Hi Natalie – the way parents manage children’s bedwetting can often make or break a delicate situation. It really is a personal decision as to whether or not to use DryNites. DryNites will offer the same level of absorbency as her nappy however they are designed to be more appealing to older children. Nappies tend to be associated with babies – which can be very damaging to an older child’s self-esteem. DryNites are an effective form of management not treatment. While there has been some debate about the use of absorbent pants, the general consensus is that DryNites neither speed up nor prolong the bedwetting process. Unlike toilet training, which is conscious and deliberate, nighttime bladder control is more dependent on maturation of children’s nervous systems and bladder. The fact that the wetting occurs when children are asleep makes it that more difficult to control. As with most areas of development there is huge variation with respect to the age at which children achieve this milestone. We typically recommend that parents hold off until their child has reached 7 years of age before they consider treatment options due to the high spontaneous cure rate up until then. Making sure children feel confident and self-assured are crucial to the effective management of bedwetting – she will eventually wake up dry on her own, how she feels about herself at the end of this phase is what really matters. All the best!

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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