A Guide To Bed Wetting

Bed wetting is an uncomfortable and often embarrassing experience that is unfortunately for many kids, just a part of growing up. It can make getting a good night sleep difficult to accomplish as well. Which is why we are sharing a guide to bedwetting along with our top tips for helping your child sleep better. Bladder control takes time and patience, but that doesn’t mean your child’s sleep needs to suffer in the meantime. Follow along for tips on training as well as helping your little one sleep comfortably.

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Typical Age Range For Wetting The Bed:

On average most children are toilet trained around 3 years old. However, it can still take quite a while in order for your child to gain full bladder control.

This of course is especially challenging at night when they are going such a long time without a trip to the potty. It can be more difficult to sense that you need to use the restroom while you’re asleep as well. Though it varies for everyone, most children aren’t completely free of having accidents until about 7 years old. Meaning that there may be a good chunk of time between being potty trained to staying dry throughout the night.

Tips For Avoiding Bed Wetting

Eventually, when they have gotten past wetting the bed, your child’s sleep and comfort will greatly improve. However, until then your little one still needs to rest comfortably for proper development. Which is why we are going to give some of our top tips on how to help your child sleep comfortably.

Create a Drinking & Bathroom Routine:

Choose a time in the evenings when you stop drinking for the most part. Of course if your child feels parched, you don’t want to withhold a sip or two of water. However, limiting nighttime drinks will help to limit the amount of liquid the body is trying to process and get rid of in the evenings.

Be sure to add in an extra trip to the bathroom right before you head off to bed as a part of your nightly routine. Even if they don’t feel like they need to use the restroom, simply sitting on the potty and giving it a try will help. They may even find they needed to use the restroom even though they didn’t feel like they really needed to. This will help ensure the bladder is nice and empty before going to bed. It also creates a healthy habit to continue through life.

Initiate Mid-Night Bathroom Breaks:

We suggest trying to determine what time of night your child is wetting the bed first. (Belly bands that let out alarms when wet are one of the best ways to determine this.) Once you have that information, try to wake them up beforehand and take them on a restroom break.

This will help you to teach them how to feel when they need to use the restroom during the night. As well as making nighttime bathroom breaks an easier more familiar process. That way there is less fear around getting up at night and heading into the bathroom whenever they need it.

Create a Reward System:

Sometimes a boost in moral and motivation is all you need. Which is why creating a reward system can be very helpful when working on staying dry throughout the night. This will also help give incentive to get up and use the restroom whenever you wake them up at night.

One way to do this is to create a board with a set number of days and empty boxes. For each time your little one wakes up dry, they get to put a sticker in a box. Then once all the boxes are full your child gets a prize of your choice. Pick something reasonable, but that will also serve as great motivation. Perhaps it is a toy they have been hoping to get, or a celebratory pizza party.

Top Products For Bed Wetters

Get A Comfortable Mattress Protector:

Some less expensive waterproof mattress protectors can be terribly uncomfortable. Made with crinkly plastic, they can trap heat and restrict airflow. The great news is that there are now much more high quality mattress protectors that are highly protective, waterproof, and much more comfortable.

A great way to determine whether or not a mattress protector is going to be comfortable is with reviews. This helps to give you a good idea of how comfortable a mattress protector will be before you buy.

Looking for a mattress protector? Check out our Mattress Protector Reviews here!

Several Sets of Easy Wash Sheets:

Even when you are prepared, accidents still happen. Which is why we suggest having several sets of sheets that can be easily washed or swapped out when needed.

This makes it much easier to always have bedding on hand even if the washer and dryer are already tied up with other loads.

This way you don’t have to rush to clean laundry so your child has bedding to sleep in. Instead you always have an extra set that you can throw on when you need to.

Nighttime Diapers & Disposable Underwear:

Eventually your child will grow out of this phase and no longer need disposable underwear.

Until that day comes, nighttime diapers and disposable underwear are a lifesaving tool.

Most nighttime diapers are extra absorbent and will often hold onto the majority of the urine. They are much less likely to leak even with a full bladder release than standard diapers or pads.

Training Pads for Backup: 

Absorbent pads are a great backup option if leaks onto the bed happen often. While a great mattress pad will protect the mattress, you would still need to wash the sheets and mattress pad after every accident.

This is why the combination of a nighttime diaper and an absorbent pad help to keep the mattress and bedding clean. So even with big messes, cleanup is quick and easy.

We suggest buying the training pads used to help with potty training dogs. These pads come in larger packs at smaller prices than other pads made specifically for bed wetting.

Reusable Absorbent Underwear & Diapers: 

There are two main reasons why reusable absorbent underpants are a great option for bed wetting. The first is that it is a much more eco-friendly option. Single use or disposable diapers and pads are not a good option if you’re looking to be kind to the environment. The other main benefit to using a reusable absorbent underwear or diapers is that they often allow the user to feel when they are wet.

While this is not normally a comfortable feeling, this is sort of the point. By being able to feel wet, they become uncomfortable and it makes the experiencing of wetting themselves an unpleasant experience. Which can help to speed up the process.

Waterproof Sleeping Bag Liner:

Of course these sleeping bag liners are great for traveling and sleepovers. However, you can also use them as an extra layer of defense in their bed. Simply have your child sleep inside of the sleeping bag liner and then cover with their usual sheets or bedding.

This way when an accident happens you don’t have to wash the sheets, and mattress protector. You can simply wash the liner and pajamas. This can be a good solution if you are trying to avoid diapers in order for your child to feel the immediate

A Guide To Bed Wetting – Final Thoughts:

It can take time and practice in order for children to gain strength and control over their bladder. It is especially difficult to do when warning signs of needing to use the restroom are easily missed during sleep. Which is why we hope these tips help you and your child to work together and conquer bed wetting for good. In the meantime we hope our other tips also help you and your child sleep a bit more soundly.

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