What to Do When Your Child Wets Their Bed
Many parents of young children struggle with handling middle of the night cries do to bed wetting. Bed wetting disturbs the entire household. Worst of all, parents feel a sense of helplessness when it comes to helping their child with this difficult phase. In order to effectively help your child you should have some idea of why they are wetting the bed, ideas for prevention, and what to do when it happens. Actually, bed-wetting is common in children five and under.
Bed wetting can be caused by several different things. Some of these things are physical conditions and completely out of your child’s control. An example is immature bladder muscles. The muscles in the bladder are not strong enough to hold urine all night long. Another issue related to age is the signal the bladder sends to the brain to wake up to go to the bathroom. For some children, the signal is strong enough yet. As babies start to develop their bodies produce ADH, known as antidiuretic hormone. This slows down urine production, some children don’t produce enough of the ADH hormone and their bladders cannot handle holding urine for long periods of time. In some children, especially over the age of 6, bed-wetting may be caused by raised levels of stress or emotional instability that manifests physically by bed-wetting.
Some things parents can do to prevent or lessen bed-wetting incidents depend on the cause. If the cause is emotional, talk to your child and discuss whatever it is that is causing them distress. Stop giving your child anything to eat or drink an hour before going to bed, and have them use the restroom right before going to sleep. If the child is older or if it persists, seek a doctor’s care. There is medication available for some instances. Also, bed wetting alarms work well.
The most important thing to remember is never punish or yell at children for wetting the bed. The child is not being lazy and it is not their fault. Do not laugh or tease them. Help them clean up the mess and get back to bed as soon as possible. If it happens often, keep clean sheets and linens close the bed and invest in water proof sheets or a rubber mattress.