Dr Catherine
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Girl
2-4 years

Hi, my little boy has just started not wearing nappies to bed and is wetting the bed every night at least 3 to 4 times! I make him go before bed and wake him up when I go to bed to try and go but it's still occurring. It's tiring and making a lot of washing as he wets through to the doona as well! Is this normal or is he maybe not ready to train at night? He was wetting through his nappies into the bed once a night so that's why I started no nappies. He is fine during the day and never has accidents.

Dear Sarah, Hi Jane, please be reassured it is perfectly normal for your son to still be wetting the bed at night with many children continuing to do so up until school age. The time between achieving daytime continence and nighttime control is different for every child. While some achieve this in a matter of weeks, others take months or years. One of the best indicators that your son is moving toward achieving nighttime continence is an increase in the number of mornings he wakes up dry. There are a number of reasons why children continue to wet at night. Some do so because their body produces larger than normal amounts of urine overnight and their bladder is unable to store it until morning. This usually continues until the amount of urine produced decreases or children learn to wake-up in response to a full bladder. Others do so because they are unable to wake in response to the signals that their bladder sends to their brain telling them to wake-up and go to the toilet. The best way to encourage healthy bladder habits is to encourage your son to drink water regularly throughout the day, about 1 to 1.5 litres is recommended for children his age. While it is fine to taper off in the evening, avoid restricting fluids altogether. Make sure he fully empties his bladder just before bedtime. When it comes to bedwetting, time is often the best course of action.The good news is that most children your sons age will outgrow bedwetting on their own, if however it starts to become a significant issue for either you or him then I would certainly recommend you speak with your GP about introducing more formal measures to help him to stop. Until then, it is perfectly fine to keep him in DryNites - this will result in a better nights sleep for both you and him and significantly less stress! All the best! Regards, Dr Cathrine