Bed wetting

[Traveller]

Has anyone had an older child who wets the bed? DS2 will be 7 in November and he still soaks through his nappy every night. We've tried star charts, etc, to no avail. We've also tried encouraging fluids earlier in the day to stretch his bladder capacity and restricting fluids at night. I've also started getting him to pee half an hour before bed and again at bedtime to make sure his bladder is empty but nothing works. At what age can I take him to the GP and is there anything else I can try meantime? The rest of my kids were all dry at 2 or 3 so this is new to me.

[Phteven]

We saw a physio who specialised in continence issues for our DS. Didn't need a referral but it was our GP who pointed us in her direction after doing blood and urine tests and an ultrasound to be sure it wasn't caused by a physical issue we could address.
We saw our GP when he was 6.

We started with increasing fluids which meant sending him to school with poppers because we knew he would drink them because they are more flavoursome than water. Also we made sure his fibre increased by putting some benefibre in his morning milk. He did eat lots of fruit but lots of children with continence issues have constipation so she just wanted to be sure. He had a reward chart with a star for every day he drank lots of fluids. We reminded him to pee before bed but didn't insist that he squeezed something out if he didn't feel like he needed to because it's actually counter-productive.

Kept that up for a month.

Then we got an alarm. It was a Malm brand I think. The sensor goes over undies and under a nappy and the noisy bit was safety pinned to the chest of his PJ's. It goes off if it touches fluid so we taught him to use it by spitting on his finger and then turning it off. Then he went to bed with the alarm. When it went off he had to turn it off and go to the loo. Even if he had emptied his bladder he had to go to the loo. The first few times he freaked out and struggled to turn it off but after a few nights he had the hang of it. We had our first dry night about a fortnight after starting with the alarm and within 2 months he had stopped wetting the bed. The physio said to expect a relapse in winter but it never came.

People kept telling me not to worry because it would stop in it's own time but I should have told them to **** off. Even though we never said anything negative about it or put any pressure on him to stop DS was so happy when we started seeing the physio and he knew that she would help him. I didn't even realise what a weight it was on him until I saw his reaction to being told that he would be able to stop soon.

[Traveller]

Brilliant thanks Onyx, I'll look into an alarm. Would you recommend the physio as well as the alarm?

[nothing2lose]

I have Trav but unfortunately I dont have any answers for you

My ex-stepson still wet his bed every night when I last saw him and he was 13. It was so frustrating. We tried everything. Alarms, medications, restricting fluid, not restricting fluid, waking him in the middle of the night to pee. We went to GPs, paeds, clinics...Nothing worked for us. He would wee through the pull ups onto the sheets and doona so I had to change the bed and wash everything every day. It did my head in. It also severely affected him. He wouldnt stay overnight at friends, didnt want to go to school camps...

I dont know when or how (or if) it stopped. His dad and I separated and I havent seen him since. As he is in his 20s now, I hope it eventually resolved itself.

I know i havent been any help but I just wanted you to know that I understand how stressful it can be for the whole family

[Traveller]

that sounds so stressful. Thankfully it's not affecting things like sleepovers yet, but I know they are coming soon. DS1 is having a sleepover for his birthday and I know DS2 is a little bit worried that they will see his nappy.

[~clover~]

I was told with DD2 to see someone when she was 6. During all her assessments etc for her diagnosis, it was always brought up, but they didn't look any further into it. With moving & everything thats happened lately, I hadn't gotten round to going any further with it. The only thing that was suggested was to use an alarm.

Thankfully, a few months ago it stopped! I can't remember if it was before or after her 7th birthday (June), all I know i that one day there were just no more wet beds! (She'd started refusing nappies & sneaking to bed without them about 12 months ago. )

She was wetting every single night. I don't know what changed, but I'm so relieved! She still does, but probably only once a month now. I put it down to her ADHD.

[Phteven]

The physio pretty much told me everything I told you. She also sold us the alarm (which is a Malem BTW not a Malm)
We only saw her twice and the rest of the time she rang us for progress reports so she wasn't expensive.

It might be worth finding a continence physio near you because they will make sure that you are following a program that is tailored for your DS and show him how to use the alarm.

[Maruschke]

I had that alarm as a kid and it didn't work for me... only time worked for me. I was on medication, had ultrasounds, restricted fluids, alarms etc. Parents used praise and shame. But it just took time and clicked when I was 12. Sorry if this isn't encouraging .

[Traveller]

I'll see if I can find someone then to talk to about this. Actually, random thought, I have nursing placement with the school nurse programme soon so I will ask them for a physio.

Thanks Clover, that's what I was hoping would happen and I've been told normally around the age of 7 but we are getting close so I was starting to worry.

Maruschke it's good to know time will likely eventually work, thanks for your input

[Floweryfields]

Have you considered a chiropractor? I know a child who had serious pooing issues and the chiro helped no end. Also do you go to bed significantly later than him? Mum used to wake me up for the loo when she was going to bed as I was a wetter as well.

[Traveller]

we go to the chiropractor monthly Ausgirl, I'm a huge believer in them but they haven't been able to help with this

[Floweryfields]

we go to the chiropractor monthly Ausgirl, I'm a huge believer in them but they haven't been able to help with this

Ah poo!

[lady_neon]

My brother was quite bad, I remember the alarm being on his bed. I don't think much worked, but he did grow out of it, it stopped when he was 9 or 10. I think my parents would take turns to get up a couple times a night to wake up to go to the loo and he eventually clicked.

Poor thing, its probably so embarrassing. Hope its resolved soon.

[jlk]

My brother was quite bad, I remember the alarm being on his bed. I don't think much worked, but he did grow out of it, it stopped when he was 9 or 10. I think my parents would take turns to get up a couple times a night to wake up to go to the loo and he eventually clicked.

Poor thing, its probably so embarrassing. Hope its resolved soon.

My son was the same, we tried everything but eventually we just had to wait till he grew out of it

[Butterfly Dawn]

I take ds2 to pee before I go to bed and if I feed the baby in the night I will take him again.
Some nights he gets up and goes by himself.
Ds2 has trouble with the feeling. He often pees. His pants still -but he is only 4.

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses