Wetting the bed. It could be a bigger problem than you think. About 5-10% of children around the age of 7 still suffer from this. This while bedwetting should actually 'go away' by itself during the normal toilet period. Normally it takes a few months longer for a child to be dry at night as well. But in a certain number of cases, the night potency . remains so out. Wetting the bed for a long time at night is not a recognizable problem for us, but I was honestly shocked by the numbers.
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In addition to the many other taboos that we have already discussed on MamsatWork, such as loss of urine after pregnancy, this too is still a taboo † But why? The impact of peeing in your bed can be very big. Talking about it openly is the first step towards a solution. Bedwetting is a very annoying problem for children around the age of 7 (and older), which is not only annoying in practice, but can also seriously affect their self-esteem.
Bedwetting is a common condition which has a serious impact on self-esteem , the emotional well-being and the function of your child. Even during the day, your child can suffer from this. For example, school performance may suffer and social behavior may also be affected. Not strange, of course, if the uncertainty of these children is fed by bedwetting.
That is why the International Day of Bedwetting (yes, we have another International Day 😉 ) wants to encourage families to discuss bedwetting with their doctors so that they can get the help they need.
Bedwetting is never anyone's fault and families and doctors should be able to discuss the condition without any shame or guilt. However, the impact of this problem is often underestimated † In addition, people often do not know that it can be treated. As a result, no help is sought or offered.
In most cases, bedwetting is caused by overproduction of urine during the night or reduced bladder capacity † Another cause may be the child's failure to wake up † For a long time it was thought that bedwetting would heal on its own. In a number of cases, however, this turns out not to be the case and it is indeed necessary to work on tackling the problem.
Did you know that wetting in bed is hereditary is? If one of the parents has suffered from bedwetting, there is a 7x greater chance that their child will also suffer from it.
Have medical causes for bedwetting been ruled out following an examination by a doctor? Then you can follow the methods below to see if you can solve the problem of wetting the bed together with your child.
With this bedwetting alarm that goes in the underpants (or on the children's mattress), your child is woken up because an alarm goes off as soon as moisture is detected. This will not prevent you completely, but you can ensure that your child wakes up to continue urinating on the toilet. An additional effect may be that your child is triggered to learn to recognize the urge to wet the bed.
Just like the daytime toilet training, you can also tackle the nighttime training through positive rewards † Do this while your child is still wearing a diaper. Is the diaper dry? Reward!
More intense workouts that can be followed when wetting the bed but doesn't seem to disappear are a bladder workout (holding your pee for as long as possible every now and then). Dry bed training can also provide the solution. The latter is a very labour-intensive training that requires a lot from the child and parent and can only be given to older children.
Waking up preventively against wetting the bed can help. But if this is not done carefully, it can also lead to bedwetting. If your child is not fully awake yet, and pees on the toilet drunkenly, this can lead to bedwetting. Yet many parents use this method. In any case, make sure that your child is really awake while urinating.
Has the bedwetting gone away for a while, but your child suddenly starts wetting the bed again? For example, at a later age, it may be that there are other causes. Colleague blogger Pauline suddenly investigated her own children's bedwetting again.
Incontinence pads are not a solution to the problem. And the same applies to a mattress protector or to medicines that reduce the production of nighttime urine. It can make the bedwetting situation less annoying, for example in the case of a sleepover. However, it does not contribute to a solution for your child's bedwetting.
Keep in mind that bedwetting is normally temporary and will disappear 'by itself'.
