Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

Our son is 6 and still wetting the bed. We've tried limiting water at night, getting him up every night to go to the toilet, but these strategies haven't worked. We have gone through winter just leaving it, but his 3 yr old brother is completely dry at night now and he wants to try again. Could you please suggest another strategy that might work? Thank you!

It can be incredibly frustrating and disheartening when your child continues to wet the bed at night despite your many efforts to try and help them stop. Unfortunately many of the things you have tried do not seem to be particularly successful in helping children achieve nighttime continence. When it comes to treatment, conditioning alarms currently experience the best outcomes with 75% of children experiencing nighttime dryness after their use. I would recommend that you get a referral from your GP to speak with a continence specialist who can discuss with you treatment options as the more support and guidance you receive the greater the chances of a successful outcome! In the meantime you need to make sure that his bedwetting does not impact negatively on his self-esteem, particularly as his younger sibling no longer wets the bed. You can do this by identifying all those things he does really well and minimise any focus (as hard as this can be) on his bedwetting. All the best! Kind Regards, Dr Cathrine