Steps you and your preschooler can take to manage and avoid bedtime accidents
Most kids eventually outgrow bedwetting, according to Dr. Balter, but in the meantime it can be stressful, frustrating, embarrassing, and make kids reluctant to host or attend sleep-overs or go to sleep-away camp.
Staying calm and working together in a light-hearted, low-key way to handle this problem can help defuse the situation. Here are five ways you both can tackle this problem together.
1. TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF IT
To help your child realize how common bedwetting is, share a children's book about bedwetting.
If anyone else in the family was a bedwetter, now's the time to speak up. "There's nothing more comforting for a kid than to know he's a chip off the old block," says Dr. Edward Christophersen, a child psychologist and pediatrics professor at the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.
Explain to your child how common bedwetting is, what causes it, and that there's nothing wrong with him.
What You Can Say
You can tell your child:
You know, you're a very sound sleeper, just like Mom. Sometimes, you sleep so deeply your body doesn't wake you up to tell you to go to the bathroom. That's why you wet the bed.
or
I'll bet you never knew that when Dad was your age, he wet the bed, too. When he got older his body learned how to wake him up in time, and he stopped wetting the bed. You will, too.
2. GET AN ALARM
A tiny alarm connected to a pad in your child's underwear at night can help your child learn to stop bedwetting about 85 percent of the time. The pad senses moisture and triggers a buzz or vibration.
Most of the time, when it fails it's because the parents gave up," Dr. Christophersen says. "It's not unusual to take a month for a child to learn to stay dry, but it might take as long as three months."
One trick is to put the alarm in your bedroom, because you may be more likely to be awakened than your soundly sleeping child. When you hear the alarm, gently wake your child and take him or her to the bathroom.
What You Can Say
You can tell your child:
You're a sound sleeper, just like I am! This alarm helps wake you up to let you know you need to go to the bathroom.
3. TRY NIGHTTIME REMINDERS
Whichever parent goes to bed last can try to wake up the child and remind him to use the toilet.
What You Can Say
You can tell your child:
Kids wet the bed because they don't wake up in time to go to the bathroom. So every night before I go to bed, I'll wake you to see if you need to go.
4. SHARE "SHEET PATROL"
If your child wakes up in the morning with wet sheets, change the bed together in a fun, friendly way.
It may comfort your child to feel he's helping out.
Don't force your child to change the sheets by himself, as if he's being punished for making a mistake.
If your child wakes up at night with wet sheets, don't bother with the team approach--just get the job done as fast as you can, recommends Dr. Balter.
Keep extra bedding near the bed, or use disposable pads on top of the bottom sheet. When the pad is wet, just replace it with another pad--voila! No sheets need to changed.
What You Can Say:
Try keeping things light by saying:
Hey, do you want to give me a hand with these new Elmo sheets? It'll go much faster if you can help me pull up the covers. Thanks a lot!
5. LEARN ABOUT MEDICATION
As a last resort, two types of medicine can temporarily help kids who wet the bed--but it's not a cure. One medicine helps the bladder retain urine, and the other helps the kidneys produce less urine.
Medicines work best when combined with the alarm, Dr. Christophersen explains. Medicine can be given over age 7 if the alarm alone hasn't worked.
Medicines can be a good temporary solution if your child wants to attend camp or a sleep-over.
What You Can Say
You can tell your child:
This medicine will help you stay dry at night.
This medicine will help you stay dry so you can go to camp and you won't have to worry about changing the sheets.
Written by Carol Turkington
Important Disclaimer:This information is not meant as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a doctor with questions about your or your child's condition. NickJr.com does not recommend or endorse specific tests, products, procedures, opinions, or other information provided by any sponsors or other third parties. Please also see NickJr.com's Terms of Use.
