Bed wetting help

Mado

I have a 7 years old who still wets the bed every night.
After talking to the school nurse last year, I went to the GP and got a referal for the enuretic clinic.
We're going next week; I'll let you know how we get on.

I know of another little boy turning 7 in january who is exactly the same; it isn't that unusual, especially in boys.

We don't make a fuss about it. We have tried bribery, star charts, waking him up when we go to bed or early in the morning; he just doesn't wake up. I am sure he will eventually get dry at night!

Apricot

Have you tried limiting what he drinks in the run up to bed time and waking him up for the toilet when you're ready for bed?
My stepsister had a problem with bedwetting until the age of 15, doctors could find no evidence of a medical problem & her mum made a huge issue of it which probably made the situation worse as she was dreadfully embarrassed. When she stayed at our house (every weekend) she was told not to drink after a certain time & was woken up to use the toilet - it happened a lot less in our house than at hers.

I also believe you can get special alarms to go on the bed that will make a noise as soon as any moisture hits them. I think 6 is a bit young for that though - it may alarm him too much & make it a bigger issue than it is.

karen24_2

I forgot to say that there has been a couple of occasions recently when he's taken his nappy off in the early hours, wet his bed and just removed his pyjamas and wrapped himself in the dry part of his duvet. When I discover this in the morning I don't make a fuss, I just put the shower on for him and strip his bed. I'm not sure if this is the best thing to do either, I'm just worried about causing him unnecessary stress.

wornoutmumoftwo

My son has asd has been dry at night since 3, it was the getting him to use the toilet when he was awake that was our problem. (until he was 5 and a half anyway).

Anyway, know someone with a 6 year old who bed wets and they were told a lot of boys can't control bladder until age 7.

Also to avoid anything with berries in it as that simulated the bladder (something like that anyway).

karen24_2

Thank you all for your advice. I have tried waking him at night but he is very difficult to wake, I don't suppose it helps that we only have room for bunk beds and I'm scared of him falling. I've also tried limiting his liquids after tea and he only drinks water, but he's still wet through in the morning. I think the main problem with him is that he doesn't seem bothered about the sensation of being wet. When I was trying to get him dry during the day he'd happily sit in wet pants until I noticed, hence the long time it took for him to be dry.

slummymummyof3

It may also be a sign of type 1 diabetes so always advisable to get it checked out with a GP.

dieselhead

My brother was the same in the end he wanted to go on cub camp, so my mother took him to the GP who refered him to the clinc. He was given an alarm which woke him at the first sign of wetness. This although in the beginining was still not quite quick enough to get to the loo in time, it did seem to trigger his brain to waking up when he needed the loo. I don't think he needed it for long before he woke up naturally to go to the loo.

Oh and don't worry about him being too deep a sleeper for it to wake him, as it shreeked very loudly and woke the entire house!

karen24_2

dieselhead wrote: »

Oh and don't worry about him being too deep a sleeper for it to wake him, as it shreeked very loudly and woke the entire house!

This made me laugh, thank you. I think I may end up with one of those alarms.

jog

Bedwetting in children isn't considered unusual until at least the age of 7 and even then there a quite a lot of children who still do it, it's just that a lot of people feel embarresed and therefore it doesn't get talked about.

It's worth getting his urine checked at the GP surgery, just to rule out an infection, or diabetes, as has already been suggested. The nurse should be able to do a simple test for you.

If you want further info then the ERIC website is great with loads of info for both parents and children. I would really recomend having a look on it.

http://www.eric.org.uk/

If you're still worried talk to your GP or School Nurse about an enuresis refferal.

Good Luck

Jog

moo2moo

I have a 10 year old daughter who isn't dry at nights. Its 50/50 and can occur anything from 9pm to 6:30am. Disrupting her sleep to take her to the loo only seems to make things worse. It is getting less frequent in that we now have two dry nights in a row but when shes upset or tired or has a lot on her mind it gets worse. Shes old enough to know that her friends don't wear pajama pants. Its just one of those things. She hates it but knows it will stop eventually. Until then theres always a big hug waiting for her each morning no matter what. Pressurising her into needing to be dry would be mentally devastating for her.