Night time or day time bed wetting

Bedwetting happens to a lot of people, around half a million children and young people in the UK suffer from bedwetting. There are lots of reasons why this happens:

It could be due to the bowel being so full that it is taking up too much space in the childs stomach, so the bladder cannot stretch and fill properly.

Maybe your child does not drink enough fluids in the day, you will be surprised that a child needs to drink a lot of water. If they don’t drink enough water they don’t stretch the bladder muscles enough whereby the bladder does not hold the fluid through the night.

Here is a few tips to help reduce bedwetting:

• Encourage your child to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and stop fluid intake 1 hour before bedtime
• Ensure your child goes the toilet before bedtime
• Try to avoid putting pull ups or nappies on your child as your child can get used to this method and therefore will continue to wet in their pull ups
• Avoid strong coloured juices such as blackcurrant and avoid fizzy drinks, try encourage water if possible however we know this can be difficult, so orange juice diluted would be ok
• If your child is constipated then book an appointment with your GP as constipation can also be a cause of day and night time wetting
• Try a reward chart and plenty of praise as this will give your child the confidence and encouragement needed to become dry

Children wetting themselves during the day is very common: one in seven children aged four and one in 20 children aged nine are affected. You and your family are not alone in dealing with this issue.

Daytime wetting is anything from damp patches in your child’s pants to a full-blown wee accident. Please contact your School Nurse or General Practitioner (GP) who can offer additional support. Additionally please visit the link below for further reading and guidance.

For additional support, visit: