# Talk to me about older kids still in nighttime diapers...



## The Lucky One (Oct 31, 2002)

My ds1 will be 5 in January.

He has been daytime pee/poop trained since shortly before his 3rd b-day. I waited until I felt he was ready, put him in undies one day and I can count on one hand how many accidents he has had over the 2+ years. He has excellent bladder control through the day, like I said, he has had maybe 2-3 accidents, ever.

However, he has only woken up with a dry diaper ONE time. I had always told myself that when he started waking up with dry diapers, I would work on using underwear at night. So, he'll be 5 in January and wakes up sopping wet every morning. Honestly, I've never even tried him in undies because I'm sure I would end up with a sopping wet family bed.







:

I'm generally of the mindset that a kid will do things on their own when they are ready and that's the way I approach 95% of my parenting, but I also know that sometimes there can be things wrong that can cause a kid not to be able to go without a diaper at night.

Socially, it isn't an issue right now, because the only place he ever sleeps is here at home.

I mean, I'm not really worried, because of his excellent control throughout the day, but at the same time, he is the oldest kid I know IRL that is still wearing a diaper at night. All of my friend with older kids have told me that eventually their kids just started waking up dry and that's when they switched to underwear at night.

Talk to me...


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## Qerratsmom (Sep 22, 2004)

:


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## Zach'smom (Nov 5, 2004)

It's completely normal. His body just isn't ready to stay dry through the night. He will stay dry through the night when he is ready. Ped won't even look into anything being wrong until he is older. Just don't make a big deal out of it and when his body is physically ready he will stay dry at night.


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## Babytime (May 4, 2004)

My daughter turned five years old in July and she still soaks her night diapers. She's actually going to see a pediatric urologist soon. I'll let you know what they say. She also has an issue with "leaking" after urinating during the day. Not enough to soak her clothing, but her panties are always wet. You can't imagine how many she owns because she's constantly having to change them! Poor girl.


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## blsilva (Jul 31, 2006)

Well, my ds will also be 5 in January, and he still wears nighttime diapers. Some nights they're wet, others dry. He just does not seem to wake up to go to the bathroom, and I have read that it is normal. He will develop in his own time.
FWIW, and this is embarrassing, but pertinent, my brother and I both had trouble with night time control until we were 8 or 9







. My poor mother only wished they had invented nighttime diapers back then. But we grew out of it, and I'm confident that that my ds will too.


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

My ds is 4 years 3 months. I just put him back in pullups at night, because his pajamas, sheets, blanket and pillowcases were soaked every single night.
If he was able to stay dry, he would have to get up about 2am each night to go. He slept horrible during this time.
It was a relief for both of us when he started wearing the pullups again.
Dh and I worried a bit about "regressing" but it never happened. He has only had a handful of pee accidents during the day, and the last one was 6 months ago. Ds has never felt bad about it either, I made it clear that it was fine with us, and that when his body was ready he would stay dry at night.

I was a bedwetter until age 6 or so, so I figure he is having the same issues.


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## octobermom (Aug 31, 2005)

Well I (me) was day time trained well before I turned 2 by 18 months no issues however I didn't fully nighttime train till sometime in my Jr High years. There were several reason incompatent bladder heavy sleeper I'd even gone through major surgury to repair a hole in my bladder (and open heart surgry so I was a sickly child) My parents didn't put me in diapers actually they often punished







But there was absoultly nothig I could do to stop it. One day it just stopped my body just caught up and that was it.
FF my DD turned 4 this past October she is still full in diapers we use cloth for day and goodnight sposies for night. She does have a condition where the signals of 'discomfort" (that full bladder feeling) isn't understood correctly so in simple trems she doesn't know when she needs to go. We will be working with a therpist to help her body overcome this. Its treatable but she will need help. Right now were going to wait and let her body mature some. We still sit her on the potty and shes does the motions great just no results. Were blessed to have doctors that lsten and bleieved me when I told them somethings up and a preschool (she in for other delays) who doesn't push and even deals with her cloth diapers








I remember feeling helpless I really wish my parens had allowed me diapers at night...







for anyone dealing with this.


