| Bedwetting Help |
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Bedwetting – A Mom’s Journey to Help Her Son
Let me share my journey to help my son end nightly
bedwetting. I hope our story will help you feel less alone,
save you and your child needless frustration and hopefully
help solve your family’s struggles with bedwetting.
My son wet the bed every night until he was eight years old.
About age four, I began to mention the problem to my
pediatrician. He assured me this was very common and my
son would probably out grow the bedwetting. Therefore,
until the age of six, my son wore pull ups every night and we
just really didn’t worry about it too much.
Once he started first grade and friends began coming over
more, my son began to feel embarrassed of the pull ups. A
buddy, who was over playing, saw them in my son’s closet
and teased him about “still wearing diapers”. At that point,
my son asked to quit wearing the pull ups. I agreed, secretly
hoping that waking up uncomfortable in wet pajamas would
cause my son to take control of his wetting. We put a plastic
cover on the mattress, were careful he didn’t drink much
after dinner and used the bathroom right before bed. After
about six months, I began to think maybe he was just a bit
lazy. I tried waking him up just before I went to bed to use
the bathroom. None of this helped.
He occasionally had a dry night and we would celebrate.
Every night I would encourage him to “try for dry”. He’d look
at me with his big, brown eyes and say, “I’ll try, Mommy!” I
tried explaining, “You know how you feel when you have to
go to the bathroom during the day? Well, if you feel that
pressure at night, you have to wake up and go to the
bathroom.” (I didn’t realize at the time, that he was such a
sound sleeper- his brain never recognized the full bladder
signal.)
By the age of seven, I could see the bedwetting was
chipping away at my son’s self esteem. His older brothers
sometimes teased him. I lost my patience at times with the
frustration of having to wash soiled sheets every single day
of the year. I would always feel guilty after scolding him. At
times he would try to hide the soiled sheets and underwear.
And he became very worried about his friends finding out.
Way too many worries for a seven year old!
That’s when I thought of the bribe, thinking a special new toy
would motivate him. I bought a large castle that came with 10
small knights. I told my son each time he stayed dry, he
would earn a knight. Then when he earned all the knights,
he could have the castle. I thought I was a genius! He
managed to stay dry two nights in a row, but went right back
to wetting (Now I realize how hard he must have fought sleep
to earn those knights.) Over the summer, he eventually
stayed dry enough times to earn the castle but it didn’t solve
the problem.
My pediatrician told me about the medications available, but I
preferred not to try that route unless absolutely necessary.
He also briefly mentioned the bedwetting alarms. I called
several toy stores and drugstores to try to get more
information about the alarms, but no one carried them.
So I went back to the old stand-by of no drinking after dinner,
and waking him up before I went to bed. And the endless
frustration and dirty laundry continued. I didn’t know anyone
else whose child wet the bed-so I had no support system.
My husband mostly pretended he didn’t notice. Meanwhile,
my son became more and more irritable. My mother
nicknamed him, Mr. Miserable. She said it jokingly, to try to
tease him out of his downtrodden and dejected demeanor.
He seemed to walk around with his head down, never really
looking anyone in the eye. Several times he was invited to
sleepovers, but broken heartedly turned them down. I ached
to help him but I’d run out of ideas.
Finally, I went on the internet and researched the bedwetting
alarms. Apparently they condition the brain to recognize full
bladder signals while sleeping and help form different sleep
patterns. I talked with my son about them and told him to let
me know if he wanted to try the alarm. About a month after I
mentioned them, he asked if he could give it a try. I told him
if I spent the money for the alarm, he would have to promise
to use it every night. I bought one that vibrated as well as
sent out an alarm. It clipped on the underwear in the spot
most likely to get wet first. A wire runs along to a small unit
that pinned to the shoulder of his pajamas. When the clip
gets wet, it sets off the unit which vibrates and sounds an
alarm. The first week, my son slept right through the alarm. I’
d wake him, take him to the bathroom and take off the alarm.
He had to try to finish peeing in the toilet and change his wet
clothes. I would help him put the monitor back on. I’d
purchased several waterproof mattress pads, so we took off
the wet one and replaced it with a dry one. Then he would
climb in and go back to sleep.
A few nights in the beginning, the alarm went off more than
once through the night. Sometimes it felt like having a
newborn again. During the first week, he was wet 5 days and
dry 2 days. The second was a little better. The third week he
was wet 5 days again and began fighting me about wearing
the alarm. I calmly reminded him he promised to wear it.
