Bedwetting .....

[hbw]

Hello there,

I have a beautiful 7 year old daughter who is a Type 1 diabetic. She was diagnosed in June 2012 and has been an absolute star, coping really well after a very stressful start for us all (this forum is what got me through those first few weeks!). She was also diagnosed with an overactive thyroid which is treated with Carbimazole and she now takes thyroxine as well.

Her only symptom of diabetes was bed wetting .. after being dry at night since the age of 3 she started to wet the bed at aged 6. My husband is a Type 1 diabetic so I was always on the lookout for diabetes and was devastated when I tested her blood one night and it was sky-high. Ever since her diagnosis she has wet the bed most nights. I know that when her blood sugar is high then it's quite common but even when her blood is at 5 or 6 through the night she still wets the bed. I never get angry, I simply wash her down, change her bedding, give her a cuddle and settle her back down to sleep. I've started to put her in pull-ups at the moment so that she doesn't have such disturbed sleep and to take any pressure off her. I've tried limiting her drinks after a certain time but it makes no difference.

Her school have just told me that they are looking to do a 2 night residential trip next year and she has already said that she wants to go. I have no issue with her going but I am just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation. I don't want her to wear pull-ups and then be ridiculed by her friends as she already gets embarrassed about being diabetic although I always tell her that it's nothing to be embarrassed about and that she and daddy are in a very special club. But, I know that children can be cruel at times and I would hate for her friends to ridicule her for wearing a pull-up. The school are great and I am sure that I can talk to the teacher and I am also sure that there must be other non-diabetic children who bed-wet but any guidance or help that you can offer will be well received. Last night, I left her pull up off as I said "okay then, let's see how we get on tonight" and, when I checked on her, at 2am this morning she was soaked. She tells me that she doesn't know she's doing it because she is asleep. Should I discuss this with the diabetes team - is this commonplace in diabetic children? The fact that she was completely dry for 3 years at night before the onset of her diabetes is what makes me worry.

Thank you, in advance, for any support you can offer.

 

[carraway]

I cant help with the diabetes aspect of bed wetting (maybe it's the medication) but I can tell you that my son (non diabetic) used the bed wetting alarm pad and it worked with him in a few days. He was such a deep sleeper.

They are about £90.0 to buy but we got ours via the school nurse (had to give it back). There was a waiting list but if I'd know how quickly it would work I would have just gone and got one. You can buy a clip on the pants style one which we tried first but it wasn't very good.



You sound like you are doing all the right things by not making it an issue for her.

If you do try it let me know if it works. Good luck

Cara

 

[sandysan]

hi
the tyhroid is a major hormone in the body and functions a lot of things ,, i am on tyhroxine myself ,,,,but obviously im a lot older , maybe it could be a change in drug or addition ,
also when i was little girl i wett my bed till i was 13 years of age , is she a very deep sleeper? couldit be the start of tyhroxine?
sorry i dont know nothing about the diabetic side just dagnosed myself and learning

good luck :thumbup:

 

[stephsmum]

My 15yo daughter, diagnosed t1 in June has wet the bed for so long now. No reason found. She takes 240mg desmopressin every night and sometimes even that doesn't help. The 2-3 weeks leading up to the diagnosis she wet the bed every night despite the desmopressin,
With regards to school trips - my daughter did 2 when she was in junior school. She took the desmopressin and was fine. We provided a plastic bed sheet just in case, too. If you haven't had it prescribed before just go to your GP/diabetic consultant. It's frequently prescribed for sleepovers!

 

[jayne15]

Hi my type 1 little girls just wets when she is exhausted such as late nights on holiday, my advise though as both my girls were in pullups longer than most is trying to retrain her bladder. we did this by using the 'lifting' technique which involves lifting your child and placing them on the toilet and they have a wee while they are asleep ! we started off doing midnight lifts and then very gradually reduced the time to 11, 10, 9 ect so eventually the lifting was no longer required the whole process took about 3 months. you know yourself that you go the toilet at certain times a day and that what your bladder is trained to do. if this fails contact your local children's continence service for further advise. good luck x

 

[Kcm08]

Hi - you're so not alone! My son who is now five years old wears pull ups every night. He is also type 1. We tried everything to help him get dry. You name it we tried it but he simply did not wake up and would wet the bed regardless of how many times we took him to the toilet. Even as you say, when his blood sugars are on target. It doesn't matter it still happens. He got so disheartened that we now only use pull ups. It's horrendous for him, it really is bad enough being a young child coping with type 1 without the stigma of still wearing nappies, something he wants to keep secret so his friends won't ever know. Bless him. We are very relaxed about it around him, we don't make it a big deal and never ever get cross with him. He genuinely can't help it. I doubt your daughter can either. The nurse says as they get older it'll get better. I hope so. It will take time for them to retrain themselves. I'd definitely have a word with the teacher/s and make sure she can get changed in a toilet or elsewhere without any attention being drawn to her. Perhaps tell her friends she has a "duty" somewhere checking doors are shut or something just so she can get changed separately. It's not nice for them. I hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction. xx

 

[sagarg]

Hello there,

I have a beautiful 7 year old daughter who is a Type 1 diabetic. She was diagnosed in June 2012 and has been an absolute star, coping really well after a very stressful start for us all (this forum is what got me through those first few weeks!). She was also diagnosed with an overactive thyroid which is treated with Carbimazole and she now takes thyroxine as well.

