Wetting The Bed

Everyone has gone through some sort of potty-training in their lives. It is an essential part of growing up and is better done when one is a child while they pick up things more easily. Whether a child picks up potty-training when they are one or when one is four, everyone learns it eventually. While learning to potty-train, one might go through many obstacles such as bedwetting. Although normal for children whom are potty-training, there are some cases where it could go on longer than wanted.

            Bedwetting, also known as enuresis, is a condition where one urinates the bed while asleep. Most cases resolve their selves before the child is in elementary school but there have been known later cases and even teenage cases of bedwetting. “Twenty percent of 5-year-olds and 10 percent of 6-year-olds wet the bed, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And it’s twice as common in the boys as it is in girls” (Parenting Magazine). I myself wet the bed until I was around seven years old and am proof that it can happen even later in childhood.

            Children wet the bed for various reasons. Although laziness or drinking too much before bed might seem like factors, they have very little to do with bedwetting. “Researchers have found that genes play a role. If both parents we their beds after the age of 6, their child has about a 75 percent chance of doing the same; if only one parent wet the bed, the child has a 44 percent chance” (Parenting Magazine). Developmental lags, deep sleep (the reason for my bedwetting), and small bladders are all common reasons a child might wet the bed. My parents did not wet the bed however and it seemed to be more of a deep sleep problem with me when I was a child.

            Teenage bedwetting is a serious problem.  Bedwetting when one is a teenager usually means that there is something wrong with the body. The hardest thing to overcome for a bedwetting teenager would be embarrassment and destruction to their social lives. Autistic children are more likely to wet the bed because of issues with imitation. They also have a condition that includes a light form of muscle control along with a failure to respond or recognize stimuli such as the need to urinate. In some children, they do not even feel the wetness of the bed. Along with autism, many other disabilities make the potty-training process harder and longer.

            Treating bedwetting is not recommended in children under the age of five because most recommend it will pass with time. When a child passes that age, it is suggested for the child to see a doctor to diagnose the problem and prescribe anything they feel might help. Not everyone is the same and waiting it out might be as effective as using some sort of treatment.

            Using reward systems just as in potty-training by rewarding the child for having a dry night is one of the most effective cures. By limiting fluids, especially ones with caffeine, at night should help. Do not punish your child for bedwetting. Bedwetting alarms to wake your child when they detect moisture in the bed or underpants can help cure bedwetting. Using alarms along with the reward system can be done as well as along with any medications.

            Medications such as ones for physical problems like a bladder infection or other medications for example the drug desmopressin can help to reduce urine production. These other drugs are always a last resort and may not result in the end of bedwetting. I have had experience in using one of these other drugs and I will say they were not always effective.

Bedwetting is very common but can be very stressful after unsuccessfully potty-training. It is normal and with most children it will pass with time. It is rare for a teenager to experience this but it can happen and even in some adults. The best advice I can give is to wait it out until your child is over the age of five and if it seems to be a problem take your child to see a specialist. Expert opinion is always accepted in bed wetting cases and can provide help. I have experienced this problem and many others I know have along with me; it is okay.

Works Cited

"Bedwetting." Parenting Magazine. Web. <http://www.parenting.com/article/Child/Behavior/Bedwetting>.

"Teenage Bed Wetting | E-Book Store." E-Book Store. Web.

<http://imarketingbiz.net/teenage-bedwetting/>.

"Cures For Juvenile Enuresis." LIVESTRONG.COM. Web. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/210937-cures-for-juvenile-enuresis/>.

Our Somewhat-of-a-Success Adventure

           Throughout my time being a mother, I have gone through many changes and so has my daughter. Deserae has gone from drinking from a bottle to drinking from a straw and having no hair to having so much hair I do not know what to do with it. During a quest or a journey to potty train my daughter in thirty days, I not only gained a drier toddler, I have gained so much more.

