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Bedwetting in older children
Up until he reached the age of 13, Phoenix’s parents can’t really remember a time when he didn’t regularly wet the bed.
A change of routine may have affected him
“There didn’t seem to be any quick-fix bedwetting solution, but we did notice it got worse at certain times. Disruptions to routine like going on holiday nearly always brought on an episode, and we got used to bringing our own sleeping bag and waterproof sheets whenever we went away.”
“Stress also seemed to have an effect, like when we moved house, or the start of a new school term. But even a row before bedtime could be enough to bring it on. We learned to try to keep things as calm as possible before bed!”
“Up until the age of about five, he wore Huggies® DryNites® Pyjama Pants at night, and it wasn’t a huge issue. But when he realised that other kids were no longer wearing protection at night, he was more reluctant and became much more self-conscious and embarrassed about the whole thing. Sometimes he would just pretend it hadn’t happened.”
“He was avoiding drinking during the day at school, which meant he loaded up on fluids much later in the day”
How a trip to the GP helped
“When it began to seem like he was never going to stop wetting the bed, around the age of eight, we took him to the GP, and he was referred to a local paediatric continence service. The specialist nurse was very helpful and started by looking at things like how much he was drinking during the day.”
“We discovered he was worried about not being allowed to go to the loo during lesson time, so was avoiding drinking during the day at school. This meant he loaded up on fluids much later in the day. Tackling this by talking to the school and making sure he felt able to visit the loo helped.”