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Dr Catherine
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Girl
8-15 years

My daughter is 9 years old and still wetting the bed most nights. I have tried a lot of things, like cutting fluids out by a certain time, waking her up durning the night ect. Nothing seems to work. Some weeks she can be great and only wet once a but then other weeks it’s every night. Should I be worried and take her to the doctors?

It is incredibly frustrating and worrying when you feel like you have tried it all and still your child continues to wet at night. Unfortunately many of the approaches you have test driven are no longer recommended as effective ways to resolve bedwetting. With respect to nighttime waking - we know that lifting or taking children to the toilet during the night is really a form of management and does little in the way of helping children to stop wetting the bed, and can at times prolong the bedwetting process. It is fine to reduce fluid intake after dinner - however this should be paired with a regular drinking pattern throughout the day (about 1 to 1.5 litres), and of course water is best! The best approach to the treatment of children’s bedwetting is the conditioning alarm. Bedwetting alarms work by setting off an alarm when your daughter starts to wet, waking her up so that she gets up and goes to the toilet. Over a period of time this conditions the body into recognizing the signs of a full bladder, your daughter will eventually learn to wake on her own without the need for the alarm. Before travelling down this route I would strongly recommend speaking with your GP or continence specialist to ensure you select a type of alarm that is best suited to your daughter. All the best, Dr Cathrine