Expert Answers
When we tried no nappy she was quite excited about being a big girl. I took her to the loo before going to bed myself, but she was very sleepy. Sometimes she would wee, sometimes not. Either way she would still wet the bed. As soon as she wets, she wakes. I bought those mats so as to not have to change the whole bed, but my problem is that I cannot get to sleep after attending to her, and after a week of this we went back to nappies. I could not function on three hours sleep every day and go to work. Did I give up too soon? My son ( 5.5) was night trained at 3. We put him in dry nites and after two weeks he said he didn't want to wear them and was dry. I know kids are all different and lots of people have said its normal until 6 years of age, but I'm also getting a lot of pressure from my parents as I was night trained at a very early age and they put this down to waking me religiously every hour until I got it. I'm not really willing to do this. I struggle to go back to sleep after attending ,to her once, let alone every hour!!! I've cut out fluids, milk before bed but it makes no difference!! Do I just wait it out and hope she grows out of it?
Dear H.M., Managing children’s bedwetting can be incredibly tricky; partially because we often do not understand the underlying cause and partly because there are so many mixed messages out there about how best to proceed. Unfortunately there are lots of misunderstandings and myths surrounding bedwetting and feeling pressure to help your child to become dry really only adds to the anxiety surrounding the situation. It is often helpful to keep in mind nighttime wetting is mostly unconscious and therefore the kinds of techniques we used in training children during the day (like sticker charts and rewards) do not apply to the nighttime situation. Nighttime wetting at this age is considered to be perfectly normal, with about 15-20% of children continuing to wet at night up to the age of 7 years. Bedwetting has nothing to do with poor management, poor parenting or childhood laziness. In terms of looking out for signs of ‘readiness’, one of the best indicators that your daughter is moving toward achieving nighttime continence is an increase in the number of consecutive mornings where she wakes-up dry – until then it is perfectly fine to continue using DryNites. DryNItes are designed purely to help manage bedwetting and avoid the stress associated with dealing with constant wet sheets. By far the most effective means of treating children’s bedwetting is the conditioning alarm. Unfortunately strategies like lifting at night and reducing fluids do very little to help children to stop wetting. 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. Conditioning alarms are designed to wake-up your daughter when she begins to wet. The conditioning approach is based on the theory that by repetitively waking a child at the time of urination the child becomes conditioned into recognising that urination is about to occur. This method requires a great deal of commitment on behalf of the family, as parents need to take initial responsibility in ensuring their child wakes in response to the alarm. Treatment can take up to 6 months, with about a third of children experiencing relapse. If this occurs you need to reintroduce the alarm, with most children being treated in a much shorter period of time. It is important to discuss this with your GP first as the more guidance you receive the better the outcomes. and that with some help he will become dry. The more support and encouragement you both receive, the better you will feel about the situation. In the short-term make sure she drinks water regularly throughout the day, eats lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and limits fizzy drinks – particularly before bedtime. It’s fine to reduce the amount she drinks in the evening although you need to let her drink if she is thirsty as failure to do so may lead to constipation, which will only contribute to her bedwetting. All the best! Regards, Dr Cathrine
RELATED QUESTIONS
Hello, my little girl will be 4 in May and has been toilet train...
The time between achieving daytime control and nighttime continence can vary from child to child.
My 3.5 year old has been dry over night and gone without a nappy...
Nighttime wetting at this age is considered to be perfectly normal, with about 20% of children cont
Any tips to help kids realise that they need to go to the toilet...
Managing children’s bedwetting can be incredibly tricky, partly because we often do not understand
My 2yr daughter uses dry nights and since Huggies have changed t...
Dear Sharon - sorry to hear that your daughter has developed a rash - I hope this has rectified its
My daughter has been out of nappies during the day since she was...
It is perfectly normal for your daughter to continue to experience nocturnal incontinence. The age
Hi Catherine Our daughter is 25.5 months and she wears Huggies 1...
It is perfectly normal for your 2-year-old daughter to still be wetting the bed at nig
The last two nights my 3yo has refused to wear a nappy to bed bu...
The time between achieving daytime control and nighttime continence is quite variable with many
I am in q bit of a predicament because my 13 year old son who we...
It's fine to do this in emergencies but as a rule I would not recommend using the girls DryNites
My 4.5yo boy (22kgs) has always wet the bed. We get him up to go...
Dear Karen, Leakage can result from improper fit, which can occur if your sons absorbant pants a
I'm just wondering what the difference is to wearing a nappy to ...
With respect to absorbency you will find the nappy offers the same kind of protection as DryNite
i ordered a sample but i didnt receive it now i cant get a sampl...
I would recommend that you request this again as it may have been lost somewhere in the post. Ap
Hi K.B., It is not uncommon for children who are bladder trained to continue to experience challeng
my child poo his pants and wanted to know if i could use pullups
While absorbent pants can be used to manage both urinary and bowel incontinence; it is important to
He has been cross cutting his teeth has 3 top front Teeth and h...
Hi Jackie, Biting is a normal phase for babies and toddlers, however, biting in older children may
I've been thinking about having another child for a while now, I...
Hi Genevieve, unfortunately whether or not your child wets the bed at night has very little to do w
My 2 year old son has Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus - need a na...
Hi L.V., you can certainly try him in DryNites, these offer the same level of absorbency as nappies
Hi Joan - The difference between Pull-Ups and DryNites is that Pull-Ups are specifically designed f
Bedwetting is completely normal at this young age, with around 1 in 5 children continuing to wet th
Hi, my little boy has just started not wearing nappies to bed an...
Dear Sarah, Hi Jane, please be reassured it is perfectly normal for your son to still be wetting th
Hi Praveen, please be reassured it is perfectly normal for your daughter to still be wetting the be
Hi there, my son is 2 and leaking out the top of his nappy at ni...
Dear Meredith, how frustrating! Leakage can sometimes result from improper fit, which can occur if
Hi Abbey, It is not unusual for children with additional support needs to take a little longer to a
We have tried limiting the amount of fluid in the 2 hours before...
Hi Renee - helping children to achieve nighttime continence works a little differently to daytime t
Hi C.B., firstly, my apologies for the delay in responding over this Christmas period. Please be re
When we tried no nappy she was quite excited about being a big g...
Dear H.M., Managing children’s bedwetting can be incredibly tricky; partially because we often do n
I have 2 sons, 4 yrs and 2 yrs, have started night training with...
Hi Bianca, the three most common causes of bedwetting include (1) an overproduction of urine overni
Dear B.P., the time between achieving daytime continence and nighttime control is different for eve
Starting pre school in Aug 15
As with all children it is best not to begin toilet training until the boys show signs that they ar
Dear Di, Children’s overnight urine output can be quite variable – parents of children who seem to
Hi Dr Catherine, I have a question about my almost 4 year old gi...
As frustrating as this may be please be reassured that this is perfectly normal. As children mov