Children wet the bed for a number of reasons, some do so because they produce double the amount of urine overnight, others do so as they are unable to wake to the signal that their bladder is full and needs to be emptied, others just have a smaller bladder capacity. Constipation may also be a contributing factor as this can lead to pressure building up in the area around the bladder reducing the amount of urine the bladder can hold. There is also a strong genetic link – with bedwetting running in families. Children stop wetting the bed at different ages – with about 1% of adolescents still wetting the bed by age 16 years (you can check the DryNites website for more accurate age related statistics). It is true that the majority of children will outgrow bedwetting on their own – although only about 15% of children are able to do this each year after the age of 7 without the help of treatment. I would recommend speaking with your GP again to discuss different treatment options. You mention already trying a conditioning alarm with no success – unfortunately these do not work with all children. I’m not sure how many attempts you gave it but it may be helpful to know that it is common to experience one to two relapses in the first year so you may need to reintroduce the alarm a couple of times. The success of conditioning alarms depends on receiving correct instruction as well as the level of support provided – ask to be referred to a continence advisor if you do not already have someone you are seeing. A key concern for many parents is how we manage children’s bedwetting so that it does not have a negative impact on their self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. It is very important that you do not let his bedwetting restrict social opportunities like attending Cub camps. On these occasions you could try using DryNites – he can hide these in his sleeping bag and disguise the sound of putting them on by hiding plastic wrapped lollies that he can then share with his friends! Make sure his Cub leader is informed about his bedwetting and you discuss with him how best to dispose of them in the morning without the other children seeing.

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