I have 4 children and 2 are bed wetters one is 8 years old (girl) and the other is 10 years old (boy). The girl has many more dry nights than the boy - and i have found with her that it helps if she has an incentive - her incentive is if she doesn't wet the bed for 3 nights in a row she can do something that she wants to do (family arrangement and not monetary) and that seems to work. However, the boy we cant seem to find any rewards. I know it is a medical problem, but I am at my wits end - I have been buying nappies for 12 years now and it doesn't look like i will be stopping soon. I find it easier to use nappies than for the child to sleep in a wet bed. Can you suggest anything that might help for these children. Ps - they are in a loving environment and are happy children, the male child is a bit shy, however they are both excellent students. Any ideas???
bedwetting is always a challenge for parents and when this involves more than one child in the family it becomes even more difficult to manage. The type of bedwetting your children are experiencing is not a result of psychological or emotional disturbance or poor parenting – and is more likely the result of genetics – perhaps either you or your husband or someone else in the family also wet the bed as a child. Unfortunately rewards are not a useful technique when it comes to treating bedwetting, as children do not have a lot of control over what is happening at night. Lets say you talk in your sleep and I was to offer you $1000 to stop – you couldn’t do it regardless how much you wanted the money because as we all know when you are asleep you are not in conscious control of your behaviour therefore the reward will have no impact. In much the same way children are unable to stop wetting the bed just because they are offered a reward to do so. The most successful interventions (other than time – and I think you have already given enough of that!) are those that involve a conditioning alarm combined with a sensible diet. I would recommend an alarm that can be attached to your children’s clothes so that you can continue using DryNites. Before beginning any treatment you need to schedule an appointment with your GP or a Continence Advisor to discuss how best to support your children through the intervention, as total family commitment is needed in order to achieve a positive outcome. Wishing you all the best!
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