Tips for 7yrold to get dry at night

[newyork99]

My dd is just 7 and still in night nappies, this is not a shock to me as she was late in all areas of potty tringing and we have been advised not to rush her. But she wants to try, so any tips as she has got into such a habit.....thanks

Sdd1 was v late (8-9 years). We used to lift her each night but it seemed to just push the wee to earlier and earlier, hence we would always arrive too late. We eventually were given an alarm which worked but not until she wanted to go to brownie pack holiday and then a sleepover which was the motivation she needed to get dry.

Does she leave it very late during the day then have to run? Sdd did and we had to keep on and on at her during the day to understand the signs of needing a wee and going immediately as opposed to leaving it to a near accident.

Sdd also ground her teeth and we had some cranial osteo work done as apparently the jaw and bladder are linked.

Eventually it worked but she was out of night nappies and we lived with the washing otherwise it would have just gone on and on and on.

My 6.5 year's old still wetting 4 out of 7 nights, maybe even twice a night although we lift her at about 11 pm every night. During the day she runs to the toilet at the last mintute and sometimes doesn't quite make it. The local pharmacist recommended the alarm but haven't heard much about it. Has anyone used them?

Look at the ERIC website for info...

6 drinks a day
No drinks 1and half hours before going to bed. No 'dark' drinks (blackcurrent etc).
wee, count to 30, try to wee again (makes sure bladder is empty)
Go when they need to go.
Think about being dry....
Also may run in families....

Alarms - hunt on here - some people rate them, some people don't (i.e. if the child doesn't wake up when they are wet why will an alarm wake them...)

In the middle of all this with ds (6)

Oh and go 'cold turkey' and see what happens - it might just click....

Lifting is generally thought to be a waste of time (it is you doing it, not the child...)

blackduck, I came on here specifically because i remembered someone saying something about "dark" drinks. DD has wet the bed 3 times in the last week after being dry at night for months (she is nearly 4). Each time i think she either had blueberry juice or ribena with her tea. Are you in the know about these things - could that be a factor?

thanks

I am not 'in the know' as in I am not a nurse or anything like that - I am however, going to a clinic with ds and this is one of the things they say - no 'dark' drinks - blackcurrent, tea (?) or anything like that - apparently they are diaretics (sp) and make you pee more...so give her water or somethng else and see what happens.

"Tea, coffee and fizzy drinks can stimulate the kidneys to produce more urine, so can cause a problem at night. Milk drunk just before bedtime can also affect some people. Some drinks, which seem to be particularly associated with increased urine output, are drinks such as orange and blackcurrant."

From the ERIC website

Could it be because she's getting cold? I know I still wet the bed at 7 and it'd be if my duvet fell off and I was cold.

thanks, will try a week with just water at tea time to see how she does.

My dd is 6 and wet at night and I think she doesn't drink enough and/or go to the loo enough in the day. She goes less than I do.

Yes, that can also be an issue - hence the 5/6 drinks a day thing..... i.e bladder training (I am becoming a bl**dy expert in this )

I have found that mine (esp dd1, not really so much dd2) will wet the bed if they have had juice or squash after mid-afternoon

DD1 wet the bed a couple of times a week (sometimes more) until fairly recently (she's 6). Hasn't done AT ALL since we stopped anything other than water after mid-pm

Think it's been about 10 consecutive dry nights now (with no lifting either)

My DD1 was in nappies until 3.5, I think it's because she used to have a drink of milk before bedtime. We lifted her - I think it's a good idea & I sometimes do it if i want a lie-in the next day (works)

DD2 has never had milk since about 2 (stopped the night breast feed herself) & was dry at 2.5. Had a few accidents, but nothing major. A good tip is to make the bed up with a waterproof sheet under, then have another sheet & waterproof blanket...makes the night change easier.

Think the drink guidance is good - you can't be expected to hold a pint of liquid all night (I certainly can't!) & they sleep.

