Any good threads on bedwetting around?

(26 Posts)
Sylphid Thu 22-Nov-12 13:04:57

I'm beginning to lose patience with my ds (aged 6)......

Sylphid Wed 28-Nov-12 23:22:07

How do I know if bladder capacity is the problem? I think ds drinks enough fluid, and he can go on without peeing for very long periods of time - during day. Sometimes he pees before school and then when he comes back home at 1530. That surely means his bladder capacity is OK?

Tgger Sat 24-Nov-12 19:34:15

Yeah, having not had the issue with my own kids madwoman sounds very sensible. DS only went dry in the Summer, at nearly 6. A lot of his peers had been dry for a year or two, but comparisons are odious as they say grin. He never had a dry pull up mind you, it was my decision to give it a go again (had tried once before at 4) and it was pretty painless. I like to think if it hadn't worked I would have just put the pull up back on. There are bigger fish to fry without unnecessary medical intervention..

madwomanintheattic Sat 24-Nov-12 19:12:27

More fluid is used if capacity is an issue.

Desmo tabs/ meds are used if hormone production is an issue.

Alarm is used if deep sleep is an issue.

Combinations are used when more than one issue.

But, on the whole, time is just as productive as interventions. And I speak as someone who has successfully used an enuresis alarm with one kid, and utterly failed with every single intervention with another. grin

madwomanintheattic Sat 24-Nov-12 19:09:51

Mm, the difficulty is that it can be medicalised too early, when it isn't a medical problem or concern at six.

So, you can make sure they are drinking enough, but at six it isn't really necessary to intervene too much - two of mine went through the whole peeing in a jug to measure output so that professionals various could determine bladder capacity, ultrasounds on full and then emptied bladder to check for residual urine and emptying, blah, blah. Kidney scans etc etc. Quite alarming for a six yo, and certainly enough to convince them they have a medical problem. something 'wrong' with them. At six, as long as they are getting enough to drink, it's important not to view this as a medical problem.

Because it just isn't. It's entirely normal to bed wet at 6. It's also entirely normal not to. Luck of the draw. Two of mine wet way past six, and one was dry day and night at two. We did nothing differently.

Try and hold off on 'professionals' until 7, if you can. You really don't want to make your child think there is any issue with this. You can offer more drinks if you think this might be a complicating factor, but no need to suggest he needs to drink more...

imtheonlyone Sat 24-Nov-12 18:48:31

I did wonder why they said drink more in the day - doh!! Makes sense now if to increase bladder capacity. smile

mumofthreemadchildren Sat 24-Nov-12 18:31:48

PS I think they usually move to the alarm if bladder capacity isn't the problem (as it may then be that the bladder needs training to recognise it's full).


mumofthreemadchildren Sat 24-Nov-12 18:29:26

Having just been to a clinic for my own 7 year old, I'd really recommend talking to the health visitor. The lady my son saw was really great and it made him feel a lot better and empowered to try and do something, she said they really do see a lot of kids.

There are a number of common causes but in our case drinking approx 200 mls of water 6 times a day was recommended to increaes bladder capacity. She said lifeting wasn'thelpful. We use those nightime nappies for older children which we'll give up when he gets a run of dry nights.

Tgger Sat 24-Nov-12 18:17:42

Yeah sorry, when I said "not much you can do", I meant at age 6 as I thought doctor's didn't prescribe the meds until 7 at least.

I'd quit the lifting, encourage fluids during the day and consider an alarm if you you want to try to get him dry now. Or... I would just put him back in the PJ pants for a stress free life and try again in a few months.

imtheonlyone Sat 24-Nov-12 17:54:05

Oh yeah - I do that too - wee - teeth -story - wee!!

colditz Sat 24-Nov-12 17:19:13

Mine and my mates six year old boys both wet the bed. We use pyjama pants.

notnowbernard Sat 24-Nov-12 17:16:48

Also push fluids in the day - 6-8 cups, not dark colours though

No drinks 1 hr before bed

Wee - teeth - wee

notnowbernard Sat 24-Nov-12 17:14:38

Meds don't cover the problem up, they stop the bed wetting. You take for 3 months then stop for a week to see if the hormone has kicked in or not

Lifting to wee will delay the wetting, you're training his brain to wee in his sleep. If you are going to lift you must wake completely

imtheonlyone Sat 24-Nov-12 17:07:15

Neither did I realise how common it was either - it's good to know isn't it that you're not alone. The doc told me its more common in boys too!!! At 6 he was wet every night too - he's only recently (summer) stopped wearing pull ups.
Defo mention to health visitor although I'm sure you've nothing to worry about - just a few more years of washing winkwinkwink
Good luck! X

Sylphid Sat 24-Nov-12 17:00:10

I'm very reluctant to go down the medication route too - apparently it just covers the problem up, it doesn't actually help maturing the system and once you stop taking it, bedwetting will start again.

