It is not unusual for children your daughters age to still be wetting the bed at night with around 1 in 7 children continuing to do so by school-age. If you are at all concerned about her wetting then you should certainly have her checked by her GP. While the majority of bedwetting cases result from neurphysiological delay or low hormone levels there are a small percentage that result from some physical abnormality like an overactive bladder, small bladder capacity or a medical issue so it is always important to rule this out first. Unlike toilet training, which is conscious and deliberate, nighttime bladder control is more dependent on maturation of children’s nervous systems and bladder so it is much more challenging to train a child a night. Training at night usually involves the use of a conditioning alarm (also commonly referred to as a bedwetting alarm), this works by helping your daughter learn to recognise the need to pass urine and either wake-up and go to the toilet or learn to hold on until morning. With respect to the waking/lifting, this is typically seen as a practical approach to managing children’s bedwetting in the short-term only but does little to help them to become dry on their own. Lifting at night means children do not get the chance to get used to the signals that the bladder sends to the brain telling them to wake-up and empty their bladder nor does the bladder have the opportunity to stretch and develop. One of the best indicators that a child is moving toward achieving nighttime continence is an increase in the number of mornings where she wakes-up dry. Until then it is perfectly fine for you to use DryNites to help manage her bedwetting and avoid the stress associated with dealing with constant wet sheets.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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