To wake or not to wake?

[Jes43]

Hi. My 5.5 year old is still wet at night. We've recently tried a bed wetting alarm and now on night 5. Every night has been different in the number of wake ups but the one consistent thing is that she wets every night so far at 11pm. I know in general we shouldn't wake them to wee but as she is wetting at this time anyway should we take her to the toilet around this time? It would save a wet pair of pants and pull up. Sometimes this is her only accident but other times she will go on to wet another 1 or 2 times.

[Yaleamanda]

No leave her, if you are using the alarm let that do it's job. It may be that she is still too young, essentially you are waiting for the hormone vasopressin to be produced and that is not something you can control. There are plenty of things you can do to help though, ensure that she drinks plenty of fluids during the day, this will help to train the bladder to hold more liquid at night, do not lift to take to the toilet as this only manages the issue and doesnt deal with it, but do take her to the toilet twice before she goes to bed and make sure she completely empties her bladder, count to 30, you will be surprised how much more wee comes out again. Dont restrict liquids, this doesnt work.

[Wishingforcleanpants]

So I have a 6 year old with the same issue. I spoke to the continence nurse about it and she said my girl was a wee bit young for the alarm (borderline is the term she used). She suggested using the bed pads - we got the kylie sheets and said that lifting is fine if you know the bed will be wet anyway at that time as it’s extra work for child/parents and means that they get tired. Maybe try and wake your little one up and take them to the toilet and see how they go? We have been doing this and have had 5/7 of the last few nights being dry. The boost in confidence has been amazing and one night we didn’t lift her she was dry anyway...

[MrsSquirrel]

Lifting is fine. Consultant urologist told us this. If they are having an accident anyway it just prevents work. Nurses advised us to not have any big drinks after 6.30 but make sure she gets plenty in the day. Lots of children are still night incontinent at this age so give it some time. Ask to be referred to continence nurses and they can help advise you further. Bed mats a good idea.