Hi Madelyne – it is not common for 5-year-old girls to wet the bed and if managed correctly will have no lasting impact on their self-esteem or wellbeing. The speed at which children achieve nighttime dryness can vary considerably some do so in a few weeks while others will take months or years. Unfortunately it is very difficult to train a child to become dry at night. Lifting children to the toilet during the night is no longer suggested, as this does not teach children to become dry on their own and typically results in a disrupted sleep for both you and her. You can try to minimize the amount of urine she produces overnight by taking her to the toilet just before she goes to sleep and making sure she does not drink or eat foods high in caffeine in the evening. There are a number of different bedwetting treatments currently available the most successful of these is the conditioning alarm. Before introducing any form of treatment it is important that you make an appointment with your doctor, keeping in mind that most doctors do not recommend starting treatment before age 6 due to the high spontaneous recovery before then.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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