Bedwetting Training for Children

Last Updated on March 17, 2024 by chummie

Parents are frustrated, exhausted and tired of washing a big load of waterpoof mattress pads every morning because your child is already six years old or more, is in school – and they’re still wetting the bed at night. This is a problem known as Primary Nocturnal Enuresis. It begins during childhood, where nighttime dryness has not been achieved for longer than 6 months. In fact, about 15% of children in the U.S. are still wetting the bed at the age when they need to learn to control wetting at night. Wetting the bed may interfere with a child’s socialization and it can lead to significant stress within the family. Bedwetting can be a source of embarrassment for children causing them to refrain from certain age-appropriate activities such as sleepovers.

Bedwetting has to be solved to improve your relationship with your child and improve your child’s overall state of mind. You don’t want to ignore the problem entirely, nor do you want to spend every second of every night focusing on whether or not your child will wet the bed. There are routines you and your child can try to help control the problem.

Limit fluids before bedtime – Children with nocturnal enuresis often have a small bladder capacity so they are less able to hold all of their urine until morning. Train your child to have more liquids in the daytime and less later in the evening. Be careful not to restrict water and other fluids to the point that your child is uncomfortably thirsty. And if this doesn’t work, cut citrus juices, colas and sweeteners. Give your child a water bottle in the school so they can drink steadily all day.

An earlier bedtime – Nearly all children are deep sleepers because they’re simply not getting enough sleep. Also, bedtime is an opportunity to bond with your child and address the bedwetting in a positive way.  Randomly waking up your child at night frequently and asking them to urinate disturbs their sleep. Let them use the bathroom before bedtime. Minimize disruption and discomfort at night. An earlier bedtime routine can benefit anyone with incontinence issues specially the children that way you can help train them to empty their bladder at the appropriate time.

Be encouraging – Do not scold your child for no fault of his or her. Getting angry at your child doesn’t help them stop bedwetting. Make your child feel good about progress by consistently rewarding successes. Help your child keep a bedwetting calendar or journal. It can be something as simple as putting stars on a calendar every day when a child stays dry overnight. Children who are helped with behavioral therapy, Bedwetting alarms, and positive approach helps outgrow bedwetting sooner. Once the device detects any moisture, the alarm goes off. Bedwetting alarms trains the brain of bedwetter to respond to the buzzer in the beginning as soon as they wet the bed and then slowly to get up before they even have an accident. This motivates the child to solve the problem and avoid feeling embarrassed. Bedwetting in children is often simply a result of immaturity.