I'm just after some advice on anyone who has gone through a child who wets the bed. My daughter Olivia is 6 (7 in May this year) and still wets the bed about 3 times a week. We have seriously tried everything and have come to the conclusion that the problem is most likely more psychological than phsical. I am going to get here referred to a physchologist to see if they can get to the root of the problem. I feel like I must have done something to contribute to this problem as her father and I separated when she was 2 and things have never been smooth between us. I have remarried (have been for almost 2 years) and we have another daughter. Her father has also remarried and they have a daughter together who is a similar age to our baby. I feel like I am a failure as a mother even though I know that this will sound ridiculous as I try my best, but in the back of my mind its a thought that wont go away. Has anyone else gone through something like this?
Children wetting the bed - while it's a nuisance it is no reflection on you as a parent. You feel guilty because 'everyone else's child' is dry through the night - or so you think!!! The truth is that lots of children wet the bed up until puberty starts to kick in and the subject is not discussed because it is embarrassing. The fact that your lovely girl is dry some nights indicates that she is on the way to being dry all the time, it's just going to take a little longer for her - and that's okay. There are a lot of different things you can try, some of which will help and some which will make no difference and you just use the ones that help and leave the ones that don't.
Using a waking device - you can get them from a chemist - can help some children to wake as they start to wet and that trains the brain to respond to the cues. It will also train the parent to be alert to the buzzer and wake the child rapidly if they are sound asleep. They usually are. It will also help identify what stage of sleep wetting occurs. You can also restrict liquids after a certain time as sometimes the bladder cannot cope with the volume it is trying to hold. Your doctor can advise you of training methods to increase the bladder's capacity. You can also improve your night's sleep if you layer the bed with plastic sheet, cottonsheet, plastic sheet, cottonsheet as many times as your daughter wets. Just take off a layer each time and that way the disruption and difficulty getting back to sleep can be minimised. Remember that a child waking at night and disrupted sleep equals a child who is tired and short tempered during the day. Take the time to talk things through with your daughter so she doesn't feel humiliated and explain that you will work on this together and that one day she will be able to go through the night and be dry. I know that you are probably very frustrated with this but this is often just a maturing difficulty and not a psychological issue. You can, however, make it one by stressing out as this will translate to your daughter and she will pick up on how much it disturbs you and she will feel like a disappointment to you. She really needs you to comfort and console her because she will not /cannot discuss this with her friends without ridicule and so she needs you to be encourage and affirming to her that she will grow out of this - and she will.
Thanks for the reassurance. We have tried the bed alarm and basically everything that you have said and still no luck! I have been in touch with the specialist and we will now look at other avenues. Parenting was never meant to be easy but we will get there...eventually. THanks for the advice
i think that you will find that theres nothing wrong with her.. shes a normal child ..in some children it takes a little longer for the trigger to wake them when they need to go to the bathroom at night to develop...my son is 6 in august, and while he is getting bettter.. he used to wet the bed frequently too.. i think the best you can do is hang in there and not make her feel like a naughty girl for wetting.. ( im sure you probably dont i just have memories of my mother screming at my sister .. she was a bedwetter)...however, if you dothink that there may be more to it.. then certainly talk to someone.. if it will give you peace of mind..good luck xoxo
Ok, so it's a little embarrassing to admit this but I used to have a problem when I was a child. But my problem was that I was a very heavy sleeper and simply wouldn't wake up. As I got older my bladder got bigger and I was able to hold it for the entire time I was sleeping. Try getting her up before you go to bed and sitting her on the toilet as maybe this is her problem.
Darlin you are not to blame at all........sometimes kids have a weak impulse that tell them when to wee and at night they dont feel this impulse cause of the weakness.It does get better as they age.I would still get her medically checked for your own piece of mind.Please u have enough to worry about with out the blame game mwah hugs Merle
A family member of mine also had this problem, did it right up until she was 14, And it was a nervous thing, she also had issues with the father in her life, he was into drugs and was not there as a father for her, and everytime she did speak to him she would wet the bed, She grew out of it, but she also was doing counciling to help and was on medication.. maybe you should speak to your doctor about it? Also have you tried gettin her up to go to the toilet during the night.. this starts to body to get used to waking if she needs to use the bathroom.
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