VIA POTTY TRAINING & BED WETTING:
Below are five tips for helping your child get through the night without wetting the bed:
1. Always make sure that the child goes to the toilet before bed, make this a regular routine for going to bed. It is not always a good idea to wake the child and send them to the toilet before the parent goes to bed, in some cases this can cause a child to wet the bed as they will get used to passing urine before their bladder is full.
2. Another part of the ‘bed time ritual’ that can help overcome bed-wetting is to limit the amount of fluids that a child has around two hours before bed. Although this can be very helpful for night times, it will not help children who have problems with wetting themselves during the day. Children should continue drinking up to 8 cups of fluids spaced out through out the day, and should avoid caffeine infused drinks at all times, especially during the night as caffeine has a urine producing effect on the body.
3. A light on in the toilet will encourage children to visit the toilet in the night. If they wake up with a full bladder having easy access to the toilet will make it easier for them to find their way, and use the toilet.
4. If there has been an ‘accident’, parents should encourage the child to go back into their bed after the sheets have been changed. By using a plastic protector between the sheets and mattress, this will make changing the bed easy and stop the smell of urine in the mattress.
5. Praise is so important with children, and so is recognition of progress. Every opportunity available parents should make a point of telling their children how well they are doing and noting how hard they are working to overcome their bed-wetting problem.
A chart that keeps record of a child’s dry nights will help them psychologically to want to succeed, and a parent can create an award system for reaching a number of dry nights in a row.
