A Parent's Guide to Toddler Bedwetting

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Achieving potty training in toddlers is a developmental milestone. Even after potty training during the daytime, toddlers might continue to wet the bed while they sleep. 

The fair age when children are usually trained for nighttime can be ages 4 and 5 years, but it is not the set principle. Most children are trained fully till they're 5 to 6 years old, but don’t worry if your child is wetting the bed even after he is above 5!

Punishing or stress will not stop your toddler from wetting the bed until they are developmentally ready. Such mental trauma and negativity only increase accidents.

All you need to do is BE PATIENT! Let's learn how to navigate this phase with confidence:

1. Explaining In A Positive Way  
   Usually, most kids are trained easily during the day so when your child asks to go to the latrine for pee – tell them repeatedly that you are now trained for the night too, and you don’t wear diapers now. Such positive messages are stored in their subconscious mind and will help to build confidence.
   
   
2. Set Routine
   Setting up a routine and glueing to it strictly will help. When kids are tired many times they sleep wherever they are playing around. Setting a bedtime routine, changing clothes, passing urine before sleep, and reading a good book will benefit you in many ways in the long run. An over-tired child tends to bed wet often.
   
   
3. Putting Diapers Once The Kid Is Asleep
   This will protect your mattress from getting dirty. Once your child is asleep, put on the diaper or pull-up pants initially, so you don’t need to scare off the mattress getting dirty.
   
   
4. Positive Reinforcement
   If the bedwetting is still a problem when your child turns 5 or 6, try offering rewards (for example, a trip to the park or a favourite treat) if they stay dry through the night. This may work up to some extent as it creates positivity in their subconscious mind.
   
   
5. Alarm Clock
   The use of an alarm,  a trick from decades by has worked well with many! Research says a lot of bedwetting happens within the first few hours of sleep, so you can start by taking them to the bathroom just before they go to bed and waking them after 2 hours.
   
   
6. Lower Your Expectations
   Most children aren’t able to stay dry through the night until they are 5 or older because their urinary bladders are too small, they lack muscle control, or they doze too soundly to sense when their bladders are full, hence they aren't able to get up for passing the urine and tends to wet the bed. So manage your expectations. It's completely normal for your child to be unable to hold it in all night long even after they have been potty trained.

Give them time to get used to being potty trained. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least six months after your toddler’s fully potty trained during the day before you do a test run and let them sleep without diapers. 

If kids wet the bed several times a week, they may just not be developmentally ready. Put them in a diaper or training pants for a few more months until they wake up dry for more than a week straight.

Advice: If the issue persists, consult a doctor to rule out underlying medical concerns. Homeopath / Ayurveda medical science has some good herbal remedies that are safest and most effective in treating the underlying medical concern.

About The Author:

Dr. Mariya Vhora