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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

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Original poster

Getting ds7 dry through the night

24 replies

AlternativelyWired · 22/10/2022 18:03

He was dry during the day around age 2.5 years but has never had a dry nappy at night. We've seen the GP who said don't worry until he's 7. When he turned 7 we went back and have been referred to the childrens continence service. We'd seen a different GP who recommended a reward chart . He has no knowledge he is seeing in the night. Tonight we are starting the continence service advice so no drink after dinner, double wee at bedtime, light on on the stairs so he can get to the bathroom without being worried as he's scared of the dark.

Has anyone else done this at this age? How did it go and how long did it take? He's not just a little wet in the morning, his pull up is sodden.

No issues with his bowels and should he need to poo during the night he does get up.

My two dds had no issues with nighttime dryness and were dry from age 2/3. Dd1 didn't wet the bed even once. Dd2 just a few times. My mum assures me my two brothers were "a nightmare" and were still wetting the bed at about age 10.

I dreading disturbed nights of changing beds 😩

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Kayjay2018 · 23/10/2022 11:01

@AlternativelyWired my son had the odd accident until he was passed 7. I saw the school nurse and before we did any referrals etc she suggested we tried bladder training. This involved drinking a certain amount of liquid at certain points of the day so that he learnt what a full bladder felt like during the day, I was sceptical but it worked. I would suggest seeing if there is a school nurse attached to school as they will have seen this loss and loads of times

Kayjay2018 · 23/10/2022 11:03

And there are certain drinks that are triggers, I think blackcurrant is one (sorry it was a long time ago) so may be worth looking at what is currently thought to be a bladder irritant

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 11:10

My son wore a pull-up, which was always saturated, until just shy of 8. I never made a thing of it, he simply wasn't waking. One morning he said 'It's dry!' and never wore one again... he gave up daytime nappies without incident, literally, at 2.5. Now at ten he never gets up at night to the toilet. His brother was also quite late at 6.5, again I just left him have a pull up and it all worked itself out. I was a bedwetter myself into primary school.

paranoidmumdroid1 · 23/10/2022 11:12

My middle child, dd, was wet at night until she was 9.5. Neither of my other dcs had any issues being dry.
We tried all the tips about not drinking after 6pm etc, saw the GP when she was 8..... nothing worked and it was a lot of stress and upset trying to "fix" it. Her little brother was dry before she was.
Luckily covid cancelled school residential trips and sleepovers at the time so she just stuck with pull-ups until it stopped.
Tbh I'd say chill and use pull-ups. It's only an issue if you or the child make it one. It will get better in the end.

Original poster

AlternativelyWired · 23/10/2022 11:13

Hi, thank you. Last night he did well and was dry until some point after 1am which is when I last checked on him. He didn't wake up though despite being wet. It appears to have been just one wee so not bad at all for the first night. He doesn't drink blackcurrant or milk except for milk in the morning. The info said that milk isn't good due to the protein levels so not to have it after 5pm.

OP posts:

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 11:13

Agree completely paranoidmumdroid.

Imabitbusyatthemoment · 23/10/2022 11:14

Increasing the amount of water drunk through the day helped DS to get dry.

YukoandHiro · 23/10/2022 11:15

Following as my DD has been dry in the day since before 3 and is now 5 and we've only ever had a handful of dry nights and mainly last summer during the heatwave so she was probably dehydrated.
Was trying to leave it til 6 before I worried but it's on my mind a lot!

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 11:15

Personally I think these rules regarding liquids are a bit stress inducing, tho I'm sure you're not including him in them. Why not try the pull ups and let him, and you, have dry, undisturbed sleep?

YukoandHiro · 23/10/2022 11:20

I agree @mikado1 - my 5yo wet at night dd always has a glass of fortified oat milk before bed and I'm loathe to stop it as for various dietary reasons it's such a battle to get enough calcium in her. Juggling that and trying to get dry all seems stressful

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 11:22

Yep it's one of those when they're ready, they're ready situations, most of the time anyway.

Bemyclementine · 23/10/2022 11:23

Ds1 had this issue. He was in pull ups until a few months ago.

What we dud was a t

Boomboom22 · 23/10/2022 11:25

I've actually forgotten with my older ones, when do you even think about this? My youngest is 4 soon, do I try one night? He went through a 0hase of taking them off and w9uld wee in bed and then wake up, so I don't think he is ready. Or do I wait for dry nappies first? How much is hormanal and how much habit?
I did think it'd be easy with the third as the second was very close in age, think 6yrs I've actually forgotten 😅

Bemyclementine · 23/10/2022 11:27

Oops
Was a combination of - cutting out blackcurrant.
No bedtime drink. More water in the day. He often reads for a bit so would take himself for an extra last wee. And a tick chart. I have no idea how or why this worked. Every morning he got up and put a tick if dry. Previously had a wet pull up daily znd didn't wake if he wee'd. First week he had 2 dry then 4 then 5 then 7. He didn't want to give up pull ups, so wanted a month dry which he did. A few wet beds since, but always on an unusual day (late night late drink etc).

