Almost 7 year old still in nappies at night

[Worriedmotheroftwo]

My son is almost 7. He has ASD and ADHD. Although he is dry in the daytime (took until he was 5 to be consistent) he's still in pull-ups at night. He fills his nappy every single night.

I'm not too fussed and am hopeful that in time he will naturally get some sort of control over this, just later than other children. He doesn't seem too bothered either, although his younger brother has made a couple of mean comments about it.

Should I be tackling it or should I be leaving it and hoping it resolves naturally? I don't want to do the whole waking him in the night / wee alarm thing, as it's crucial for him to get enough sleep to cope with the day... when he's tired he gets really dysregulated.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks!

Night dryness isn’t the same as being dry during the daytime. It is in part based on a hormone. Not being night trained can be normal for some 6 year olds.

NICE guidelines suggest DC can’t be treated from 5, but some areas wait until older. Although an alarm is usually the first option tried after looking at things like fluid intake.

Yes, but he's almost 7. I'm wondering whether to try to tackle it or just hope it naturally resolves?

I could have written this.
We thought about tackling this now, in the holidays but my DS has been dysregulated with the lack of route. Despite our best efforts to keep one. So it looks like he's staying in the pads because, like you, if he doesn't sleep he (and us!) really struggle.
We have been rationalising this as, with all the other challenges we have going on, wearing a pad at night isn't a big issue.
We are going on holiday next week so have been thinking we might try then...
But... in the scheme of things we have to contend with with an ASD child... dont stress too much.
Lord knows we have enough other stuff to deal with x

I would leave it for now, 7 is late but still not that unusual I don't think. Have you checked out the eric website?

Even at 7, it can be normal for some DC.

Sorry, my pp should say “NICE guidelines suggest DC can be treated from 5, but some areas wait until older.” Not “can’t be treated..."

It wouldn’t hurt to mention it to the GP, but some areas wouldn’t do anything beyond advice about fluids etc. until older.

I totally agree. We've decided to leave it another year and speak to a GP again at the start of the summer holidays next year. We've weighed up the pros and cons and decided that in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter if he's in pull-ups at night at the moment, and our priority is other things. Solidarity!

Yeh, some good advice on there, thanks.

Thanks. Have now spoken to GP, but he's happy with us waiting until next summer so I guess I'll just leave it for now! Thanks for everyone's help!