Bed Wetting - how common is it?

Don't panic! You may be surprised to learn that 75% of kids are still wetting the bed by the time they start school, but that 7 out of 10 children grow out of bedwetting by the age of seven. Indeed 12% of six year olds and 5% of ten year olds wet the bed. In the vast majority of cases it's down to slower development of bladder control rather than any physical or emotional problem. Remember that it is fairly common behaviour. A relaxed “it's not a big deal” approach is far more likely to bring an end to bedwetting as any negative talk or actions is only likely to add to their anxiety. 

Tips to help prevent bed wetting

1. Talk to you child, making it clear how common it is (so they're not thinking there's something dramatically wrong) and that you're not cross, but that they need to correct it so they can sleep through the night.

2. It’s tempting to ban any drinking way before bedtime, although this will not teach them to control their bladder through the night. Try limiting, but not cutting out completely.

3. Try not to lift carry your child out of bed if you detect a wet bed as this will not help their "training".

4. You might try increasing your child’s toilet intervals by making him exercise his bladder muscles. You can give your child a stopwatch and ask him to try increasing the gap between his toilet visits. This practice during the day might help your child at night.

5.  Consider a good bedwetting sheet and maybe even a bedwetting alarm.

6.  Avoid putting your child in protective nappies or clothing as the feeling of wetness often serves well for the correction of your child’s wetting habit. 

7. Keep a lot of nightwear handy since you might need it at night for your child. 

8. Consider gently asking your child to change the wet sheet themselves, which can help to reprogram your child’s mind about toilet habits.

9. If old enough, consider encouraging your child is have sleepovers. Although there may be an initial period of embarrassment if they do wet the bed, sleepovers may act as a catalyst for retraining. 

10. Of course, it MAY be stress related so if you are aware of any issues that may be leading to bed wetting (divorce, new school, moving house, bullying etc) try to work on the anxiety before you start any new retraining or a new bed time regime.

We hope these tips will help you correct your child’s bed wetting habits. Check here for more bedwetting advice from us and external links.

This is an original news article © The Kids Window

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