Hi Chantell, it is perfectly normal for your son to be still wetting the bed at night so there is absolutely no cause for concern. Many children, particularly boys, continue to wet at night until they are ready to start school. Nighttime continence has nothing to do with children’s intelligence or even motivation to be dry. Most children stop wetting at night as their body matures and becomes better able at storing urine or they learn to wake-up in response to a full-bladder. Until then it is fine to keep using absorbent pants, I would look into using DryNites rather than nappies as these are more absorbent and look more like an underpant. I would hold off on removing these for his daytime sleep until he has achieved at least 10-14 consecutive sleeps without wetting. That also applies to nighttime use. In order to develop a healthy bladder, children need to be encouraged to drink at regular (2 hourly) intervals throughout the day. It is fine for your son to drink right up to bedtime, what you want to avoid happening is your son not drinking throughout the day then consuming the majority of his daily intake in the evenings. Your friend is spot on with her advice about waking him to go to the toilet – waking your son to go to the toilet means he doesn’t get the chance to get used to the signals that his bladder sends to his brain telling him to wake-up nor does his bladder have the opportunity to stretch and develop.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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