What do you do if your child is still wetting the bed at 6?

For a start don’t panic this is more common that you would think. There are avenues to follow to get your child the help that is out there. It’s not the end of the world and while it is frustrating for you it is also something your child is not proud of. Work on it together.

When staying dry at night is difficult

If your child is finding it difficult to stay dry at night, some of these suggestions may help:

• Remember that it might take years for your child to reliably master night-time dryness. –
• Don’t stress about it or compare your child’s efforts with other children who are apparently dry at night.
• If your child is scared of the dark, going to the toilet at night is an enormous challenge. -Consider putting night-lights in the hallway. Think about leaving their door open for easy access.
• If they feel that going all the way to the toilet is still too daunting, you could put a potty in their bedroom.
• Make sure your child feels that it’s okay to wake you up in the night when they need to go to the toilet.
• If your child is becoming anxious or frustrated, take the pressure off. Forget about night-time toilet training for a while.

Generally it is considered acceptable for a child to wet until the age of 6. After this is when you can start thinking about what can be done to aid your child. The euresis blanket is generally the first option here. Speaking from experience it is not as scary as it sounds. The health nurse was very reassuring with my child and she was very happy to have an extra tool to help with dry nights. We took home the blanket and charts and a diary for her if she wanted to. Make comments about how she was feeling. The blanket went off twice in the 4 weeks she had it on her bed. It gave her the confidence she needed to achieve it. Now the alarm didn’t seem to startle my daughter or her sister in the same room.

Me on the other hand I jumped a mile but was happy to know she wasn’t scared. There were technique she was given, it was her job to go to the toilet and then to strip her bed and make it again, with my assistance but it was important to have her involved in the consequences. After 4 weeks she went without it but with it in the room still in case she needed it and after that we returned it to the health nurse. The nurse praised her and gave her a certificate and we have never looked back since.

Things to remember

• Keep your child in night-time nappies until most nappies are dry in the morning.
• Remember that it might take years for your child to reliably master night-time dryness.
• If your child is becoming anxious or frustrated, forget about night-time toilet training for a while.

It is always advisable to have your child checked by the doctor just to make sure there is nothing medically wrong!