Once you get beyond potty training during the day, the next stage will hopefully involve your child naturally becoming dry at night. But sometimes this can take longer than you might expect to achieve. Approximately one in seven children will still be wet at night at the age of 5. So if this is your situation, and your child is still in night nappies when they start school, you're not alone.
And even if your child is dry at night, don't be surprised if you experience a few wet beds when they first start school - this can happen for a number of reasons, including stress, sleeping more deeply, or drinking more water during the day. They will grow out of this eventually. GPs do not generally consider this behaviour a problem until the child is around 7.
And a recent report in the Sunday Telegraph suggested that children are starting school in increasing numbers, still wearing nappies during the day as well.
The report claims that school staff are to be given further training in helping school children in nappies. And why are these children still not potty trained by the time they start school? Speculative reasons vary from the effectiveness of modern nappies (which can make it harder for a child to realise if it's wet) to pointing the finger at working mothers who just can't be bothered to put the effort.
Children have so much to take in when they start school, it's no wonder that many of them find it stressful and confusing, and this will inevitably lead to toilet accidents. Schools have dealt with this kind of thing for years, but I do hope that pointing the finger of blame doesn't distract from the fact that it can be dealt with.
More information and resources on helping your child with bedwetting can be found from ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence).