How to Keep Your Child from Wetting the Bed

Bed wetting can be a serious problem for both children and their parents. Thankfully, most children grow out of bed wetting, unfortunately, it takes longer for some kids. Stress can be a cause of bed wetting for children. Maybe they are having problems at school or maybe their home life is stressful. I am not saying that it is the parents fault at all. What I am saying is that maybe the parents are going through a divorce or there are a lot of fights in the household. If it is a problem with school, maybe it is a bully or a teacher that they do not like.

One thing kids need to understand, and their parents need to tell them this, is that wetting the bed is not their fault. The do not do it on purpose, so do not blame them for it. There are ways to avoid bed wetting and eliminate it altogether.

Don't Play the Blame Game

Like I mentioned above, do not blame your child for wetting the bed. They feel humiliated enough without someone, especially their parents, telling them bed wetting is bad and all their fault. Yes, bed wetting is a problem and it is not good for it to keep happening, however, it is really not a bad thing because it is a common problem with kids as they grow up. My niece wet the bed a couple of times when she stayed with me. She was about 8 or 9 years old and I just got out of bed, told her it was alright, and changed the sheets. She confided in me that when she accidentally wets the bed at her paternal grandmother's house, she gets yelled at and that just makes things worse.

Calmly explain to your child that it is alright, it is not their fault. Then just change their sheets and tell them everything is okay. Blaming them will just make them feel worse and, if the bed wetting problem is caused by their nerves, blaming them will make them do it again without even knowing it. Children do not wet the bed on purpose and they need to be reassured that it is not their fault.

Let Your Child Have More Control

One thing that might help your child feel better about wetting the bed is to let them have control over their bedroom surroundings. Arrange their bed so they can change the sheets themselves, buy them a felt-covered rubber pad for them to lay down over the wet spot, and put out a dry pair of pajamas for your child to change into. Doing this will give them control and make them more comfortable and at ease to be able to do these things for themselves. Allowing your child to have more control over the bed wetting issue will lesson the stress that might be causing them to wet the bed in the first place.

Use Bed Wetting Alarms

There are different types of bed wetting alarms that you might want to consider using for your child. There are the loud version that has worked in completely eliminating bed wetting, however these types of alarms are very loud and can wake everyone in the house up. One good thing about these loud alarms, though, is that they can teach your children to stay dry at night. By waking the child up, and everyone else probably, when the child is a little bit wet, these alarms can let your child and you know when it is time for them to go to the bathroom. If your child can stay dry for 21 nights in a row, they can most likely be cured from bed wetting altogether.

There is an even newer generation of bed wetting alarms on the market that a parent might want to try instead of the louder version. The newer bed wetting alarm uses hearing aide batteries and is attached directly to the child's underwear. The new bed wetting alarms have a moisture sensor that goes off when the child is just a little bit wet. This new generation of bed wetting alarms sound much better than the older one and has a much better success rate.

Practice Bladder Control

If your child drinks a lot of fluids during the day and goes to the bathroom a lot, you might want to consider bladder stretching exercises. Bladder stretching exercises can teach your child how to "hold it" during the night if they cannot wake up in time to go to the bathroom. Bladder stretching exercises consist of your child drinking lots of fluids during the day and seeing how long your child can hold their bladder without wetting themselves. This type of exercise can eliminate bed wetting altogether.

The bottom line and general rule of avoiding bed wetting or eliminating bed wetting, is simply, love and patience. No child wants to wet themselves. So be patient, loving, and understanding, and ready for any questions your child might ask.

For more information on avoiding and eliminating bed wetting, please visit the website below.

How to Avoid Bed Wetting