5 Year Old Still Wetting The Bed

[blahblah06]

My 5 year old daughter still wets the bed. On average about 3 times a week. We have tried reward charts and getting her up in the night to take her to the toilet but nothing seems to work. It feels like I'm the only mother at school that has this problem, does anyone else have this problem and is there a solution you can recommend? It seems as though she just doesn't want to get out of bed, the toilet is right next door to her room, the nights she is dry just seem to be luck as we don't think that she has ever got up in the night and gone to the toilet by herself. Any ideas?

[roslyn251254]

You can get a "buzzer- type thing" from your doctor. It clips onto nightie/pyjamas and an alarm goes off at the first sign of wetness.

[tamborine]

Plastic mattress with raised sides (pillows) so water drains into bucket at bed end……till she controls her bladder. Saves arguing & laundry ;)

[ummmm]

She's probably a deep sleeper. It's very hard to pinpoint the age when a child wakes up to the feeling of needing a wee. Don't be too harsh on her or yourself. Get the waterproof bed sheets and remind yourself that not many adults wet the bed.

It will pass.

[galasalmon]

Maybe she needs medication for an infection etc , have you taken her to your GP.

[Teddio]

Your daughter is unable to control her problem (nocturnal enuresis) by willpower. It is most certainly not the result of laziness on her part. Rewards and, heaven forbid, punishments will not alleviate the problem. It is essential that she does feel guilty for she is unable to stop herself wetting the bed.
An alarm system, where a few drops of urine will set off a buzzer and light to wake her up, works well for older children but I'm not so sure about a five year old.
She will most probably get over this problem as she gets older.

[Sqad]

I agree with the post of Teddio, providing that she has seen her GP to exclude an infection or abnormality.

[rockyracoon]

My daughter used to do this and unfortunately wet herself during the day sometimes, we had to take spare clothes everywhere with us. Doc said it was an immature bladder and she'd grow out of it (which she did) and treatment was not without nasty side effects.

[ummmm]

Do you think we put too much pressure on children?

My HV's attitude was 'they'll get there when they are ready'

[Brinjal]

Also don't let her drink too much before bedtime and make a habit of going to the toilet at bedtime.

[belrec]

poor girl, my boy is still in bedtime nappies at 4 and a half, he is just such a deep sleeper he doesnt even notice.

When we have tried without a nappy he just sleeps through the wee and wakes up in the morning wet in bed not having stirred.

I have decided to just wait until him grows out of it himself, he is fine during the day and i dont want to make him paranoid.

I knew a child who was still wetting at 7 but they also grew out of it so dont worry, maybe pull ups are a better idea. xxx

[knowabit]

My daughter is 7 and still wets the bed.... she is a deep sleeper and wets in her sleep and carries on sleeping! I still had her wearing nappies to bed till she was 7 then decided she was too old for it. I have heard get up a few nights and go to the loo, so i know that is not a problem. I bought these great sheets that are easy to whip off once wet and the bed sheet below is still dry so she can get straight back into bed. She can go a week without wetting the bed, and then have a week of doing so every night. It is frustrating, but i really dont know what to do about it, just hope she grows out of it. some mornings i go to her room and see she has woken up wet in the night, removed the 'pee' sheet, put dry bottoms on and put herself back to bed!

[blahblah06]

Thanks everyone, it's nice to know she's not the only one. She is a very deep sleeper (I was, until I had children), so hopefully will grow out of it eventually. Thanks for the info on the bedwetting alarms, maybe I'll give it a bit longer and the look into getting one. We never tell her off for doing it and she never seems to remember what happens at night anyway.

[pixie373]

Make sure she goes before bedtime. My stepsister used to wake her son (aged 7) and get him to go to the toilet before she went to bed herself. If there is no infection or medical reason, she'll outgrow it. Reward charts will make no difference.

[ck1]

My daughter was dry at night when she was 3, my son has just turned 7 and still has occasional accidents when he forgets to go to the toilet before bed or has a late drink. They all get there with time, just take it easy and wait for her to get to the point where she stops. Can be hard and frustrating but there's no real way to change it, just a waiting game

[trt]

I was wetting the bed till I was about 12 and I think it went on all that time because my father used shout at me from the age of 4/5 when I did it and kept calling me a baby. It just stopped after a time.