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## ewe+lamb (Jul 20, 2004)

My sister's eldest just became dry at night - he's 8, her middle son was dry night and day by 2.5, my dd was dry during the day at 2.5 and stilll has nappies at night, we have the odd dry night but not many. I think they'll do it when they are ready, even if I take dd to the loo at 11.30 at night she'll still wake up wet in the morning and even then I'm not sure that it's worthwhile doing as she hardly wakes up at all to go pee, so she's still peeing in her sleep. Hey ho, ds is potty learning at the moment (15 months) wants to and is interested in so I'm following his lead, each child has their own rythmn (sp?!







) so we just have to go with it!!


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## maminatural (Nov 3, 2006)

Well, I might be the only one here with a kid who still wets his bed who's way older than "normal". My son is 9 yrs old + 2 months and since he was toilet trained he's rarely been unable to keep the bed dry for longer than a week in a row. The only exception was this summer when he went more than a month in a row without wetting the bed and I thought the bedwetting was over! Much to our dismay... since September he's been wetting his bed a few times a week or more. This week he's been wetting the bed nightly and just today I decided I will have to go buy "goodnites" once again. I don't like having to make him wear diapers but it's just too much... too much electricity used to wash the linen, too much water wasted, his mattress is getting messed up, etc etc.

I've tried giving him homeopathic bedwetting pills but I'm not sure they work. Perhaps we don't take them correctly.

Last time I took him to the pediatrician he suggested it may be hereditary... I believe his father was a bedwetter until this same age or so and recommended using a calendar and providing rewards for each day he keeps dry at night. I should try that again. In fact, that was this summer before that dry month he had... hmmm...

Also, I think my son wets his bed because he sleeps soooo profoundly that he doesn't even notice or even feels himself getting wet. Often when I wake him up he doesn't have a clue that he wet his bed...

I may need to ask the ped to refer me to a specialist...


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## ewe+lamb (Jul 20, 2004)

FYI - there are like pad things that you can buy to put on the bed my sister used them with her eldest (Pampers - I think), he too was referred to a psycologist, specialist etc didn't do much good though and he just decided one night that he would manage and he did - he just just past 8, sis didn't like putting back in nappies after a certain age and used these disposable mattress things - I'll try and find out for you what they are. My cousin was 11...... some kids just manage earlier than most. How the kids sleep seems to make a big difference though, most kids who are heavy sleepers don't seem to be able to wake up in time or at all - dd doesn't even realise some nights!


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## maminatural (Nov 3, 2006)

Thank you so much. Id love to know what those are!


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

My child is 4.5 and still wears pull-ups at night. She is too stubborn to listen to me about limiting her fluid intake in the last 2-3 hours before bed so she HAS to wear a pull-up. I know when she is going to pee in the bed and wet it and when she will not. It's always going to be a wet night when she's had milk or water in the last couple of hours before bed. She's just not ready to give that up yet so the pull-ups will continue to be put on her until she stops drinking so much.









Oh and fwiw, I also use the pads on the bed. I put one underneath a large extra blanket that she lays on. That way if she does wet the bed the only thing that needs to be washed is the extra blanket, the pad and the top sheet if it gets wet AND it doesn't soak through to the fitted sheet and mattress. It can be a PITA to wash sheets every single day.

My oldest two children (both boys) never had this problem. They wore underwear all night by age 3.5. I guess all children are different.


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## Sharon RN (Sep 6, 2006)

This was my experience: My son, who was using the potty at age 3, wore pull-ups at night until he was about 5. I didn't like having a wet family bed, either.

However, I began a habit where we got him up at midnight to use the potty, and he'd stay dry until morning, usually.