Hes not quite 7.5 now and had 1 accident in 2 month. Still doesn't wake up!

(Ds 2 is 5, dry si nce 2.5, wakes for a we occasionally)

Bemyclementine · 23/10/2022 11:28

Oh and re the drink at night if he's thirsty he has a bit of water. I do t withhold it, just try to maje sure they drink plenty earlier.

Sjk00 · 23/10/2022 11:29

Both of sons were wetting at night until quite old - got referred to specialists. What worked for them is bladder training - ensuring they go to the toilet at certain times throughout the day - on waking, before school, all break times at school, when home, after dinner, before bed etc. They need to go the toilet and try to wee whether they feel like they need it or not. I thought this would make them need to wee more but it worked! The main thing is not to make an issue out of it - be very matter of fact, explain that lots of children wet at night until older, it's not a problem and they'll grow out of it eventually. If they worry about it, it'll just make things worse. I know it's difficult but it'll honestly pass :-) my boys can go all day without a wee now if they're engrossed in a computer game haha! X

Boofay · 23/10/2022 11:34

My son was in pull ups at night until nearly six. We used a bed wetting alarm in the end which worked. We moved his mattress into our bedroom and he slept in with us until we had success. It had a wet sensor that you could clip onto pants or pyjama bottoms and it was vibrating a little box that could be attached to a top or collar and would set off an alarm. It sounds bizarre but it would rouse him and us so he'd wake before he was properly wet. The aim of the alarm was to associate that full bladder feeling with waking up. It worked really well. He initially would wake in the night if he needed a wee bit eventually he just stopped needing a wee in the night.
There was nothing upsetting or traumatising about the process and we got results within a couple of weeks. I think they sell them on Amazon.

Beginningless · 23/10/2022 11:34

We bought an alarm from Amazon for DD at 6 - worked beautifully. Lots of previous MN threads with peoples experiences if you are interested.

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 11:35

Getting a tick, or not, for something you can't control, doesn't sit right with me.. but obviously it's a personal thing. Both of mine now have a large glass of water on their lockers at night, and no problems. For me letting it work itself out with time and not being stressed over it ourselves, is the optimum route. I appreciate there are a tiny percentage of children who have a medical issue. I also appreciate the comment re habit but largely, children don't want to wake up wet and cold, so I would just let it play out.

minisoksmakehardwork · 23/10/2022 11:48

DH was not night dry until he was 11 apparently. But this didn't come out until after we had tried all the continence clinic advice with dd2, who was still in pull-ups at 9, year 5 of school.

Fortunately with time, she has just got dry herself. She is now 10 and hasn't had an accident in a few months. I'd suggest if all the continence clinic advice isn't helping, then time might. Especially if there is family history of late nighttime dryness. Our continence clinic said they'd only be concerned if she was still wetting when she was 11.

Re wet beds, we layered 2 waterproof sheets and fitted sheets. So if the first layer got wet, strip off and second dry layer was there. Spare duvet was ready in wardrobe with cover on. Definitely sped up bed changes. But we also used pull-ups suitable for her age. They sell them in supermarkets for up to age 15.

I didn't want to go down the route of withholding liquids or night waking as dd also had issues when younger with kidney infections and I felt if we woke her, we were not expecting her to listen to her own body cues.

Bemyclementine · 23/10/2022 12:16

@mikado1 I understand what you're saying, I should have added, it was DS idea, and there was no reward, it was to "keep track". He'd had a tick chart from Beavers for teeth brushing, feeding pet etc so got the idea from that. He was very keen to try his way. I have no idea how it helped! Maybe focused his mind on it, maybe he paid more attention to the last wee. Maybe complete coincidence.

mikado1 · 23/10/2022 12:29

Very cute! I agree re last wee NB! :)

Webbing · 23/10/2022 12:36

Another vote for the alarm. Our lad went into a coma at night and honestly didn’t even waken after wetting himself. Even when I’d pop him onto the loo at night before I went to bed and change bed clothes pjs etc he would have no recollection in the morning. Only way to help him get control himself was the alarm. It took about a month and his body adjusted - he would wee more during the day and he resumed his fully nights sleep.

sproutsandparsnips · 23/10/2022 12:59

DS1 was well over 6 before he was dry at night, and then it just happened. DS2 was 8 before he was and we tried medication which didn't work but the bed wetting alarm worked within a week or so.

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