Treating Daytime Wetting

In most children, daytime wetting is part of normal development and learning to recognize their body’s signals. In these cases, your child will usually outgrow daytime accidental wetting. If your doctor finds that your child has a kidney or bladder infection, treatment with medication such as an antibiotic will often stop the daytime wetting once the infection is cleared.

Home treatment and behavioral therapy to encourage your child to stay dry during the day is often successful in young children.

Some tactics to try include:

• Use a reward system. For every day your child is dry, they get a sticker on a chart. At the end of the day, or at the end of the week, you can reward your child for staying dry.
• Have your child go to the bathroom at regular intervals throughout the day and make sure they are well hydrated. The Chesapeake Urology for Children bathroom chart is a great tool for parents.
• Teach your child to not hold in his or her urine.
• Be aware of signs that your child needs to urinate such as squirming or crossing legs and have them use the bathroom before it’s too late.

Useful Tools

The specialists at Chesapeake Urology for Children provide parents with useful tools for tracking a child’s urinary habits and to help encourage proper bathroom use:

• Voiding Diary
• Bathroom Chart