Her only symptom of diabetes was bed wetting .. after being dry at night since the age of 3 she started to wet the bed at aged 6. My husband is a Type 1 diabetic so I was always on the lookout for diabetes and was devastated when I tested her blood one night and it was sky-high. Ever since her diagnosis she has wet the bed most nights. I know that when her blood sugar is high then it's quite common but even when her blood is at 5 or 6 through the night she still wets the bed. I never get angry, I simply wash her down, change her bedding, give her a cuddle and settle her back down to sleep. I've started to put her in pull-ups at the moment so that she doesn't have such disturbed sleep and to take any pressure off her. I've tried limiting her drinks after a certain time but it makes no difference.

Her school have just told me that they are looking to do a 2 night residential trip next year and she has already said that she wants to go. I have no issue with her going but I am just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation. I don't want her to wear pull-ups and then be ridiculed by her friends as she already gets embarrassed about being diabetic although I always tell her that it's nothing to be embarrassed about and that she and daddy are in a very special club. But, I know that children can be cruel at times and I would hate for her friends to ridicule her for wearing a pull-up. The school are great and I am sure that I can talk to the teacher and I am also sure that there must be other non-diabetic children who bed-wet but any guidance or help that you can offer will be well received. Last night, I left her pull up off as I said "okay then, let's see how we get on tonight" and, when I checked on her, at 2am this morning she was soaked. She tells me that she doesn't know she's doing it because she is asleep. Should I discuss this with the diabetes team - is this commonplace in diabetic children? The fact that she was completely dry for 3 years at night before the onset of her diabetes is what makes me worry.

Thank you, in advance, for any support you can offer.

Hello,
I am very sorry for your daughter and i want to tell one more thing that bed wetting can be stopped by sometime after as she growing up it will stop naturally because my younger brother had this problem & he make bed wet till age of 13...

 

[Julie1471]

Hi, I'm a beaver , leader(6-8 years old) I had one beaver on a nights away, who would do the same her mum put her in pull up's. We changed her before bed and checked during the night, with out waking the other beavers(using head torches, without a problem) if your your daughter is in a mid bunk not first but next one, no problems for a teacher to check on rounds. Next morning beaver got pull ups and bottoms on in the loo the then dressed with the rest. So shouldn't be a problem.

 

[David147]

Boys tend to wet the bed for longer than girls, but do grow out of it.

The main thing is to control what they eat and during late in the afternoon/evening (age dependant), and then wake them to go to the loo before you go to bed.

Get up a bit earlier the next morning, so if they have wet you all have time to clean up.

Finally don't make a big issue of it with them.

 

[Mike d]

As if she didn't have enough to deal with ...... I have NO idea if those issues are related but I have to give her 10 for her courage and that's down to YOU !!

You are GREAT parents. She will grow out of that (my sister had it for years) but it might take some time.

Mike

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hello there,

I have a beautiful 7 year old daughter who is a Type 1 diabetic. She was diagnosed in June 2012 and has been an absolute star, coping really well after a very stressful start for us all (this forum is what got me through those first few weeks!). She was also diagnosed with an overactive thyroid which is treated with Carbimazole and she now takes thyroxine as well.

Her only symptom of diabetes was bed wetting .. after being dry at night since the age of 3 she started to wet the bed at aged 6. My husband is a Type 1 diabetic so I was always on the lookout for diabetes and was devastated when I tested her blood one night and it was sky-high. Ever since her diagnosis she has wet the bed most nights. I know that when her blood sugar is high then it's quite common but even when her blood is at 5 or 6 through the night she still wets the bed. I never get angry, I simply wash her down, change her bedding, give her a cuddle and settle her back down to sleep. I've started to put her in pull-ups at the moment so that she doesn't have such disturbed sleep and to take any pressure off her. I've tried limiting her drinks after a certain time but it makes no difference.

Her school have just told me that they are looking to do a 2 night residential trip next year and she has already said that she wants to go. I have no issue with her going but I am just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation. I don't want her to wear pull-ups and then be ridiculed by her friends as she already gets embarrassed about being diabetic although I always tell her that it's nothing to be embarrassed about and that she and daddy are in a very special club. But, I know that children can be cruel at times and I would hate for her friends to ridicule her for wearing a pull-up. The school are great and I am sure that I can talk to the teacher and I am also sure that there must be other non-diabetic children who bed-wet but any guidance or help that you can offer will be well received. Last night, I left her pull up off as I said "okay then, let's see how we get on tonight" and, when I checked on her, at 2am this morning she was soaked. She tells me that she doesn't know she's doing it because she is asleep. Should I discuss this with the diabetes team - is this commonplace in diabetic children? The fact that she was completely dry for 3 years at night before the onset of her diabetes is what makes me worry.

Thank you, in advance, for any support you can offer.

Hi, so sorry to hear of your daughters night time problems, it must be frustrating for her and as a parent you would want to help and support her as much as possible.
Some children do tend to wet the bed more and longer than others. Can I ask what her BS is like in the morning, as if she goes low during the night, a hypo, this will make her more unresponsive to waking up for a wee?
Here is a link that might be helpful. good luck and I wish you all the very best.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/bedwetting/Pages/introduction.aspx