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Wetting the bed can be a very embarrassing and troublesome burden for children and parents alike. Parents feel guilty thinking they must be doing something wrong if they can’t help their child stop. Children feel guilty because they believe it is “wrong” to wet the bed and that they have done something naughty. Cleanup can be time consuming, costly, and annoying. However there is help. There are ways for parents to help stop nightime accidents and to make their children feel better about themselves.
Stop Feeling Guilty. Both parents and children need to realize that bed wetting is not something to feel guilty about. It’s a situation that with time, work and patience can be treated. Parents are not raising their children wrong if there is a bed wetting problem, and children who wet the bed are not naughty. Children do not want to or like to wet the bed and do not do it on purpose.
Do Not Punish. Unfortunately many parents punish children when they wet the bed. This only makes the child feel guiltier, more ashamed and more embarrassed. It also makes the parents more upset, and less tolerating. This does not help the child or parent.
Use Plastic. Save some sanity. Using plastic sheets to protect the mattress will not make a child think he has “permission” to wet the bed and so continue to do so. Children do NOT like to wet bed. Plastic sheets will help save the mattress, and give everyone less to worry about when it comes to cleaning up the mess.
Clean up. Let your child know that he or she is expected to help clean up the mess. Children can help take wet sheets and blankets to the laundry, wash off plastic sheets, etc. They need to realize this is part of their responsibility so it helps encourage them to want to stop. This is not to be used as a punishment, simply taking responsibility for their own accidents.
Keep children stress free and calm. When helping a child to stop bed wetting it’s important to make their environment calm and stable. Don’t try to stop bed wetting when there is a lot of excitement around them – holidays, and other special events are distracting so a child is not focusing on stopping. This also applies to bedtime. Don’t let children get wound up before bedtime so they have a hard time winding back down. Once again the distractions are too much for them to handle.
The Child’s Responsibility. Children have to realize, for many reasons, that their body is their responsibility. A child needs to know that his or her bladder control is up to him or her. They have to take the ultimate responsibility for stopping bed wetting. Parents cannot do for them. Because of this, it is counter productive to wake a child during the night to use the bathroom. The child will simply expect that mom or dad will wake them up and that he or she doesn’t have to worry about it. It must be up to the child to succeed.
Make sure your child is getting enough sleep. If children are use to getting less hours of sleep than what they need, they may sleep so deeply that the urge to use the bathroom does not wake them up. Make sure your child has a set bedtime and sticks to it getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
No drinks before bedtime. Help your child succeed by cutting off drinks at least an hour before bedtime, especially caffeinated drinks.
Reward Success! Give positive feedback for every dry night, when your child reaches a week give an extra reward, another for a month. Positive reinforcements will help you and your child on a road to dry sheets and your child will be accident free!
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