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Dr Catherine
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Girl
8-15 years

Dear Carla, Happy New Year! While many children will outgrow bedwetting on their own, some children do benefit from a more focused intervention. Given his age and the frequency of his wetting it would certainly be worthwhile having him assessed by your GP. In terms of things you can do at home to help reduce the amount he wets, this includes things like making sure he drinks plenty of water regularly in the day (children often forget to do this when they are at school), ensure he goes to the bathroom right before he goes to sleep, make sure he does not become overtired, as this will only make it harder for him to wake in response to a full bladder. You also need to eliminate caffeine and allergy-causing foods (such as dairy and citrus), which can irritate the bladder, resulting in higher urine production over-night. You could also look at introducing a conditioning alarm. These are incredibly effective in training children to learn to wake-up at night. It is essential, however, that you speak with a continent advisor first as the more support you receive the better the outcome. All the best! Regards, Dr Cathrine