I have 2 children, a 4yr old son (turns 5 later this year) and a 3yr old daughter. Both of the children were fully toilet trained at 2. However, with my son around 6mths later (he was still 2) a family member thought that he wore pull ups and in fact put one on him one evening. The next morning i became aware of this and from that day on my son has had more wet nights than dry. My husband and I are supportive of him and although we have cut back with the drinks before dark and ensure that he goes to the toilet before bed he continues to wet. Initially i did not want to use pull ups because in my opinion they had played a role in the bedwetting to start with. However in the last year i have been using them. My son however keeps saying that he won't wet the bed and will go to the toilet, he doesn't like to wear the pull ups. This has meant that i have regularly put the pull up on him after he has gone to sleep. Lately, i have often taken him to the toilet later at night and sometimes this creates a dry night, but not always. Any advice please? I am trying to help him without putting any pressure.. am mindful however that he will be starting school in the new year and thinking about the social factors i.e sleepovers. Wetting is only at Night. Nil during the day.
you sound like an incredibly supportive parent. You have really given this situation a great deal of thought and have employed some useful strategies. While there is some debate about the use of absorbent pants at night as to whether they ‘encourage’ children to wet the bed, overall the research suggests that wearing absorbent pants neither prolongs the process nor helps children become dry quicker. The main advantage of absorbent pants is that they help parents and children manage the bedwetting more effectively and reduce the associated laundry that comes with constant wet sheets. In saying this it is important that children feel comfortable wearing them, the way parents handle the situation is critical to ensuring children come out the other end with their self-esteem in tact and feeling confident. Bedwetting is quite common among 4- and 5-year-old boys with approximately 1 in 5 children continuing to wet the bed at night by the time they start school, the majority of these children will outgrow this on their own without the need for treatment. Until then reassure him that it is perfectly normal and in no way his fault. It may help to explain to him that his body just experiences a little difficulty in waking up in response to a full bladder at night, which is why it’s a good idea to wear DryNites until his body becomes more successful at either holding on or his brain learns to tell him to wake-up and go to the toilet. In the meantime you can try a few simple strategies like getting him to drink water regularly throughout the day, this helps train the bladder so that it learns to hold larger amounts of urine. Restricting fluids at night is no longer recommended although he needs to limit foods and drinks high in caffeine. If his bedwetting continues after he starts school next year I would recommend making an appointment with your GP just to rule out any possible medical cause.
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