Nightn nappy or not for my 7yr old

[CQ77]

Hi I'd really appreciate some advice. My 7 year old daughter has pretty much always been wet at night. When she was about 5 we started using a reward chart system, it was a bit hit and miss but she would have episodes of 5 dry nights in a row etc... Then we moved house and her bed wetting escalated to up to 3 times a night bedwetting, it felt wrong so we went to the gp who assured us it was all normal and to use bed time nappies. She is now keen to stop using bed nappies, after 8 nights she managed one dry night. I don't know if we should persevere without nappies or go back to them. She sleeps through her bedwetting, and has no other incontinence or constipation problems. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'd appreciate any ideas.

[mumtoL]

To be honest I would try & stay away from the bed time pants as she can become reliant on them. Have you considered a bed wetting alarm? Also try to get her to increase her day time drinking (no fizzy or dark drinks) and obviously nothing from an hour before bedtime. If you are not already, I would start seeing your local incontinance clinic/nurse as the support and advice is a great help. My daughter is 9 and is still on medication - but we are very slowly trying to wean her off. Good luck!

[CQ77 in reply to mumtoL]

Thanks for the reply. She doesn't have fizzy drinks, but she would have a small drink before bedtime, so I'll stop that. Think I'll check in with the Gp again for a referral to the incontinence nurse. Have you tried then night alarm mats? My brother had bedwetting issues and loathed the alarm, he slept through it most times anyway. My daughter is still keen to stay away from the nappies but I feel so demoralised for her waking in a wet bed every morning. I've read up quite a bit on bedwetting and there's so much conflicting advice. Can I ask you how long your daughter has been on the medication for? And how it's affected her? Thanks.

[mumtoL in reply to CQ77]

I have every sympathy as we have really been through it and there doesn't seem to be any quick fix The alarm was successful for a while - but we haven't used it much since she has been on meds. She is on desmo-melts and Lyrinol tablets which we have recently successfully reduced from 10mg to 5mg. Basically, her bladder wasn't capable of holding as much liquid as it should and wasn't sending signals to her brain where she was asleep. She is also a very deep sleeper. It is horrible as in every other way she is a very independant and mature little girl - she get's very embarrassed. However, the medicine has made a big difference and we are getting there... I have no idea how long it will take to get her off it completely. Oh and the stick on bed mats are brilliant - we have them under the sheet so she doesn't wriggle off them or screw them up in her sleep - so all you have to change is her sheet and the mattress is protected.

One in 4 children your child age is effected by this - so try not to worry too much.

Hope this helps xx

[SallyandPaul]

Hi the advice that you have here is good especially about the drinks. However maybe she is just not ready. I tried my daughter without pullups annually from four until seven , just for a few nights. She finally cracked it at seven but some children take longer. Personally I'd give it another year or two. Ps we did try the alarm but she hated it

[Paulap1965]

Try using an enuresis alarm at night to help wake her when her bladder is full. Also speak to your school nurse who can refer you to an enuresis clinic for a full assessment and help to get your little one dry, hope this helps.

[CQ77]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply and advise I really appreciate it. Going to make an appointment to see the gp and take on board all your tips. I realise that it's a fairly small issue compared to what many others are going through, but you have eased my doubts on whether I was doing the right thing or not. Thanks.

[ParentwithsoilingDD]

My daughter is still wetting at 8 and wears a nappy to bed. She will have a couple of dry nights then a few wet ones. We discussed wearing nappies and she agreed 1, it's better than a cold wet bed, 2, it's less laundry, 3, they will be dry when they are ready. Parents who themselves stress over a child wetting, or for that matter soiling are more likely to prolong the time till the child is dry/ clean etc.

And yes - it was a terry and plastic pants - that way if she woke she knew she was wet, in a pull up she didn't feel the wet and would go back to sleep, wet again and soak through onto her bedding. A terry and soaker pad contained everything.

Didn't use the horrible crackly white ones available in uk, I went on line and bought some soft quiet and long lasting ones from USA.

Hope this helps J

[Clarede]

We have just had our referral to incontinence nurse and had to measure all drinks and wees during the day. We found out that my 7 year old is going to bed with 300ml of fluid in him so alarm and medicine wouldn't work yet. We are trying to drink more and go to the toilet more frequently during the day. It will happen but it is horrible to see them upset. Good luck

[CQ77 in reply to Clarede]

Thank you so much. I did measure her input and output before and there was a deficit of something similar. Didn't realise that the alarm and medicine wouldn't work in that case. Definitely going to take the time to repeat a day of measuring input and output again before seeing the Gp. Thank you everyone!

[D_Pink in reply to CQ77]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and have an almost 8 year old daughter who has never had a dry night. We are under a Enuresis clinic and 6 days into trying an alarm and trying to drink more during the day. How does the measuring thing work? Is it literally fluids drunk and then wee produced? What about fluid from foods, and fluid lost in poo and sweat?

[MrsBadger]

We have the same issue here. So we try not to use nappies at night these days except if we are away/camping but I would not blame you at all if you continue. The washing is never ending! We had an alarm but he hated it (son is 8) and the only thing we find works is - no drink an hour before bed, triple wee before bedtime (wee, wait 2 mins then wee etc )wake him at half 9 or 10pm and get him on the loo for a wee (not a long term solution to him waking up himself as he sleeps deeply, but it does help with less wet beds in a practical sense). We are awaiting urology appt having been through continence nurse team.