            There was a time I would throw away over six diapers a day every day. Most of the trash put on the curb every Friday was diapers and wipes. It was so sad to think that if a child could be potty trained, why fill up our landfills with all of this trash that will be sitting there for years and years. A couple months ago I had decided to stop all of the wasting and try to potty-train Deserae. She went from Pampers to Pull-Ups instantly with no feeling of anything changing and a few weeks later we began our thirty day journey of potty-training.

            Before training Deserae, she would walk around with a wet pull-up, grunt when she had a bowel movement, and made a big mess for mommy. I was fed up with her having accidents when every sign she had that meant she was ready to potty-train kept telling me to start trying. On the first day of our journey, Deserae was hesitant and did not like sitting on her potty-seat. She would run from me and giggle whenever I tried to sit her down on her potty. I was at wits ends in frustration trying to figure out something that every mom has accomplished before me. She is a tough little girl and was not having it.

            After a week or so of trying and trying Deserae finally began to get the hang of letting me know when she needed to go number two. I would sit her down after telling her we needed to go potty and she would go, grunting and all. I would proceed to hand her a piece of toilet paper and she would try to wipe, it was so cute. She had become more willing than before to sit on her seat and let her mommy talk her into going.

            A few weeks went by after our journey began and Deserae was doing so well with going number two but not going number one. I was confused and eager for her to start. After trying so many methods, we finally found one that she could copy and handle learning from rather than me saying, “go potty.” It was more realistic to have a doll show her than her own mommy. She was so happy after I would praise her and eager to go when she felt the need to go. By then she was in her big girl underwear and strutting around the house like she was two years old already. I will say that her attitude on her off days had gotten worse as her terrible two’s are coming our way.

            Throughout our quest, there had been many fights, tantrums, and accidents. If I would have known it would take all it did to get through the thirty days, I might not have done this before but now that there are many dry days in sight I am so pleased with how it turned out. Deserae is 80 percent potty-trained, happy, and learning more and more every day. Because we have accomplished so much we can now move on to more and I feel that now is better than it was before potty-training.

14 Secrets to Potty-Training Success

When our daughter Katie was nearly 3, my husband and I primed her for potty-training success: We put the potty-related books in regular bedtime rotation, thrilled her with a fashionable array of brand-new big-girl panties, and stocked up on a tantalizing incentive -- M&M's.
Within two months, Katie was peeing in the potty like a pro. But no matter how much we bribed, begged, and flattered her, she refused to give up her Pull-Ups to poop. I tried every tactic I could think of: I upped the ante to a Price Is Right -- worthy prize package, took away the Pull-Ups (resulting in a serious bout of constipation and some nasty post-nap cleanups), and even, I'm ashamed to admit, threatened her with a doctor's visit and shots if she didn't do the deed. After poring over every mom board I could find, I discovered a few new ideas -- but, mainly, lots of other desperate moms.
Since no strategy can possibly fit all our quirky kids, it seems that success depends on finding the solution to your child's particular sticking point. These are the five most common, and the best tricks for getting unstuck:
1. Your kid isn't swayed by chocolate kisses, a cool truck, or any other reward
2. You found dirty undies under the bed
3. Only the potty at home will do
4. She was doing great -- and now she's not
5. He reserves number two for the diaper