Eventually, he started getting himself up, would go, and come back to bed. But I'd still use the pull-ups, "just in case." So, a few weeks later, I noticed he wasn't getting up anymore, and would be wet in the mornings. So I figured I'd start getting him up again myself. We talked about it, and he said, "Mom, I don't have to get up, because the Pull-Ups catch it all for me!" He was very excited. He said he always felt dry.

So, I ditched the pull-ups, bought a waterproof mattress pad, and sucked it up for a couple of weeks. Soon, he recognized what it felt to be wet, would stop, get up and finish in the potty, and bring back a towel for the wet part of the bed. In the morning, we would change the sheets. He was never punished, it was all very matter-of-fact. (my sis had this problem for a long time, and it broke my heart when my parents punished her.
















Anyway, that worked for us, and he hasn't used them since. Always uses the bathroom right before bed, and about 50% of the time he gets up at night to use the potty again.

This may not work for anybody else, but it did help us alot. Good luck!


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## kewb (May 13, 2005)

My dd is almost 6 1/2 and still wakes up wet more often then not. She still wears the Good Nites. She is a very deep sleeper and her body is not ready to stay dry. No biggie. My niece was 9 before she stopped.


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## earthhugmama (Oct 1, 2005)

Great thread, ds is 3.75 y o and I was wondering when nighttime dryness might happen. Good to know there is no rush.


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## Mamato2and2 (Apr 7, 2006)

My 7 year old still wears a diaper at night and she NEVER wakes up dry!! Everyone bugs me about it but my friend who is a pediatrian said that this is much more wide spread than what people think and that I should not worry about it at all b/c almost every child stops by jr. high age (not that I would like that but hey it will go away eventually). He said something about every year after the child is 5 or 6 (can't remember all the details exactly) that there is a 15% chance that the child will just stop on their own that year...and for every year past 5 or 6 you add the 15%---so the next year it would be 30% and then 45% etc---meaning that eventually it is 100% that the kid will stop that year. I don't know if this makes sense to you all but it kinda did to me-basically they will stop at some point.

We have tried almost everything to help her to stop--the bedwetting tablets that a pp mentioned, waking her up all night to go (not fun for me!), we tried just letting her pee-that got really old after a couple of weeks...

Don't worry about it!! Just keep putting the diaper on and don't let the kid stress about it either. It seems there is nothing that really works for some children.


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## LovemyBoo (Oct 11, 2004)

My ds is 8 had has woken up dry less than a handful of times in his life. We've been to a pediatric urologist and the consensus, so far, is this is something he needs to outgrow.

There are things he can do to help it along but ds is chosing not to do them right now.

It's perfectly normal. I don't think you can push night dryness. It'll happen when the child's body is ready.


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## ewe+lamb (Jul 20, 2004)

Maminatural - Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you - the things I was talking about are Pampers Bed Mats, there are 7 in a pack and are quite expensive around 60pence each = about a dollar each I think.


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## griffin2004 (Sep 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *earthhugmama* 
Great thread, ds is 3.75 y o and I was wondering when nighttime dryness might happen. Good to know there is no rush.

Agreed. My DD is almost 4 and is showing NO signs of nighttime dryness. I'll quit worrying about it.


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## spiralmg (May 29, 2003)

I'm wondering which pull-ups you all are using. I have a 3.5 yo DS who is fine during the day and in regular underwear, but often soaks through his Seventh Generation diapers at night.


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## annethcz (Apr 1, 2004)

My DD will be 5 in February. I don't think she's EVER woken up dry in the morning. She's been using the potty during the day since before she was 3. But she's simply not able to wake herself during the night to use the bathroom. We did briefly try waking DD at midnight (when we go to bed) and have her use the bathroom. But it didn't work out well at all.

So for now, we're just waiting for DD's body to be ready. I know it will happen eventually. It's so strange, the way each child is different. My oldest child was dry at night- with no help from me- at age 2.5.


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## Cloverlove (Jan 2, 2003)

DS stopped wearing pull-ups at night when he was 7. DD still wears them at 5.

