While there are a number of well-practiced techniques used by parents to help children achieve daytime control, the road to nighttime continence is less straightforward. While you may have found rewards or incentives helpful when toilet training – these are less effective at nighttime mostly because the wetting is beyond your daughters control. When it comes to bedwetting the best form of treatment is time. In the majority of cases children will stop wetting the bed on their own as their body matures and becomes better able at holding on overnight or waking-up in response to a full bladder. While some children do require additional assistance to achieve nighttime dryness we do not recommend treatment until children have turned 6 or 7 years of age – partly due to the high spontaneous cure rate before this and partly due to the fact that many interventions require both commitment and a strong desire to be dry, which often isn’t the case when children are younger. In the short-term there are a few simple strategies you can try. Encourage her to drink plenty (preferably water) throughout the day as this promotes healthy bladder activity – avoid sugary and caffeinated drinks as this only stimulates the kidneys to produce greater amounts of urine. Make sure she fully empties her bladder each time she uses the toilet and stop any ‘just in case’ visits as we want to help her bladder to get used to holding larger amounts of urine. Make sure when she goes to bed that she is not overtired as this will only make it more difficult for her to wake-up in response to a full bladder. Most importantly, a positive attitude to bedwetting will ensure your daughter continues to feel good about herself and secure in your support.

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