Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

In regards to day time wetting (sorry I know Drynites is for night time wetting). My daughter is 4 (5 in Jan) and still has wey underwear during the day. She does not do a bladders worth of wee in her undies but it seems like to me that she does little spurts maybe before or after a wee in the toilet. Is it possible she can't feel that she needs to go until its too late or that she might not be emptying enough? We have been using slightly absorbent training pants (got them from Best and Less) to help her feel less worried about it and to reduce stress between her and myself but I'm not sure if I'm enabling her so to speak..... Is there someone we should see? (We are in Newcastle NSW if that helps) Thanks so much Skye

Dear Skye, while it is quite common for children to continue to experience nighttime incontinence at age 5, regular daytime accidents are less common and should be investigated further. Daytime wetting can result from medical factors such as chronic constipation, urinary tract infections or an over-active bladder so you would want to rule these out first. Speak with your GP first and if necessary ask to be referred to a continence specialist. Sometimes daytime wetting is behavioural - younger children can become incredibly absorbed in activities and can ignore the signs that they need to go to the toilet. Help her to identify those common signals indicating she needs to empty her bladder. Daytime wetting can be incredibly upsetting for children so it is important that you continue to be as patient as possible, celebrating all small successes, while ignoring failures (as difficult as this may be). All the best, Dr Cathrine