How To Stop Bedwetting And
How to Best Manage It

Although there is no quick answer on how to stop bedwetting and bed wetting solutions vary, we hope the following tips should help ease the problem. Toddler bed wetting is very common and therefore you need to deal with a wet bed calmly and help your child during this learning - even though it can be very frustrating for you in the middle of the night.

Our quick top tips on how to stop bedwetting are:

• Use nappies or training pants at night time until your child dry for at least a week
• Stay calm if your toddler has an accident at night time - do not scold him. He hasn't meant to wet the bed and simply could not avoid it.
• Use a mattress protector every day and for a year after he is dry
• Always have a spare set of bedding and bed clothes to hand in his bedroom or have a regular sheet, followed by a mattress protector, followed by a regular sheet so that you can very easily and quickly have a dry, clean bed.
• Do not make a big deal of any accident - your toddler may become anxious about what he has done and this could make the problem worse.When he does do a wee on the potty or toilet during the day or night always praise him.

More top tips on how to stop bedwetting and how to best manage it

• Do not offer your child drinks containing caffeine drinks such as tea or chocolate in the evening as these stimulate the kidneys to produce more fluid. Offer her child drinks earlier on during the day and if he wants a drink in the evening then limit it to milk or water.
• Do not offer citrus drinks as they can irritate the urinary tract.
• Make sure your child doesn't get constipated as constipation can irritate the bladder at night.
• Try altering the bedtime routine. Just after story time and before your kiss goodnight you could try taking your child for a last trip to the toilet or potty just to "empty the drops". But if this upsets the routine too much and causes bedtime problems then it may not be worth doing.
• As soon as he wakes up in the morning, take your toddler to the toilet (or potty). Even if he has wet the bed during the night he will do a wee and there you have an opportunity to praise him.
• Have patience: Putting pressure on your child, scolding them for wetting the bed is likely to prolong the problem and make it into a bigger issue than it is.
• Do not threaten to "put him back in nappies" - this will lower his self esteem. If he wants to wear nappies now and again at night then this is fine. But it's important that you do not try to belittle him efforts as wetting the bed is beyond his control.
  

  If you want your child to go back into pull-ups be reassuring by giving him a different one to any that he has had previously or let him choose his own lovely decorated pull-ups with themed characters which your child can choose himself. You could tell him that they will help him to stay comfortable whilst his body and bladder is still growing.

• Do not humiliate your child nor tell your child that he is lazy and doesn't want to get out of bed.
• Keep your toddler in nappies at night until his nappy is dry in the morning every day for around a week - and then only try for a few times. Take it easy and do it gradually so as not to put unnecessary pressure on your toddler. And when he has a dry night congratulate him. But remember that he may still have accidents from time to time and when he does, be reassuring.
• Make it easy for your child to reach the toilet or potty. Leave a light on or use a night light. Let them know that they can wake you up if needs be. Gradually as they are used to getting up and going to the toilet then they can learn to go on their own.
• Some parents lift their child out of bed and carry them to the toilet when they go to bed. However, this inhibits your child's learning to recognise when their bladder is full so it may not help your child in developing their own bladder control. However, whilst your child's body is developing this may work for you.
• Sometimes other people, such as friends or relatives make your child's bed wetting an issue. You must stay focused on your child and not let other people belittle your child's development.
• If you have older children in the family be sure to explain to them that your child cannot help wetting the bed. They must not tease or humiliate him.
• There is a medication called desmopressin acetate, or DDAVP or DDAVP which works by by causing the body to retain water and therefore less water is made into urine. However, it does not solve the problem of bedwetting and once the person stops taking the medication they will start bed wetting again.
• Charts can sometimes be suggested. But the problem is that if the chart shows that he is waking up every day wet then it is demoralising for your child. Charts are more useful when your child can actually take control of what he gets stars or rewards for.
• If you are hearing in a playgroup how another child is dry in the night already then you are likely to compare how your child is doing. If he is not dry then you might think "Hey, my toddler ought to be dry too. I better get working on this!" But don't worry, your child will be dry when they are ready to be dry and remember that every child develops at their own rate. There is no one way for how to stop bedwetting nor a set time or age when your child will be dry.

It might be helpful to know that by the age of 5 or 6, 85-90% of children have stopped bedwetting on their own. After the age of 6 to 8 a health professional may recommend a enuresis alarm which wakes the child up when the bed is wet and so eventually conditions them to wake up when he needs to go.

There is no one easy answer on how to stop bedwetting nor 100% easy bed wetting solutions so we hope we have given you ideas on how to cope with your child's bed wetting problems. This in turn will help you and your child deal with the problem.

Rather than offering you easy bed wetting solutions we hope we have given you ideas on how to stop bedwetting and how to cope with your child's bed wetting problems.

Know that you are not alone in wanting to know how to stop bedwetting and finding ways to deal with this tricky issue as other parents also have the same problem with their child. If you are worried or want more help always consult your medical professional.

This page focuses on how to stop bedwetting.