Just wanted to add that my DD's have a drink with their tea & then DD1 takes a drink of water to bed & has a few swigs before she goes to sleep.

Good luck.

You see, I think DD has a really strong bladder. She always has a largish cup of milk before bed and as long as she has wee she still sleeps through without wetting and she isn't bursting in the morning either.

Which is why I think the juice/squash theory could be it for us. Not that I am worried as she is still little but still a pain in the bum having to change pjs/bed clothes etc.

I hope those of you with older DCs get it sorted soon.

Fab, that was exactly my DDs problem. She ended up being referred to the Enuresis nurse in year 3 - which is the age they start to think intervention is necessary. She asked me to measure how much wee DD could do when she really needed to go, to estimate bladder capacity - I can't remember the volume but it was much lower than it should have been. Also she looked at the wee colour, much darker than it should be.

The advice from ERIC posted by BlackDuck is spot on. The 6 drinks a day is 6x200 ml at least. This may mean that you need to provide your child with more than 500ml water bottle at school, because that's when most of the drinking needs to be done. You may also need to have a quiet word with the teacher to ask that your child IS allowed to go to the loo when they need to. Fear of not being allowed can inhibit drinking enough.

The other thing that the nurse had DD do was 'positive thinking' just before she went to sleep. This included having DD come up with a little rhyme, IIRC 'If I need to do a wee, I will go to the lav-a-tree'

It took a while, and we did have to give up the DriNites before getting any dry nights! But it worked in the end - DD is 10 now and has only had a couple of accidents in the last year.

Hi, My DD1 (7 years old) was not dry at night and really wanted to be so I went to see my GP. He suggested getting a bedwetting alarm. I was really dubious, but thought I'd give it a try. Well 2 weeks later she is dry at night and still has the same number of drinks as before and has one by her bed.

The alarm consists of a unit that plugs in and a some special knickers with a small unit attached. When the first drops of wee come out the alarm goes off and she has to get out of bed to switch it off and at the same time use to loo to finish her wee. and then change pants and go back to bed.

Night 1 she wet herself twice (I put a waterproof mat in her bed to make it easier if she got really wet)
Night2 - wet twice
Night3 - wet once
Night4 - wet once
Night5 - dry
Night6 - wet once
Night7 - dry
and since then she has been dry and doesn't need to get up in the night to visit the toilet.

The alam we bought is the Rodger wireless alarm (I didn't like the idea of her sleeping with wires attached to her).
bedwettingalarm.co.uk/aboutrodger.html

Hope this helps.

yeap, we are on the measuring wee bit as well....I got an appointment through the school nurse - I know ds is still considered a bit young, but wanted him 'in the system'. It's true that getting them to drink at school is the hard bit - you aren't there nagging! I had a chat with his teacher and she knows that if he needs to go she has to let him....

Mine only ever have milk or water. They have juice or squash less than a handful of times a month. So that won't work for us. I have had a chat and just asked them to drink more.

I have tried all ofth above - just water, just milk, just juice before 5pm - didn't always work. Tend to eat late (6 - 7pm) so shes parched for a few sips which I generally give her but not always. The other 2 kids could drink all they wanted before bedtime at that age and no wetting. Constant smell of pee in the bedroom - lovely!!

I read an article that suggested not letting children drink in the evening makes no difference to whether they wet the bed or not and that the key is bladder training. I think thats why the GP suggested the alarm, before lookign into the medical route ( I understand there is medicine that can be taken, but does have other side effects).

I can only vouch for my experience and it worked amazingly well.

The point of stopping the drinks is part of the bladder training. If you go to a clinic they will suggest this is done. The idea is to ensure the bladder is as empty as possible before they go to bed.....think about it - if you have a drink close to bedtime you will often want to get up in the night - its the same principle....

Clinics will ask you to do certain things and then base the next step on the information you provide.

I was told - the no drinks after 6pm - and dd was 5, it worked a treat.

I did that for about 3-4 months and then was more relaxed and it was fine.