5.5 yr old drinking LOTS at night

[toby]

I have come to terms with the fact that 5.5 year old DS will be in night-time pull-ups for a while to come. He is a very heavy sleeper and the pediatrician is not concerned.

However, he often wets through and I think that a big part of this is the amount of water that he has been drinking at night.He starts chugging water as we are putting him to bed and gets up during the night to get more. The frustrating part is that during the day he does not seem to drink a whole lot...I have tried reminding him to drink more during the day (thinking that this might make him drink less at night), but the bottom line is that there is not much I can do to control this.

I know that some, who are dealing with night time wetting, have talked about "limiting" water at night. Limiting DS's water will just make him want more...and this is just not a battle that I can deal with.

I think that it probably does not help that it is warmer than it should be in his room (because of our inefficient air conditioning grrrrr) and he is sleeping on a waterproof pad so he probably sweats more.

Do any of you have kiddos who drink a lot at night? Even though this really shouldn't be a big deal...I just don't want to be alone with it!
Thanks.

[Indianamom2]

I'm right there with you with no answers.

[bubbaray]

I'm right there with you with no answers.

[mikeys_mom]

Same here. DS even wakes up during the night asking for water because he is thirsty. On the advice of our Dr we don't limit water at this point, but the whole situation is frustrating.

[hillview]

I'm right there with you with no answers.

/hillary

[GonnaBeNana]

Not to scare you, but just curious. Has he ever been checked for diabetes? Excessive thirst is a symptom. It may be nothing, but worth checking out none the less. It might also be because his room is dry, or he sleeps with his mouth open, making it dry at night. Try a cool mist humidifier and see if it makes a difference.

Beth

[MotownMom]

Please, please take your child in ASAP to have a glucose drawn to make sure that he does not have diabetes. The fact that he is not excessively drinking during the day argues against diabetes, but you must make sure. Night time drinking is the first symptom that my nephew had at age 3 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

[DrSally]

DS tends to forget to drink during the day (although I remind him), and always drinks a full bottle (frogo or something else) every night. Many times he asks for refills. I remind him to use the potty if he has to, but I guess I'm lucky that he can hold it all night. It's still within the range of normal for your DS to need a pullup at night. Have you tried offering a lot of water at dinner?

[almostamom]

I'm right there with you with no answers.

Linda

[sdrew99]

I don't want to scare you either, but just to be on the safe side, take him to the pediatrician and have them test his urine and do a blood glucose finger prick.

My 4 year old was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes last week (I was actually just going to post to see if anyone here had a child with diabetes)...I took him in because he was drinking A LOT especially at night and had started wetting the bed, after being potty trained for nearly a year and a half.

There are other symptoms as well, that I noticed looking back - extreme moodiness, eating more than usual and although I hadn't realized it, he had lost 4 lbs. since his 4 year well-check in April.

Just to be on the safe side...get him checked out. ((hugs)).