I have a 7 yr old daughter who toilet trained herself before the age of two! but sadly is still soaking a night nappy. Her Aunt wet bed until her teens. Not a big issue at all for me, but should we be trying harder? GP said go without nappy for a month!

Is it a good idea to get involved and start working on this .. wet beds, lots of washing.. or do studys show that regardless of parental input kids just grow out of these things themselves? Also her two twin 5 year old brothers soak their night nappies also... should I be doing something with them?

As I say, im quite happy to keep trucking on with nappies. But if research shows that its worth getting involved early rather than letting things take their own course then I would like to help if I can. I just dont want to live thru the stress of a month of wet beds if its pointless :)

Girls bedwetting (4-10 y) · Asked by Delia about 1 year ago

Dr Cathrine Answered:

Hi Delia, due to the underlying genetic link it is not unusual to find a number of children in the one family experiencing nighttime wetting. While this can be particularly challenging for parents it does provide some indication of the actual cause. We typically find children outgrow bedwetting around a similar age to their relative, which in your case may mean not until your daughter reaches her teens. As a parent you do have a few options. You can continue using DryNites to help manage her bedwetting and wait until her body develops to a point where it can store the urine overnight. Despite arguments to the contrary – there is no solid research evidence to suggest wearing DryNites prolongs bedwetting. By just taking your daughter out of DryNites this is unlikely to teach her to wake-up and go to the toilet or train her bladder to store the urine until morning. Taking these away may in fact result in increased frustration and workload. The best indicator that a child is moving toward nighttime continence is an increase in the number of mornings they wake-up dry. There are a number of treatments currently available on the market that you could certainly try. The best success rates are typically achieved with bedwetting alarms – although they do tend to work more effectively among children with less frequent wetting. Any form of treatment should be introduced with the support of a continence specialist so if your GP is not well versed with this approach to treatment ask to be referred to someone who is. All the best!

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

Ask Dr Cathrine a question

Tags: bed wetting solutions, bedwetting diapers

Comments

Be the first to post a comment

Add a comment