# Still wearing night diaper - 5 year old - NORMAL??



## BelCanto (Oct 29, 2002)

Hi Mammas,

My daughter is 5.5 and still has to wear a diaper at night - and it is generally pretty full. She just doesn't show any sign of being able to wake up when she has to go at night.

Is this normal? Is there something I should be doing to help her get out of diapers at night?

Thanks!!

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Play Polly Proofer!


----------



## Mary-Beth (Nov 20, 2001)

I think it varies. Some kids just take longer to be ready to stay dry overnight.

You could go to a chiropractor to see if that provides any help. There are some instances where misalignment, food sensitivities, etc. contributes. However, she is still young and she just may need more time. So, I wouldn't worry or push or pressure this issue in any way but you could just mention it to a chiropractor and see if she/he thinks it could be an issue they could help with for your child.

My dd1 was dry overnight before her 2nd birthday. My dd2 still wets at night and she's 4. They both day time potty-trained by 18 months, easily. My dh is a chiropractor so they both have been checked and adjusted as needed. So I think that just further shows that sometimes it just depends on the child's physical development and bladder maturity.


----------



## quest4mom (Nov 8, 2007)

Obviously it's not "normal", but not unheard. I would take her to the doctor. If she checks out physically, then you might just have to wait until she grows out of it.


----------



## scatterbrainedmom (May 31, 2005)

i hope so lol, my almost 7yo still wears one.

he just sleeps so deeply that he wont wake up.


----------



## Jenlaana (Oct 28, 2005)

You can always experiment with things like trainers/cloth trainers/etc in order to give a more obvious wet feeling. But over all I wouldn't worry that much about it really. My DS wet the bed off and on all through elementary school up until about 9 or 10 yrs old.


----------



## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

It is in our house. Ds (6.5) sleeps soundly, we have a family history of bedwetting and he's just not there. Our 3 1/2 year old is closer (probably 6 months) to going diaper free at night (she's about 50-50 now).


----------



## babygrant (Mar 10, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4mom* 
Obviously it's not "normal", but not unheard. I would take her to the doctor. If she checks out physically, then you might just have to wait until she grows out of it.

From what I've heard it's normal.


----------



## babygrant (Mar 10, 2005)

My son is 4 and still wears a night diaper. He wakes up with a HUGE BULGING diaper because he has peed so much during the night. We do not have a history of bedwetting, but there's really nothing wrong with it. DS is anxious to go diaper free at night, but I just keep explaining to him that we just have to keep on trying and that when his body is ready, then he can go diaper free.


----------



## BelCanto (Oct 29, 2002)

Thanks for the replies. She is a deep sleeper. So much so that she sleeps through her brother waking up and crying right next to her. Maybe that's what's going on. I will probably just mention it to her doc nexxt time we have to go in.

Thanks again,
Jennfier


----------



## Mommy&Will (May 22, 2003)

My ds is 5.5 and still wears a diaper at night - and pees nearly every night. He just sleeps right thru it.


----------



## SillyLilStinkweed (Jul 9, 2007)

I think my son potty trained so early because 1. Cloth doesn't feel that great when wet. Whereas with posies, it still feels dry when it's full. switch her to cloth at nights maybe. 2. I decided that since I was washing a cloth diaper when he pees, why not change a pair of pants and trainers and just wash those instead? I also put a pad on his bed and just changed sheets a lot. He was fully pted by 2 1/2, nights, everything.


----------



## mamabeca (Oct 3, 2004)

I think for deep sleepers it is normal to night "train" much later. My dd was over 5, closer to 6 before she was df at night. No cloth, because it is so stinky you have to wash right away, and there weren't enough diapers to ever do a load, so I felt the wasted water was far worse than the chuck away diape. Anyway, NORMAL, mama. It's normal enough. My dh was well over 6, and his mom just put a sheepskin on the bed between the sheet and mattress, and washed a LOT of sheets.







There's nothing you CAN do to hurry this along. Sorry... but at least you are doing it all right!


----------



## tinasquirrel (Jul 10, 2006)

It is perfectly normal. Your doctor will not even be slightly concerned until at least six years old, and then probably not even then. My son is almost 5.5yo and he just started staying dry through the night last month. We only stopped using the Good Nights because it was something that he really wanted. At first it didn't work and he kept wetting the bed in the middle of the night every night (even though his pull-up would seem to be dry in the morning before we started doing this). Changing the sheets on a top bunk of a bunk bed at 3am is not fun!!

Then, we started waking him up at 11pm to pee, and he's been dry ever since. So, that could be something that you may try if she seems to really want to stop wearing diapers at night.

In general, though, I would not be in the least concerned. It is very common to not be dry at night for a 5yo.


----------



## mamallama (Nov 22, 2001)

Totally normal.

My middle child soaked her G'Nites every night without fail until a month or so before her 6th birthday, and then she just stopped. She's been dry every night since.

I wet the bed nightly until I was 6 or so & sporadically until I was 10. Dh was a bed wetter as well.

It's way more common than you think--people just aren't talking about it.


----------



## 2crazykids (Jun 19, 2005)

I consider myself lucky in that my kids have never (I mean NEVER) wet their beds at night. I don't know why, I totally expected them to because I was a bit a wetter myself.

I used cloth diapers with them until they were both almost 3 when they both easily potty learned right before their 3rd birthday. I waited to potty learn with them until they had completely dry nights and waited to pee until the morning.

That said, I do limit their drinking past 6 at night. They take a few sips here and there and most definitely pee before entering the tubby at 7. They can't get in until they do so. Otherwise they will wake up and then get us up to tell us they have to pee at 3 a.m. (yawn)

If I were you and I really wanted to help my dc phase out of this pattern, I would get into a strict nightime routine of limiting drinks, and peeing before bed.

