There’s no point in seeking help too early for bedwetting. It might be worth taking your child’s cue, if for example they feel ready and would like to try to achieve being dry at night. An intervention will need your child to be involved, so there’s not much point seeking a referral before 5 and in fact, many doctors suggest somewhat later, maybe around 7. Your child might be motivated to become dry because they want to avoid embarrassment during a social activity like a sleep over at a friend’s house or a trip away with the school. It seems increasingly common for schools to take children away in Year 2 (when they are 6 or 7) and there must be many children who are still experiencing problems with bedwetting at this age.
In the first instance have a word with a GP and they will probably refer you to a bedwetting clinic for assessment. Some bedwetting clinics may have restrictions on the age of child they see. Our local clinic likes to have children having their first appointment around the time of their seventh birthday.
What will happen at a bedwetting clinic?
Bedwetting clinics will carry out an assessment on your child. At that assessment they will want to check how much a child drinks during the day and how often they go to the toilet. They will want to know if there are daytime toileting accidents and they will want to know how frequently your child wets the bed. It’s worth keeping an eye on these things for a few weeks before your appointment so that you can answer the questions accurately. Daytime accidents will need to be dealt with first before tackling nighttime issues. They will be able to give you advice on things like toileting habits and fluid intake . They may suggest a bladder capacity check. Another common request is to ask for charts to be completed for a few weeks so that your child’s individual behaviours and circumstances can be assessed.
We have been really lucky with my son, he has been pretty much dry at night since he was 4. I actually thought that was quite old, however, have since found out that that is incredibly young and, like you say, nearer 7 is when there starts to be problems. All children are different too aren’t they and most get there in their own time.