Wetting the Bed After Five

Where to start

• Give enough to drink in the day, no caffeine, and a toilet trip before bed.
• Reward what your child can do, such as using the toilet before bed, not dry nights.
• See the GP if this hasn’t worked; a child under seven can be treated too.
• Constipation can cause it too, so mention any trouble with poos to the GP.
• See your GP or school nurse if you’ve tried all this and your child is still wetting, or if they’ve started again after being dry for more than six months; the tip “When Your Child Starts Wetting Again” is about that.
• If the wetting has got worse over a few days or weeks and your child is also very thirsty, very tired or losing weight, ask the surgery for an urgent appointment that day, and if it is closed, get urgent medical advice. In England, Scotland and Wales, call 111. In Northern Ireland, contact your GP surgery during surgery hours, or your regional GP out-of-hours service when the surgery is closed. For a life-threatening emergency, call 999.
• If your child has these signs and is getting worse quickly, has tummy pain or diarrhoea, is being sick, is drowsy or confused, or is breathing faster and more deeply than usual, get emergency help. Call 999. Or go to your nearest A&E. Help is free and available at any hour.

The rest of the tip, and why it works, is in the library.

Sources

NHS, Bedwetting in children (reviewed April 2023); NICE, Bedwetting in under 19s (CG111, 2010, reviewed 2018), recommendations 1.1.1, 1.1.3, 1.5, 1.6.1, 1.7, 1.8.13, 1.10.1 and 1.10.2, and Table 1; NHS, Type 1 diabetes: symptoms (reviewed October 2024); The Sleep Charity, Childrens Sleep Problems (updated September 2026)

It goes with

• The Hour Before Bed. For parents whose child’s bedtime has turned into an hour of worries, questions and meltdowns.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

• Sleep. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
• Child development. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.