Your daughter is experiencing what we refer to as secondary enuresis (SE) – this is where children have developed control over their bladder during the night for a period of at least six months then start wetting the bed again. Secondary enuresis usually results from stress or medical causes. When children have experienced a period of dryness either during the day or night and begin to wet again on a regular basis it is important that they get checked by a GP to rule out any underlying medical cause. Once she gets the all clear from her doctor you need to give some thought to what may have triggered the return to bedwetting – we know physically she is capable of being dry, what then has caused this to change? The three most common stressors triggering bedwetting in children are the birth of a new sibling, starting school (which we can rule out), and being hospitalized or seeing a parent in hospital. Often children will stop wetting at night when whatever is causing the stress has been resolved. Talk to her and see if anything is bothering her, is she too scared to get up and go to the toilet at night? Your approach to management so far has been great – you are already doing many of the things I would recommend to parents – the only other thing you might want to give some thought to is her diet – certain food allergies have been linked with bedwetting, food colouring, dairy, and wheat can be problematic for children who have food sensitivities or allergies – it is worth bringing this up with your GP when you see him.

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