lakeesha Hennessy Williams answered
Both of my kids had problems with bed-wetting. We found out that there's no real 'overnight cure' for bed wetting - but there are certainly things you can do to make the situation a whole lot easier for both you and your son.
How to stop your son wetting the bed
The medical term for bed-wetting is 'nocturnal enuresis'.
It's a condition that affects a large number of children, and is thought to be caused by hormonal changes in your child's brain as they grow up.
You may also be interested to know that the condition is more common in boys!
Some kids will suffer from it occasionally, whilst others will be consistent bed wetters for a number of years (like my youngest!).
The main thing is to not treat your kids like they've done something wrong or something to be ashamed of. This will only cause anxiety, and will probably make them wet the bed even more.
How to prevent bed-wetting
I remember when my first daughter was around 7 years old, she would wake us up almost every night without fail because she'd wet the bed.
At first it was really frustrating, and we decided to take her to the doctor.
It was at the doctor's that I learned that around 15% of children suffer from this condition regularly.
That was the first breakthrough for us, the fact that our daughter wasn't abnormal or alone.
Medical opinion on bed-wetting
The doc told us that bed-wetting will eventually disappear on its own - and that the best thing to do would be to offer our child positive reinforcement and support.
So we sat down with our daughter and explained to her that a lot of people suffer from this problem, and that it didn't make us mad that she was wetting the bed.
We also tried to get her more involved and responsible by letting her change her own sheets. I think this made her feel less self-conscious.
Other obvious things you'll need to do is to make sure your son goes to the bathroom before bed.
You may also want to wake him up for a pre-emptive midnight visit.
Other causes of bedwetting
One final thing you should remember is that, if the onset of bed-wetting is abrupt or out of the blue, a doctor should always be consulted.
This will allow you to check for conditions that might have suddenly brought this on, including:
How to stop your son wetting the bed
The medical term for bed-wetting is 'nocturnal enuresis'.
It's a condition that affects a large number of children, and is thought to be caused by hormonal changes in your child's brain as they grow up.
You may also be interested to know that the condition is more common in boys!
Some kids will suffer from it occasionally, whilst others will be consistent bed wetters for a number of years (like my youngest!).
The main thing is to not treat your kids like they've done something wrong or something to be ashamed of. This will only cause anxiety, and will probably make them wet the bed even more.
How to prevent bed-wetting
I remember when my first daughter was around 7 years old, she would wake us up almost every night without fail because she'd wet the bed.
At first it was really frustrating, and we decided to take her to the doctor.
It was at the doctor's that I learned that around 15% of children suffer from this condition regularly.
That was the first breakthrough for us, the fact that our daughter wasn't abnormal or alone.
Medical opinion on bed-wetting
The doc told us that bed-wetting will eventually disappear on its own - and that the best thing to do would be to offer our child positive reinforcement and support.
So we sat down with our daughter and explained to her that a lot of people suffer from this problem, and that it didn't make us mad that she was wetting the bed.
We also tried to get her more involved and responsible by letting her change her own sheets. I think this made her feel less self-conscious.
Other obvious things you'll need to do is to make sure your son goes to the bathroom before bed.
You may also want to wake him up for a pre-emptive midnight visit.
Other causes of bedwetting
One final thing you should remember is that, if the onset of bed-wetting is abrupt or out of the blue, a doctor should always be consulted.
This will allow you to check for conditions that might have suddenly brought this on, including:
- urinary tract infection,
- bladder problems,
- diabetes,
- constipation,
- severe stress.
