How to help a child with daytime wetting

To help a child with daytime wetting you can :

1. Keep calm and stress free
2. Use reusable incontinence pants to save money and irritation
3. Have a chat with your GP about a referral to an enuresis clinic
4. Overnight, sleepovers and residential trips
5. Cover the bed in a washable bed mat

1. Keep calm and stress free

If you are moving away from nappies into 'big kid pants' with your toddler or have an older child with mild incontinence, keeping everything calm and matter of fact helps to keep self esteem and confidence high.

When my twins first started in reception, we would often leave school swinging a little bag with a wet pair of knickers in it. Playing with friends, being too absorbed in colouring in, and the smell of the communal toilets meant they weren't always on the ball with getting to the loo in time!

Often we would be on the doorstep to the house on the way home from school when their bladder contracts and a little flow of urine would grace their shiny new shoes!

We made no fuss and this stage soon passed without any damage to pride or long term embarrassment and at 17, the twins enjoy hearing these stories. 

Our red pants and black trunks look and feel like normal underwear with a padded absorbent gusset to catch those little spills, whilst not looking or feeling like a nappy!

"Brilliant pants. My daughter suffers from giggle incontinence and these knickers have been brilliant for her when at school. They make her feel confident and are very comfortable to wear. We have tried other brands but cheeky are definitely the best. She uses them on her period as well and stays clean and dry. I would highly recommend." Bradley - trustpilot June 2022

2. Use reusable incontinence pants to save money and irritation

Whether your three year old has the odd little leak or your nine year old still needs some overnight protection, we can help with our pants. They look and feel like normal underwear and can hold mild to moderate urine leaks. They can be boosted with extra cotton absorbency if your little one has larger leaks. They're much more comfortable to wear than disposable bladder control pads or incontinence pads. Generally this resolves as they get older and urge incontinence is controlled better by the pelvic floor muscles.

With a cotton layer next to the skin, then absorbent layers, followed by a TPU waterproof layer they will give your child confidence to carry on as normal without worrying about wetting onto clothing.

Our kids pants range from 3-4 to 9-10 and then we have adult sizes in our period pants from a size 2, and in our men's pants from a XXS. This covers all size ranges so we have something for everyone.

They are very easy to take care of. Give them a quick rinse, store in a wetbag or mucky box til your next wash is going on. Stick to a cool wash - 30-40 degrees and avoid fabric softener, line dry or low tumble dry.

The pants will gain absorbency over the first 3-4 washes.

Our kids pants are gender neutral so choose from briefs or boxers. Our adult range of pants can also be used for pee or for periods.

3. Have a chat with your GP about local enuresis clinics

Erika on our team had this issue, as her daughter had an immature bladder and suffered with incontinence into her teens.

She was fortunate in that they found a combination of medication that helped her stay dry through the day and at night. Nighttime dryness is controlled by a hormone, until the body is producing that nighttime wetting will be an issue.

Before heading to your GP you can try following ERIC's four steps to a healthy bladder - 

1. Could constipation be the cause? Having a poo traffic jam limits space for the bladder
2. Could a UTI be making the bladder misbehave?
3. Are they drinking enough? Concentrated urine irritates the bladder
4. Are they able to relax to wee? The brain needs to release two sets of muscles to let the wee out

If you are still struggling, download ERIC's intake / output chart and your GP will refer you to a specialist if needed.

4. Overnight, sleepovers and school trips?

This summer I have helped lots of worried mums sending their Year six boys and girls off to their school residentials with all types of urinary incontinence, including stress incontinence and overflow incontinence. With a few pairs of our pants and a wetbag, kids can avoid the rustle of a pull up and the worry that someone will notice. They can relax and enjoy the trip with minimal disruption.

Generally it can take up to 5 washes for the pants to really reach their max absorbency, and they can be boosted with a couple of cotton boosters and this will then give about 200ml absorbency, depending on the flow of urine.

In addition, using a pair of fleecy PJ bottoms over the pants, helps to keep moisture in and wick it away from the bedding.

Children would just need to -

• Pop a pair of pants on at bedtime, with fleecy PJ bottoms over the top, ensuring that they have emptied their bladder as best they can
• Head to the loos in the morning with your wetbag and a cheeky wipe
• Have a quick clean up and store the pants & PJ's sealed in the wetbag til home
• No need to rinse
• Take one pair for each night

We have booster pads and washable incontinence pads to make the pants last longer for overnights

5. Cover the bed in a washable bed mat

For early morning leaks or deep sleepers, covering the bed saves having to do a full sheets change overnight. Disposable bed mats are expensive and hot to lie on, and are also very obvious to friends on play dates.

Our spotty bed covers comes in a junior or single bed size. The absorbent, waterproof sheet has wings to hold it in place.

We hope you've enjoyed our Cheeky guide on how to help your child with daytime wetting and that if you haven't tried a pair of our kids pants yet, you feel more confident to. We are so sure that you will love our pants that we have created a 45 day trial scheme for them, so if they don't work for you, we'll refund you in full.

If you enjoyed this, have a browse of all our blogs!

As always, if you're unsure of what you need to make the switch, please do drop the team a line or use the online chat function. The team all use the products themselves and just LOVE to chat pee poo and periods, all day long, nothing is TMI and we all love to overshare based on our own experiences...

About the Author:  Kirstin Scriven is part of the Customer Experience team at Cheeky Wipes, which since 2008 has been selling the original reusable wipes kit. She is mum to 3 and loves the forest, the sea and the hills!

Along with the rest of our crack team, she spends most days talking about poo, pee and periods and loves a chance to overshare. The business was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2021, celebrating their hard work over the last 13 years.