Bed Wetting

by Nancy Newell
(Chicago IL)

Understanding the Cause and Treatment for Small Children

Small children may feel ashamed or frustrated about bed wetting. Because of this, bed wetting is not a common topic during discussions at school or during playtime. Most of the time, the kids do not want other people to know about it, thus they end up feeling that they are the only ones doing it and that there is something wrong with them. However, parents should help their kids realize that this condition is something normal for small children and with proper training and education, they can eventually outgrow this condition. Bed wetting can be hereditary. If your kid often wets his or her bed at night, there is a very high probability that someone in the family has had this experience before. This fact can help your kid realize that he or she is not the only one who is guilty this habit.

Another important fact about bed wetting is that it is a condition that is beyond a small kid?s control. Up until the age of 5, a kid may experience difficulty in determining that the bladder is full and needs to be emptied, especially during the night. Small kids end up wetting their bed because they are not yet properly trained to identify bladder signals and the act of urination occurs as an involuntary process. Depending on the child?s personal development, it may take some time before he or she is able to identify when it is time to urinate or to be able to have total control over the bladder.

We should also understand that helping a kid understand that bed wetting is a common occurrence will help the child feel better about the situation thus removing any feeling of shame or low self-esteem which may also affect a child?s ability to adjust and outgrow this condition. There are very rare cases where bed wetting is caused by a medical condition. Oftentimes, it is just due to lack of control. Sometimes, a child may even have control already but could have dreamt of going to the bathroom thus sending a signal to the brain that there is no more need to stand up and go to the bathroom to urinate.

As such, there is no drug treatment that can be used to cure children with bed wetting issues. However, there are simple ways to help a child outgrow bed wetting. Letting a child pee before going to sleep conditions the child?s mind and body that this is the right time for peeing. In addition, we should not encourage a bed wetting child to drink lots of water before going to sleep. If your child is not a deep-sleeper, you can also set specific intervals during the night when you can help him or her go to the bathroom to pee. In time these simple but effective exercises will eventually help your child outgrow bed wetting. However, if these methods do not work, do not hesitate to consult a medical doctor for additional methods or means of training your child.

Nancy Newell is a writer for My Baby Bedding Shop and is the loving parent of two. One boy and one girl. Her children are all grown up now but she loves writing about children and giving tips on certain scenarios that parents are faced with along the way.