Millions of Australians deal with incontinence on a daily basis, including many young children and teenagers. As incontinence is common among these young ages, understanding how to support your child in these circumstances can be the key to building friendships and confidence at an early age.

Remembering to always encourage your children to embrace life, even when incontinence occurs, is one of the most important things to keep in mind. Although each child's experience with incontinence and the effect it has on their confidence will be unique, it's still a good idea to have a handy resource to help you out.

So what should be the first place to begin when communicating about incontinence with your child? Understanding! By familiarising themselves with how common incontinence can be, younger children may feel encouraged and reduce their anxiety within the schoolyard or playground.

With approximately 10% of school-aged children experiencing urinary incontinence, they’re far from the only ones at school with continence management challenges. As parents, building your understanding of what your child may experience is also crucial.

A study published in the Australian Journal of General Practice found that ‘this stigmatising condition can affect self-esteem, health and quality of life, all of which improve with successful treatment. Although there is spontaneous remission in many patients, urinary incontinence in childhood can progress to adulthood with devastating consequences.’

When parents approach their children with calm, supportive and practical advice and encouragement, they can help ease the confidence impact. In turn, this builds a more positive approach to urinary incontinence management.

Particularly for younger children, parents can have a positive impact on their child’s confidence by communicating the nature of the problem directly with their teacher. As some children may wait until the last minute to go to the bathroom or experience daytime wetting, teachers can help equip students dealing with incontinence through some very simple adjustments.

These changes can include:

• Seating your child close to a bathroom
• Letting your child know that they can go to the bathroom whenever they need to, without asking for permission
• Building in regularly scheduled breaks that encourage bathroom visits
• Opening up lines of communication so your child knows they’re safe to talk to their teacher if they experience incontinence.

If your child is amongst the 1 in 10 who experience daytime wetting, learning how to recognise the signs of impending incontinence - and helping your child to identify these signs themselves - can help to reduce the frequency of incontinence.

Look for holding behaviours, such as squatting or squirming, which may signal the need to urinate. If your child is urinating too frequently or not frequently enough, this can also be a sign of a daytime wetting pattern.

GPs play a crucial role in diagnosing daytime wetting. Your doctor can discuss with you how often your child is dry, when incontinence occurs, how often it occurs, and any other symptoms you may have noticed. This process may also include X-rays of your child’s abdomen, ultrasounds, urine tests, and examinations of the spine, bladder and abdomen. This is an important part of identifying incontinence causes, as it can rule out or identify medical problems such as constipation, diabetes, or urinary tract infections.

If by the age of 5, your child isn’t remaining dry throughout the day, this can be a sign of a medical issue that needs further investigation.

If your child is struggling with their confidence due to incontinence, one of the easiest ways you can help is by setting a positive example. The way you respond to incontinence will encourage them to follow a similar path. This can help to normalise the management of their incontinence, reducing the risk of incontinence impacting negatively on their ability to form or maintain friendships.

• Take a matter-of-fact approach to your child’s incontinence, which can help them to feel more ‘normal’ in comparison to their peers.
• React in a no-fuss manner to any incontinence occurrences, working with your child to change into clean, dry pants.
• If you can practice identifying the signs of incontinence at home, as well as how to deal with an incontinence incident, this can equip your child with the skills they need.

One easy way to minimise the impact of incontinence on your child’s confidence is to equip them with the right continence management product for their needs.

ConfidenceClub’s range of youth supplies has continence management products specifically designed for children and teenagers. With pants, slips, chair protectors and bed protectors, our range of products can give your child the peace of mind they need to navigate their day freely and without concern.

Products such as our latest Magics Premium Youth Pants have features like:

• Discrete, super soft design that feels like wearing regular underwear
• A stretchy, soft elastic waistband for enhanced comfort and easy application/removal
• High breathability for enhanced skill health and greater comfort without leaks
• Anti-leak barriers for up to 12 hours of protection
• Dermatologically tested and latex-free
• Active odour lock with odour-neutralising material
• Ultimate defence leakage barriers and leg cuffs for protection and confidence

With sizes for all ages and weight ranges, your child can find the support they need to live life to the full with ConfidenceClub’s specially designed youth products.

With an emphasis on providing confidence when it counts, we’re proud to offer our It Fits Or It’s Free price guarantee. Skip out on wasting time and money testing products that may not fit your child (or work as advertised) - with our guarantee, you can rest assured that you’ll find just the product you need for your child’s daily incontinence management.