Bed wetting

For a child bed wetting can be stressful and shameful.

Bed wetting is quite common in childhood.

While most children generally are dry and toilet trained by 3 during the day it is not so clear cut for the night time.

Most children will be predominantly dry during the night by around the age of 5 years.

Of course this depends on the day dryness age. Staying dry at night comes after staying dry during the day.

About 15% of kids still wet the bed when they are 5 years old.

Some children may we t the bed occasionally. Some children may wet the bed regularly.

A child may feel a sense of shame or failure at wetting their bed.

It certainly is not because they are lazy or seeking attention.

There is a difference between learning to master night dryness and it becoming classed as bed wetting.There is no set age for night dryness.

Some kids are ready at 3 yrs while some not till 5/6 yrs of age. Some kids can master the night dryness in a few weeks or months while others may take years.

• Unusually small bladder
• Long term constipation
• Very deep sleep patterns
• Poor sensory connection between the bladder and the brain.

Bed wetting can be linked to a psychological problem.

It is generally only looked at if it has started up suddenly after dryness at night and constipation has been ruled out.

It is a good idea in this instance in particular to seek help. It’s also a good idea to seek out the source of stress for the child and can range from what we may consider simple things such as anxiety of starting school to more complex problems and stresses.

We suggest being consistent, assisting in taking them to the toilet in the beginning and a lot of trial and error especially if there are many accidents.

There are some children that are able to stay dry all night but then wet the bed early in the morning so their bed is wet when they wake.

We recommend waking them early in the morning to try to ‘catch’ the potential accident before they wet the bed.

This will help to get them into a routine of going before they wet and help them to understand the urge of needing to go to the toilet. It will also allow them to ‘succeed’ in the night dryness.

Again there is the other more predictable time as well which is in the first few hours of sleep when they are fast asleep and just do not wake up to go to the toilet.

As with the early morning wetting you can get them up to eliminate that time of wetting and get them into the routine of going to the toilet.

It is a matter of being alert to the different times when you find their bed wet and assisting them in the early stages to get accustomed and understand the urge to need to go to the toilet when they are sleeping.

For some kids this is a short phase for others it may take longer and need more perseverance and assistance to master the dry at night.

• Always insist they go to the toilet before bed.
• Make sure the clothing they wear is easily used by them so they can toilet themselves in the middle of the night.
• Make sure they can get out of and back into their bed by themselves and there are no obstacles for them getting to the toilet in time.
• Stop drinks before bed. A good idea is last drink with dinner and not to allowing drinks at least 45 minutes to a 1 hour before bed. It is also best to try to eliminate any drinks during the night. If they do require a drink then just a small sip.
• In the beginning wake the child and take them regularly such as a few hours after they have gone to bed to use the toilet and/or just before you go to bed or when you wake to go to the loo in the night.
• Make sure that they can see their way to the loo. Perhaps keep a night light on that helps to guide their way.
• Talk with them about going to the toilet at night.
• Praise their efforts and equally don’t reprimand or punish them if they do have an accident.
• Don’t get them to clean up after themselves.
• Don’t punish them.
• Reassure them.