dry at night until she was 7.

What was happening was that her bladder was too small to hold much fluid at night( she is very petite). So we (on the advice of the school nurse) encouraged her to drink 2 litres of water every day to effectively stretch her bladder.

It took about 3 weeks and she's been dry at night ever since.

Thanks for the advice. I'm reluctant to rush him into it and have a lot of wet nights, disturbed sleep (for him and me) especially when he is so tired from starting school. I think we'll see how he gets on over the next couple of months and maybe relook at it in the spring.

Hi OP, we are in the same situation. DS is 5 in November and still in pull ups at nighttime (and sometimes leaks through those!). He was dry in the day at 2.10. I haven't been too concerned as I understand that night time wetting is related to a hormone production - if they don't produce that hormone yet (and many don't until age 7) then they are v unlikely to be dry at night. The most we have had is a run of about 7 dry nights, just as we were thinking of leaving the pull up off he was wet again and has been ever since. It's hard though, particularly when he asks not to wear one, and I am a bit concerned his 2yr old sister will be out of night nappies before him! We have tried lifting him to the toilet when we go to bed but it didn't really help. Hope it helps to know you are not alone, and am sure if you spoke to some of his friends parents some of them will be in the same boat

And don't forget, Drynites pull-ups are available in up to size age 15. It really isms much more common than you think OP.
Hang in there!

There's also the issue of children producing the necessary hormone at different ages.

Could write this myself. My dd has been dry in the day since 2years and 1 month. But night time she’s in pull ups and they are so full in a morning. Through the summer she was dry but since going back to nursery she’s wet again. I’ve tried this week but when I put her in pants she wet the bed and just slept in it! So we’re back to the pull ups. We’re moving house soon so I’m
Going to leave her until she’s settled in there. They’re so young still

Not sure there is a problem?

I lift my 4.5yr old every night at 11pm when I go to bed. That way, she has a good wee and I don't wake up to having to change a wet bed and a wet child.

I guess at some point I will stop doing this but right now it works for her and for us.

Have you tried this instead?