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Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

Hi, My son who will be 6 in a couple of months, is still wearing night time pull ups and they are quite heavy when he wakes up in the morning. He has not shown any signs of dryness. What can I do? Thank you.

It is not unusual for children your sons age to still be wetting the bed at night with around 1 in 7 children continuing to do so by school-age. If you are at all concerned about his wetting then you should certainly have him checked by your GP. While the majority of bedwetting cases result from neurophysiological delay or low hormone levels there are a small percentage that result from some physical abnormality like an overactive bladder, small bladder capacity or a medical issue so it is always important to rule this out first. Unlike toilet training, which is conscious and deliberate, nighttime bladder control is more dependent on maturation of children’s nervous systems and bladder so it is much more challenging to train a child a night. Training at night usually involves the use of a conditioning alarm (also commonly referred to as a bedwetting alarm), this works by helping your son learn to recognise the need to pass urine and either wake-up and go to the toilet or learn to hold on until morning. You should discuss this option when you meet with your GP or ask to be referred to a continence specialist All the best! Kind Regards, Dr Cathrine