Firstly, let me reassure you that what is happening is perfectly normal – both in terms of her bedwetting as well as her occasional daytime accident. As you are probably aware, many 3-year-olds wet the bed at night with most children not achieving nighttime continence until age 4. The occasional daytime accident is also quite common and can occur for a couple of years after children have been day trained. This usually happens because children are so immersed in play that they are not aware of the cues that they need to go or they choose to ignore them until the last minute and don’t leave enough time to make it to the toilet. This is something that she will outgrow – however if it increases in frequency or her urine starts to develop a strong odour then you need to have her checked by your GP. In the meantime there are a few things you can do to encourage a healthy bladder. In times gone by doctors would encourage children to hold on as long as possible before going to the toilet – the idea behind this was that it would train the bladder to hold larger amounts or urine and strengthen the sphincter muscles – this is no longer recommended due to the increase in daytime accidents. Now we recommend that children drink plenty of water throughout the day, stop any ‘just in case’ visits to the toilet, make sure they fully empty their bladder each time they go to the toilet as well as avoiding drinks and food high in caffeine. A diet rich in fibre is also important for preventing constipation as this can irritate the bladder.

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