Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

Dear M.P, there are a number of possible explanations for why your daughter continues to wet throughout the day. Given her age and the frequency of her wetting I would strongly recommend that you ask to be referred to a pediatrician who specializes in treating children’s incontinence issues. Daytime wetting after the age of 6 years may be caused by some underlying physical or medical problem or may be psychological or emotional in its origins. Medical causes are rare but may include such things as juvenile diabetes, tapeworm, constipation and urinary tract infections – so it is essential that you have these ruled out first. Daytime accidents often occur as a result of children holding on for too long or refusing to stop the activity they are involved in order to go to the toilet. Sometimes this behaviour also occurs in response to the child trying to exert their independence, a friendly reminder to Mum and Dad that they (being the child) is in control of the situation. If her daytime wetting is behavioural then the best thing to do is to return to those strategies you used when first toilet training. Praise her successes, while ignoring accidents. Talk about all those behavioural cues she needs to be aware of which tell her that she needs to go and empty her bladder. Remind her that whatever she’s doing will still be there when she gets back and in fact she will be able to return to it quicker than if she had to go and change her clothes due to wetting them. All the best! Regards, Dr Cathrine