Bedwetting: Where to start in helping your child?

Charmaine Champ Author

Bedwetting, will it ever end? Within this blog we share where to start in helping your child overcome bedwetting and the support available.

Bedwetting, also known as night time wetting or nocturnal enuresis, is wetting that occurs at night, in children aged five years and above. 

Bedwetting can affect one in fifteen seven year olds and one in seventy five teenagers. 

When children experience bedwetting, it has more of an impact, than just, their bed being wet. Wetting the bed at night can affect:

• Sleep
• Ability to learn and concentrate in school
• Emotional wellbeing
• And so much more!

Bedwetting also impacts the family, with increased washing of the sheets, duvet cover, duvet, pillow cases, pillows, PJs, mattress, and reduced sleep for starters!

It is often thought, that behavioural approaches, such as stickers or rewards being shared when a "dry" bed is achieved, is the way forward. However, behavioural approaches, fail to acknowledge the "deep whys" involved with bedwetting occurring. How can we help children?

Where to start with bedwetting? 

We can start, by understanding "why" bedwetting can take place with many children. Bedwetting occurs because the bladder is either not stretching enough, too much wee is being produced at night or the child is not able to wake at night. 

When we understand "why" bedwetting occurs, we understand that it is not occurring on purpose, the child is not going to grow out of it and more importantly its not our childrens or our fault as a parent.

We can then start to help our children with support and understanding, because there is always a reason for the bedwetting occurring.

To lift or not to lift, in the night, that is the question? 

If, one of the reasons that children wet the bed, is due to not waking in the night, it makes sense to wake our children in the middle of the night, or just before we as parents go to bed, and take our children to the bathroom, to use the toilet.....doesn't it?  

It doesn't make sense to lift our children in the night, when we understand "how" the body works. 

Children recognise the need to pass a wee, when their bladder is full. If, we wake our children in the night to use the toilet, they are not waking because their bladder is full. They are waking because we as parents woke them to use the toilet. 

We should therefore "not" wake our children in the night to use the toilet.

How can we manage bedwetting?

How can we manage our childrens bedwetting?

If we are not waking our children at night, to use the toilet, we can:

• Review our childrens drinks, looking at when the last drink is being consumed
• Encourage our children to use the toilet immediately before going to bed, to empty the bladder 
• Introduce a mattress protector. A mattress protector is able to lay directly on top of the sheet, placed in the centre of the bed and enables any wee being passed, to be collected within the protector. Therefore protecting the sheet. Examples of mattress protectors include: Hygge Bed Pads and the Mat Company Bed Pad 

Is there anything else we can do to help?

We can also help our children, by identifying "what" their wee, poo and drink pattern is in the day. Here at clear Steps Consultancy we have two easy to use approaches to help you identify your child's pattern:

1. A Monitoring chart using the Bristol Stool Chart
2. A Bowel & Bladder Assessment Pack sharing monitoring charts and step by step guidance of "what" to do and how to help

It is recommended recording your child's pattern for a minimum of four days (if possible fourteen days, to give a really clear picture of what your child's pattern is) 

How can Clear Steps Consultancy help you further with overcoming bedwetting?

Charmaine, at Clear Steps Consultancy supports children with and without a diagnosis, additional needs, their families, schools, organisations, charities and professionals in progressing and being successful with Toileting, in the day and night, Sleeping and Understanding Behaviour.  Support available to help with bedwetting, is as individual as the children, families and schools themselves, from online support to one to one Parenting Support Packages to Comprehensive assessments.

Further support is available with Bedwetting through viewing our self guided video support: Bedwetting Understanding & progressing with your child within this online session we share lots of different support ideas and step by step guidance of where to start. 

For a one to one approach, individual Parenting Support Packages help identify exactly where to start, with your child and the steps to progress, with a follow-up step by step plan. 

Help and support is available! Together we can help your child progress!

Start helping your child, with overcoming bedwetting today!"

Categories: : bedwetting, nocturnal enuresis, Poo, Toileting