Hi Jack – first let me say what a wonderful thing you are doing. I have a number of colleagues who foster children and I understand how challenging (as well as rewarding!) it can be. While her wetting may in fact be deliberate, it is not unusual for children to pretend that they a deliberately wetting – sometimes it is easier to say this than to try and comprehend why they still lack control over their bladder. If you haven’t done so already I would organize for your GP to run some tests just to rule out any underlying medical condition. Bedwetting can also be the result of psychological or emotional distress. Children who move into the foster system have often experienced significant trauma in their lives. The fact that she was dry for a significant period then started wetting again suggests to me her wetting may have an underlying psychological cause. Effective treatment for these children is usually psychological counseling in combination with a bedwetting intervention. The best and most successful approach at the moment is the conditioning alarm. It is important that you do not try to tackle this on your own as the more support and guidance you receive the more likely she will achieve nighttime dryness. There are a few other things you can do in the meantime like making sure she is drinking water at regular intervals throughout the day, it is best to avoid energy drinks or other soft drinks as these typically contain caffeine which tend to stimulate the kidneys into producing additional urine. With respect to her DryNites – you need to make sure these are fitting correctly as DryNites that are too big or too small will result in leakage. I will certainly pass on your concerns to the DryNites development team and wish you all the very best with managing this situation.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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