A child younger than six may not yet be physically or emotionally mature enough to stay dry at night. In these cases, waiting a few months to a year can create the optimal situation for intervening with treatment.
Waiting or doing nothing can be stressful for everyone involved. The extra workload can be burdensome to parents and caregivers. Remember, your child cannot control nighttime bedwetting. Negative remarks and punishments may stress the child and hinder any progress; at the very least they won’t help. Try to be matter-of-fact about the workload while waiting for the opportune moment.
You can turn this waiting period into a learning opportunity for your child. One of the greatest burdens of bedwetting is daily laundry. Try to enlist the child’s help in stripping bed linens, carrying them to the washing machine, and making the bed. This can make things easier for you and also encourage the child.
Because some bedwetting children will spontaneously stop wetting, a few parents will see the problem resolve without intervention. However, the majority will see bedwetting persist over time. When you intervene after a period of waiting, chances are your child will be old enough to cooperate and be motivated to succeed. By the age of eight, intervention should begin even if the child isn’t 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.