A child who is younger than 6 may not be physically or emotionally mature enough to learn to stay dry at night. Waiting a few months, or even a year or two, may secure an optimal approach to bedwetting.

Waiting or doing nothing can be burdensome and stressful for everyone involved. Remember, your child cannot yet control his nighttime bedwetting. Negative remarks and punishment may hinder his progress; at the very least they won’t help. Please don’t be angry about the added workload; instead, try to be matter-of-fact about the burden.

You can turn this waiting period into a learning opportunity for your child. One of the greatest burdens of bedwetting is daily laundry. He may be willing to help strip his bed linens, carry them to the washing machine and help make his bed. Here are some hints to decrease the workload:

• Use disposable pants until your child is ready for treatment
• Use washable, waterproof-backed pads that can be changed during the night so your child is dry as much as possible
• Wake your child to urinate in the bathroom before you go to bed (this won’t ensure dryness but it will be one less urination in the bed)
• Use disposable waterproof pads
• Use vinyl mattress covers that can be cleaned with disinfectant spray to decrease odor
• Place a few pair of clean pajamas and/or underwear next to the bed to decrease middle-of-the-night clean-up time (Note: A night light in the room will reduce the need to turn on all the lights)
• Waterproof sleeping bag liners are more easily laundered than the entire sleeping bag
• Do not make your child sleep in a wet bed; placing a few towels over the wet area can keep your child comfortable until morning

Because some bedwetting children will spontaneously stop wetting each year, a few parents will see the problem resolve without intervention. The majority, however, will see bedwetting persist even after waiting. When you do choose to start an intervention after a period of waiting, chances are your child will be old enough to cooperate and be motivated, and/or your family will be at a more stable time in your lives. Once a child reaches 8, intervention should begin even if he doesn’t seem highly motivated. Some children become motivated once they realize there is something they can do to fix the problem.

You know your child best. You will know when the time is right to begin intervention.