Meeting Your Health Professional

If your child is a regular bedwetter, you might decide to make an appointment with a health professional. They can assess your child’s individual circumstances, test for any underlying medical conditions, and devise an appropriate treatment plan to meet their personal needs. It’s a good idea to be prepared for your meeting so that you can get the most out of your appointment.

Who to speak to

There are lots of people that you can speak to about your child’s bedwetting. The most appropriate person will largely depend on the services available in your area, but a good starting point is either your registered GP or your child’s school nurse. Health Visitors also cover bedwetting in some regions. If you are lucky, your area might also have an enuresis clinic. Do some research and find out if it does, and whether you can self-refer to this service or if you need to go via your GP/School Nurse.

What to say

Before your appointment, think about the answers to some of the questions you might be asked, such as:

• How often are they wetting? How many times per night? How many times per week?
• Have they ever been dry?
• How do they feel about their bedwetting?
• Are they wet in the daytime as well?
• Have you tried anything to stop their bedwetting?
• How much do they drink? What do they drink?
• How often do they go to the toilet during the day?

It’s a good idea to start keeping a diary of your child’s bedwetting habits. This could include the nights that they wet the bed, what time and how much they drank during the day, for example.

Involve your child

Studies have shown that children often feel left out of these sorts of meetings. As the appointment is about their needs, it’s important to make sure that they are involved  Don’t just speak as “adults” with the health professional - make sure your child is engaged and is clear on the points that are discussed. They should feel happy with the treatment plan that’s proposed and feel able to ask any questions that they might have.

Conclusion

It can be very helpful to speak to a health professional about your child’s bedwetting, especially if you are concerned that there may be a underlying medical cause. If your area does not have a readily available service, however, our website has lots of helpful information and advice.