About lifting at night time - if we don't do it, he'll wet bed almost every night. So far that's been the only thing that makes any difference - the only thing that we can actually do. I think I'll speak to health visitor to see what her advice is.
But I already feel better about this - I had no idea it was such a common problem.

imtheonlyone Sat 24-Nov-12 16:00:46

I have DS who is 7 will be 8 in match and he is still hit and miss with the bed wetting. I can totally see how very frustrating it is for you as I feel the same - but have been told by docs it's normal and if I want to do something about it I can - but that he will become dry in his own time.
I use bed mats rather than pull ups because he has other siblings and feels embarrassed about wearing them. It's a bit more of a pain but its not every night so it's not too bad.
I agree with the earlier poster who said about not listing at night time - recent guidelines are definitely not to do this - I did for ages but then sometimes he would already be wet before I got to him - his body had become used to weeing at that time thus delaying the issue!!
I think my lad sleeps really heavily - he's also very sensitive and seems to need the loo (both wee and poo) very suddenly ..... I'm just going with it for now - there's little else I can do. He's already on regular medication so I'm reluctant to go down the medication route!
Good luck - I know how hard it is!

madwomanintheattic Sat 24-Nov-12 15:48:40

Malem. Not males. Fecking iPad.

And I would also consider Epsom salts in the bath, before taking magnesium supplements.

madwomanintheattic Sat 24-Nov-12 15:46:33

Ds is only just getting it now. He's 11 in Jan.

Honestly, at 6 it is so ordinary that it isn't even worth fretting over.

Lifting him to pee may not be entirely helping, as it teaches him to pee in the middle of the night when he is half asleep, and so some kids do this even though they haven't got out of bed, as their subconscious says it's ok...

Tgger, of course there's something you can do about 2- millions of kids gets a prescription for desmo tabs when they are 7, which mimics the hormone. It's usually the doctor's first choice, rather than an enuresis alarm. But obv, you can buy an enuresis alarm yourself, and need a doc for a prescription. (I like males alarms if you are going down that route, btw, but I wouldn't bother until he is 7)

mumofthreemadchildren Sat 24-Nov-12 15:43:26

I'm sorry, you should not be going straight for self-medication. This is a common problem (est 10% in 7 year olds) and is often caused by under-developed bladder through not drinking enough. You should call your health visitor and ask them about it, they will almost certainly run a clinic and you can get managed help and if necessary medication under supervision.

Your son will not be doing this deliberately.

Sylphid Sat 24-Nov-12 15:06:14

Thanks MissWooWoo - I think I'll give magnesium a go, I hope there aren't any side effects? Although I must say that I don't think my son really has problems with weak muscles - he can go on all day without going to toilet. Even when he says he needs a wee, he can wait probably for another hour. Or maybe that has nothing to do with bedwetting? I'll try not to lose patience until he's 7 I guess, and then we'll see.

MissWooWoo Fri 23-Nov-12 15:15:05

please don't lose patience, he really really can't help it.

My dd is 5.5 and is still in pull ups at night, up to a month ago she was sopping wet every single night. Having trawled the internet for advice on another issue - tics (as in grunts/coughing etc rather than the little creature) - I started to give her 10ml of liquid magnesium at tea time as some people have found a vast improvement in their child's ticing. Within a week not only had dd's tics gone down to virtually nothing she had also stayed dry at nights - 2 wet pull ups in a 3 week period. Coincidence or was this a side effect of taking the magnesium? I looked on the internet again and there does seem to be something in it. Magnesium deficiency can result in "weak" muscles and so in some cases can help with bedwetting. It might be worth a try, give it a couple of weeks and see how it goes? I give dd Floradix liquid magnesium. I'm not saying it will solve the issue but it might help - dd has had a slight cold this week and has had a wet pull up 3 nights out of 5. But I'd say 5 wet pulls ups out of a possible 4 weeks worth is pretty good going. Who knows, maybe it's just a coincidence and this is her time but it's an avenue to explore.

Sylphid Fri 23-Nov-12 15:06:04

Thanks guys, I already feel much better. We wake ds up every night around midnight to do a wee, but it doesn't always help - he wets bed at least three times a week. I think he just sleeps too deeply - he never ever remembers me or my dh waking him up and taking him to toilet.
But we never make fuss out of bedwetting in front of ds - I know he's not doing it on purpose.
We haven't tried an alarm - that's going to be our last resort, when ds is 7.

Tgger Thu 22-Nov-12 22:38:38

Awwww, what's the problem? Take out blame, he won't be doing it on purpose.

Two main reasons- 1) sleeping too deeply and not waking up, 2) not having the hormone that suppresses urine production (most children get between 3 and 7 but 7 is still normal it all depends on genetics etc).

There is little you can do about 2, but with 1 you can buy an alarm- have you tried that?

vodkaanddietirnbru Thu 22-Nov-12 21:34:32

nighttime dryness cant be taught and he will not be wetting on purpose. It isnt considered a problem until at least the age of 7. Can you put him back in nappies/pullups and try again in a couple of months

Goldenjubilee10 Thu 22-Nov-12 20:38:09

Ds3 (6) is not yet dry at night. He has gone from being wet most nights to being dry most nights over the last 6 months. We use pyjama pants which saves changing the bed so it's not a problem. He will be dry when he is ready.

bumpybecky Thu 22-Nov-12 13:21:23

6?? you don't normally get any specialist help with bed wetting until the child is over 7, this is because it is so common in younger children that it's considered normal medically smile

10% of 5 year olds wet the bed, 5% of 10 year olds wet the bed

Losing your patience will not help. What else have you tried?

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