I would also include a cloth pad in the pull-up so the child is totally uncomfortable with the feeling of a cold, wet dipe in the middle of the night.

Talk to DC and tell them that this is the new plan to help them stay dry at night. Get her input about the situation and see how she feels. Does she talk about it? Is she aware of the peeing in the morning?

But if this doesn't work out, take heart, she won't be peeing in her bed at 16! This too shall pass.


----------



## jillmamma (Apr 11, 2005)

I still wet my bed regularly at age 6 and never do it now at age 34.









DS turns 5 tomorrow and still wears a pullup at night.


----------



## Fujiko (Nov 11, 2006)

I wet the bed until maybe 10 or 11.







:
They tried the obvious making me pee right before I went to bed. Then they tried denying me water in the evenings (I really don't recommend this!). Then they tried waking me up in the middle of the night to go pee. Nothing worked. I just had to grow out of it.
I guess my hubby had a bit of the same problem too, although not to the extent I had. I fully expect dd to go through the same thing.


----------



## Momalea (Dec 29, 2002)

My dd wore a Fuzzi Bunz at night until she was nearly 6.5 years old then all at once she stopped peeing at night in the diaper and it's never been an issue since (it's been almost a year). My pediatrician wasn't concerned in the least about her age and said it was totally normal. We didn't intervene at all, just let her take her time.


----------



## swellmomma (Jan 1, 2004)

My 4 and 9 year old sons still bedwet. According to our ped it is normal and apparently he bedwet until 14 years. It is less common in girls to have bedwetting as they get older, I have no idea why that's jsut what he told us. I am jsut letting them out grow it on their own with no interventions. HE said if ds#1 is still bedwetting as a teen then we can look at meds but until then nope.


----------



## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

My DD wears a Goodnite to bed. she is also 5.5. She wants to stop wearing them but doesn't understand she can't until she can wake herself to go potty or stop drinking so many fluids before bed. Her main problem is the fluids. She loves to have milk within 1-2 hours before bed each night. I don't have the heart not to let her have it.


----------



## WuWei (Oct 16, 2005)

Our son wasn't comfortable using the toilet consistently until he was nearly 5. Some children aren't. And some regress when overtired, overstimulated, pre-occupied or stressed (new baby in the house). Ds had a physical just before his 5th birthday and was still wearing diapers per his preference. Our doctor was fully informed that boys are toileting independent much later than girls.

Per a quick search on the internet, I found that the most common source of inability to control the bladder to be related to allergies. Evidently, 50% of children who eliminated cow dairy became more toileting abled. The other most allergenic foods were chocolate, eggs, citrus fruits, and wheat. I saw that bed wetting (enuresis) is highly hereditary. If both parents had issues, than 77% of their children have issues with inability to control the bladder. If only one parent, than 44% of children had issues.

Apparently 20% of 5 year olds are not fully toileting. 14% of 7 year olds are not; 4% of 12 year olds; and 1-2% of 15 year olds are not fully toileting. Nighttime control is most difficult, especially for boys and for those who sleep deeply. Avoiding liquids after 6pm appears to help. Indication for medical intervention is not typically recommended until age 6 or 7. However most children who are not toileting independently at 6, won't be at 7. Most concerns were related to urinary tract infections, diabetes and neurological issues.

HTH, Pat


----------



## KimProbable (Jun 22, 2005)

My DS is 7 and still wakes up with a soaked Good Night each morning. He does have sensitivities to wheat and dairy, but these have been removed from his diet for almost a year now.

My DD has been dry through the night since right around when she turned two. She also has food sensitivities and has had these foods removed from her diet. I didn't encourage her to stay dry at night or do anything in the way of "training" her. It was a natural progression for her, and for whatever reason DS just isn't there yet. We make sure we don't do any comparisons because I know it wouldn't be helpful at all to be reminded that his younger sibling is staying dry when he isn't.


----------



## CountrylivinmomtoB (Oct 12, 2006)

I'd say so. I wore a diaper at night till I was almost 8, my brother was almost 7. We both were just deep sleepers and wouldn't wake up for anything. My mom tried everything. She got a machine that would beep when we peed, and we would sleep right through it and she'd come in to it beeping loudly and off we slept!!

They'll eventually decide when it's their time. I remember really forcing myself to wake up and pee because I went to a sleep over when I was 6 and the girls were cruel!! That made me want to have my mom come in and wake me up and it still took me to I was 8 before my diaper was dry!!

I had bladder issues though growing up. I would pee 3 times as much as anyone else.

I remember my kindergarden teacher complaining to my mom that i peed like 15 times a day and that was not normal and I needed to do something.

I'm completely normal as an adult!


----------



## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

My son will be 5 next month and still wets the bed often. He sometimes wakes to go to the bathroom, and sometimes sleeps through dry, but often wets. We use cloth diapers. My youngest is almost 2 and he wets the bed less often than his big brother (maybe once a week compared to 2-3x a week).


----------



## Messac888 (Jan 24, 2005)

Don't sweat it. I wet the bed until I was nine, my Dad until he was 16. My aunt (his sister) was about 10 I think, and my cousin (her daughter) until about 7 or so. It's totally hereditary and probably going to be more frustrating for your daughter than yourself once it starts interfering with sleepovers and such. Be supportive (change sheets without complaining or ask her to help you change them, for example) and try to not push too much. It's more common than people realize. I would however, get her evaluated for food allergies and environmental allergies and such, since it really can be a factor. Good luck!


----------

