Parenting and children

Children That Bedwet

Did you know that your child's bed wetting could be as a result of  psychological trauma?

In those days, especially in Africa, children who bedwet were beaten and in some cases, made to pass through some horrible experience in the hope of stopping their habit of bedwetting.

I heard that in some places, children were made to stoop down on smouldering coal. They believed that if the heat burned the children in their private part, it would stop them from bedwetting.

What these people and most people don't know is that their child's bedwetting could be caused by a deep emotional problem that might very well be the fault of the parents themselves!

Here are a few of the issues that can lead to bedwetting in your child:

1.If the child's parents have a problematic marriage and are always fighting or  quarrelling. Or if any of the parents have psychological or emotional problems themselves or are drug addicts or alcoholics.


2. If the child has been abused or is still being abused sexually, verbally, physically or through maltreatment.

3. If the child is being bullied in school.

4. If the child is made to go through a sudden change like changing school or house.



 5. If the child eats late or drinks lots of liquid in the night before sleeping.


6. If the child is a heavy sleeper and finds it difficult to wake up when pressed in the night.


7. If the child is disturbed about anything at all either in school or at home.

It is worthy of note that not every child that has problems will bed wet. 

Because children are different, the way another person's child may react to stress or problems might be different from yours.

Some children also have medical reasons for bedwetting. Your child could be bedwetting if he has a weak bladder or has a urinary infection. 

You need to see your doctor if :


1. Your child  of over 7 years has never been dry for a night.


2. Your child is below 6 years old and is extremely troubled by his or her bedwetting attitude.


3. Your child has been dry but suddenly started bedwetting.


Here are few things you could do to stop your child from bed wetting.

1. Wake your child up like 3-4 times in the middle of the night and lead him to the toilet to ease himself. Over time the child will begin to wake up in the night himself.

That was how i stopped my children from bed wetting.

For children whose bed wetting is not a serious problem. Get them to ease themselves 2 to 3 times in the night before they sleep and don't allow them to take any liquid at least one hour before they sleep.

2. Attach a special alarm to your child's clothing which will wake him up immediately he starts to bed wet. This alarm is called moisture alarm or bedwetting alarm and even though i haven't used it, i am told that it is quite effective.

3. Another very effective method is the use of hypnosis. This involves attaching a tape to your child's night wear as he is about to sleep. This tape will play out as he sleeps. The idea is for it to send messages to your child on the need to get up and wee wee when pressed. This method is slow but i am told that it has a long term success rate.

No matter what method you choose, make sure that you have found out the underlying cause of your child's bed wetting before embarking on a cure.

The major thing every parent must know is that there is no need to panick when you have a child that bed wets since most children will eventually stop bed wetting by themselves.