Bedwetting can be incredibly worrying especially when children continue to wet at night beyond the age most people think it should stop. The reassuring news is that this is much more common than most people realize and typically nothing to be concerned about. In only a very small percentage of cases is bedwetting the result of some underlying medical condition – which of course is always important to rule out first. Due to the strong genetic link it is not unusual to find a number of children in the same family experiencing nighttime wetting. When genetics plays a role we generally find that children achieve continence around a similar age to when their family member stopped wetting the bed. There are two options when it comes to managing children’s bedwetting, you can either wait until your children become dry on their own or you can look into introducing some form of treatment. By far the most effective means of treating children’s bedwetting is the conditioning alarm. The alarm is designed to wake-up the child when he begins to wet. The conditioning approach is based on the theory that by repetitively waking a child at the time of urination the child becomes conditioned into recognising that urination is about to occur. This method requires a great deal of commitment on behalf of the family, as you will need to take initial responsibility in ensuring your sons wake in response to the alarm. Treatment can take up to 6 months, with about a third of children experiencing relapse. If this occurs you need to reintroduce the alarm, with most children being treated in a much shorter period of time. All the best!

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

Ask Dr Cathrine a question