Dr Catherine
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Girl
8-15 years

My daughter is turning 11 next year and has been in pull ups most of her life as she still wets the bed. I have read that keeping her in pull ups is not the thing to do and that this will not help her. They are also very uncomfortable for her. Are your dry night pants thinner than a pull up and more like wearing pants. I am also looking at getting a mat even though I have borrow one from a friend it was very hard and not comfortable for her to sleep on as it curled up on the ends under her back. I have been to a paediatrician and tried the medication to stop the production of urine but that really didn't help.

Firstly, in the short-term I would recommend trying DryNites rather than Pull-Ups, these are specifically designed for nighttime use and are much more absorbent than Pull-Ups, DryNites are also designed to be more appealing to older children and like you mention are more 'pant-like' in design. The frustrating and challenging part of bedwetting is that we often do not know what is causing it to occur – this also presents a number of challenges in terms of finding the right treatment. We do know there is a strong genetic component, with bedwetting running in families. When this is a contributing factor we typically find children outgrow their bedwetting around the same age as their relative. In terms of treatment, the conditioning alarm generally experiences the best outcomes. These do not always work at first and may take up to 6 months of constant use. When used with a particularly deep sleeper, parents need to help wake their child, as they will typically sleep through the alarm at first. There are two main types of alarms. One is a body alarm with a small sensor that can be worn inside your child’s pyjamas – many parents prefer these as children can continue to wear their DryNites throughout the training process. The second type of alarm is a bell and pad alarm that is placed like a mat over the bottom sheet. This is connected to an alarm box placed at the end of the bed. After weeks of hearing the alarm, children learn to pay attention to their bladder signals and wake up before wetting the bed. Before introducing the alarm its a good idea to meet with your continence specialist as more support increases the chances of success. All the best! Kind Regards, Dr Cathrine