I wet the bed for a long time growing up and there was a lot of shaming involved. I always vowed I would never make my children go through that.

The only thing that bothers me about night-time wetting is disposable, chemical pull-ups. Unfortunately, we never found an alternative that worked for us.


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## Francy (Feb 26, 2003)

My son is 5, and he still "fills up" his goodnites brand pullup (only brand i've found that holds it all. and man are they expensive).

some days I get totally fed up with it, b/c i don't know anyone in real life with this issue. but then i come here, and i realize it needn't be a big deal. and then i back off and just let him be.

sometimes i wonder if he'll ever be able to do a sleep-over. but then i realize that i don't really want him to! we are a no-tv house, and as soon as he has a sleep-over, goodness knows what he might see!









hey! look to your left at the google ads. adult incontinence! maybe google can help us with this! *snort*

hang in there mamas!!

(oh--my 5 year old STILL has accidents during the day. in kindergarten!! happily though, he can quietly change himself in the school bathroom, and no one needs to know. and. uh. not just pee accidents!!!! teeny poo leaks too!!!!!!!!!)


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## spiralmg (May 29, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cloverlove* 
The only thing that bothers me about night-time wetting is disposable, chemical pull-ups. Unfortunately, we never found an alternative that worked for us.

That's what bothers me too...I wonder what people used to do pre-pull-ups? ETA: Actually, I once posted in the diapering forum to get ideas, but didn't really get many. DS pees such a large volume that I am hesitant to even try cloth/wool in this situation - unless i know that it would work.


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## jkpmomtoboys (Jun 1, 2004)

I have a 6 1/2 yo ds who still fills his GoodNites every night.

I have a 3 1/2 yo ds who has been dry at night since he was 1.

Totally depends on the child's biology and I try not to worry about it.

Our ped. told us not to even think about doing anything about it until he's 7 or 8.

As long as it doesn't bother ds, it doesn't bother us...except for the massive amounts of disposable GoodNites he goes through....unfortunately for us, nothing else has worked.


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## Gray's Mommy (Jul 8, 2005)

We use the Pull Ups brand on our almost 6 year old son. He doesn't soak through them like the other brands. He is a very heavy sleeper *but not as an infant or the first 3 years) and doesn't even know he wets.


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## mamallama (Nov 22, 2001)

Dd potty learned right around her 2nd bday. She's only had a few daytime accidents since then. She recently started staying dry all night--just after her 5th birthday.

We cloth diapered, but by the time she was 4 or so, she was soaking through the best system I could put together. She was still in the family bed, so I had to do something. Disposables intended for daytime also leaked, so we started using Good'Nites brand. It worked.

By the time she was 4.5, she would wake up dry every third or fourth day. At 4.75, it was every other day. At about 5, she had a weeklong stretch of dry mornings, so ditched the G'Nites and she's kept her undies dry ever since.

Dd was the oldest kid I knew who wasn't dry at night. I really thought I'd be buying those G'Nites until she could afford to buy her own


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

My almost 4 yr. old still wears diapers to bed. We use cloth, Snap-Ez pocket trainers with 2 microfiber towels as inserts. He's been day-trained since 21 mos. Dairy exacerbates the problem a LOT, as does nursing to sleep. Usually if he hasn't had dairy, and I wake him up around midnight to go to the bathroom, he stays dry, but sometimes he still pees again in the night. Yuck. He sleeps right through to morning in soaked pjs if I don't wake him up (on the rare occasion that he's in his own bed and not mine!)


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## williamsmommy2002 (Feb 25, 2003)

My 4 year old ds has only woken up dry once. He has other delays but is mostly day trained for pee at home and school. My 2 year old ds wakes up dry almost daily and has since he turned 2. We use huggies overnights because they are the only thing that hold his pee. We had to stuff his cloth diapers so much that he couldn't sleep because he wasn't comfortable.


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