Advice and resources : Continence in children

Nighttime wetting

If your child is experiencing nighttime wetting, the following advice may be useful.

We advise that your child drinks 6-8 glasses of drink a day. This should mainly be water, or well diluted fruit juice/squash. Milk should be given in moderation as it is classed as a food. Use our drinks chart to encourage them to drink.

Make sure they drink on a school day too! By the end of a school day they should have had two thirds of their total drinks.

Make sure your child avoids caffeinated or fizzy drinks, and drinks with artificial flavourings, colourings, and sweeteners. Blackcurrant and orange favours in particular can irritate the bladder making it want to empty more regularly.

Encourage your child to use the toilet between 4 and 7 times a day and reward them for drinking and toileting, rather than for being dry.

If, after following this advice, your child is still bedwetting, the school nurses would be happy to give you further support. Depending on the concern we may invite you to our enuresis (bedwetting) clinic or offer advice by telephone.

• Read more advice on bedwetting

Daytime wetting

If your child is experiencing daytime wetting, we are able to offer initial advice, but we recommend you see your GP for an examination to rule out a urinary tract infection, constipation, a neurological or other cause, especially if there is constant dribbling.  

Follow the advice for children with daytime bladder problems on the ERIC website (see link below) for three months. If you see no improvement, please book a review with your GP. A referral can then be made to the Paediatric Continence Service by the School Nursing Service or your GP.

• Visit the ERIC website for daytime wetting advice

Constipation/soiling

Constipation often goes unidentified. Symptoms include:

• not pooing at least 3 times a week
• poo that is large and hard
• poo that looks like rabbit droppings or small pellets
• straining to poo
• poor appetite or stomach-ache
• traces of liquid or pasty stool in your child's underwear — a sign that stool is backed up in the rectum

As a service we are able to offer initial advice, but we recommend your child sees a GP for a physical examination to exclude certain conditions, a neurological cause or other cause.

Take a look at the resources below and follow their advice for three months. If you see no improvement then please book in a review with the GP. A referral can then be made to the Paediatric Continence Service by the School Nursing Service or your GP.

Useful resources

Downloads