Your kid isn't swayed by chocolate kisses, a cool truck, or any other reward

What's going on: The terrible twos (or threes) have kicked in, and your child's chosen to just say no -- even if it costs him an Oreo and a Lego. Your kid's aware now that you and he are separate people -- and that means he doesn't have to do what you say. The power! For an iron-willed kid, that tastes a lot better than any old piece of candy. Resist searching for a better prize: That'll only give him more veto power.
Try a little reverse psychology. After months of attempting other tricks, Nina Vultaggio of Coto de Caza, CA, simply begged her son not to use the potty. But sneakily. "I said that pirates from Disneyland called and wanted him to be a pirate, but he couldn't because they only wanted potty-trained boys," she says. "I told him not to do it because I didn't want him to be a pirate -- and he trained that day." Vultaggio splurged on a trip to the local amusement park (which happened to be Disneyland), where a staffer proclaimed her son a pirate. Your plan can be simpler: You can tell your kid you hope this isn't the week he makes the switch, because then he can sleep over at Grandma's and you'll miss him. Reverse psychology works, of course, because of the thrill of doing the opposite of what you say -- but it also takes the pressure off.
Offer a different kind of incentive. Many parents (myself included) head right into the stickers and M&M's, and they're fine, if they work. But if they don't, think about what'll make your kid proud. Does she adore a particular uncle? Play up how fun it'll be to call him with the good news that she's potty trained. Does he perk up at the mention of being a big kid? Offer a "big-kid bedtime" as a reward, and let him start staying up 15 minutes later than usual.
Reward yourself. This one may sound like a truly desperate move, but it worked at my house when Katie was unimpressed with M&M's. You give yourself (and your husband -- remind him you're a team!) a reward for doing the deed, says Teri Crane, author of Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day. "Get two jars: Fill one with change and decorate the other with a picture of an amazing trip or another special prize," she says. Then when one of you goes, move a coin to the prize jar. Act as excited as possible. This may mean clapping for yourself or (worse?) for your husband. Crane says it often takes just a few days before your kid wants in on the fun.

ARTICLE FROM: http://www.parenting.com/article/Toddler/Development/14-Secrets-to-Potty-Success/2

Potty time

Erik Blachford | August 4, 2009

Given the high impact of both cloth and plastic, the best option is ditching diapers as soon as possible

 

As our third child approaches his third birthday, my wife and I find ourselves contemplating how best to get him out of diapers. We’ve been through this drill with our two older children, once in the US and once in France, with one big difference: the social norms for “potty training” in the US suggests that it happen by about 3 years old, whereas in France the age is more like 2 years old.

No doubt a good debate rages about what is better for the children involved, but there’s no question about which is better for the environment — getting your child out of diapers earlier avoids a lot of waste. I’m going to assume disposable diapers rather than cloth since it’s what we use, but it doesn’t make a big difference which you use. The environmental degradation associated with cloth is going to be different in kind but not in degree from that associated with disposables.

Given that the typical American child goes through about 6,000 diapers total before being toilet-trained, with just under half occurring in the first year when the changing derby is really on, I’m going to assume that the third year accounts for about 1,000 diaper changes, in the roughly 15-20% range. If each diaper contributes about a quarter pound to a landfill, then we’re talking about roughly 250 pounds of diapers from that third year alone. And you thought a stack of newspapers waiting to be recycled was bad.

But more to the point, as a society we could save 15-20% of the approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers used in the US every year if we would adopt the French norm and get our kids potty trained by the age of 2. I’m glad that we managed the feat with one of our kids, though it took living in France at the time to do it.

Why was that? Simple — my daughter did not want to be the only kid at pre-school still in diapers. It’s peer pressure, applied at a very early age, and it worked very well indeed. Predictably, back in the States where the norm is different, we haven’t been as prompt getting our youngest off the diaper train, even though we know it’s the responsible thing to do environmentally. Somehow the time just kind of…slips by.

We will make a solid push to get over the line by our little guy’s third birthday however. That’s the least we can do. As a country and society surely we can help the environmental pluses involved with earlier potty training win out over inertia. (Though in a country that not too long ago was serving Freedom Fries in its government cafeteria it won’t be by following the French.)

I suppose a powerful economic incentive might be to give parents some kind of break on pre-school or daycare costs if their kids are potty trained by age 2. But it’s a bit difficult to imagine the government program that would result, and all too easy to imagine the pushback from those who don’t want the government involved in toilet training in any case. Any other ideas out there, or stories to share from other perspectives?

ARTICLE FROM: http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/potty-time