Over and over, I said, “I know it is frustrating, but you
promised.” Or “You wish you would just learn to stay dry
without having to wear the alarm, but the alarm is the only
way to train your brain while you are sleeping.” I was really
careful to stay upbeat and positive, praising him for just
wearing the alarm. He earned extra bedtime book reading
when he cooperated willingly with the process. We made
sure to fill out the progress report each morning, so he
could see how he was doing. When he would have a wet
night and feel like giving up, I would remind him that learning
something new takes time. Then I would compare it to
learning to ride his bike. How hard it was at first. Then when
he got a bit better, he would still often fall. But he didn’t give
up, he kept trying and trying until he learned to keep his
balance and now he never falls. The forth week, we had 4
dry nights in a row!
He wore the alarm every single night for ten weeks. At the
end of week 10, he had 14 dry nights in a row! We kept the
alarm by his bedside in case of a relapse. In the next six
months, that only happened twice. He became a much
happier child, tons more smiles and much more positive
attitude. I actually had his little league coach come up and
ask me what had changed. He said, “Your son never used to
look at me, let alone talk with me, now he’s Mister Self
confident!” My son is now a teenager and the bedwetting is
just a distant memory for him. I sometimes wonder if he
would still be wetting the bed, if we hadn’t tried the alarm.
I know you are looking for the right answers for you and your
child. Making the choice to use a bedwetting alarm is one of
the best decisions I have made as a parent. It required
patience and dedication, but the end result was worth every
single minute of lost sleep. Look at it this way, a few minutes
of lost sleep for a few weeks versus 52 more weeks of wet
nights. And the sheer joy you will both experience at working
together to finally stop the bedwetting will make it all
worthwhile!
Purchase my book for your child and read it together. It
explains bedwetting and bedwetting alarms in a fun way-
without ever mentioning the word bedwetting. Your child
will definitely relate to the young prince who struggles with
“the Wet Knights” and eventually defeats them by using an
alarm. My book is full of dragons and knights which children
love, and it provides a light hearted look at the challenges of
defeating “the Wet Knights.” I hope our journey gives you
hope and courage. Please feel free to contact me via my
website, www.braveryandgrace.com, contact page. I look
forward to receiving your questions and success stories.
~Gail A. Gross
Let me share my journey to help my son end nightly
bedwetting. I hope our story will help you feel less alone,
save you and your child needless frustration and hopefully
help solve your family’s struggles with bedwetting.
My son wet the bed every night until he was eight years old.
About age four, I began to mention the problem to my
pediatrician. He assured me this was very common and my
son would probably out grow the bedwetting. Therefore,
until the age of six, my son wore pull ups every night and we
just really didn’t worry about it too much.
Once he started first grade and friends began coming over
more, my son began to feel embarrassed of the pull ups. A
buddy, who was over playing, saw them in my son’s closet
and teased him about “still wearing diapers”. At that point,
my son asked to quit wearing the pull ups. I agreed, secretly
hoping that waking up uncomfortable in wet pajamas would
cause my son to take control of his wetting. We put a plastic
cover on the mattress, were careful he didn’t drink much
after dinner and used the bathroom right before bed. After
about six months, I began to think maybe he was just a bit
lazy. I tried waking him up just before I went to bed to use
the bathroom. None of this helped.
He occasionally had a dry night and we would celebrate.
Every night I would encourage him to “try for dry”. He’d look
at me with his big, brown eyes and say, “I’ll try, Mommy!” I
tried explaining, “You know how you feel when you have to
go to the bathroom during the day? Well, if you feel that
pressure at night, you have to wake up and go to the
bathroom.” (I didn’t realize at the time, that he was such a
sound sleeper- his brain never recognized the full bladder
signal.)
By the age of seven, I could see the bedwetting was
chipping away at my son’s self esteem. His older brothers
sometimes teased him. I lost my patience at times with the
frustration of having to wash soiled sheets every single day
of the year. I would always feel guilty after scolding him. At
times he would try to hide the soiled sheets and underwear.
And he became very worried about his friends finding out.
Way too many worries for a seven year old!
That’s when I thought of the bribe, thinking a special new toy
would motivate him. I bought a large castle that came with 10
small knights. I told my son each time he stayed dry, he
would earn a knight. Then when he earned all the knights,
he could have the castle. I thought I was a genius! He
managed to stay dry two nights in a row, but went right back
to wetting (Now I realize how hard he must have fought sleep
to earn those knights.) Over the summer, he eventually
stayed dry enough times to earn the castle but it didn’t solve
the problem.
My pediatrician told me about the medications available, but I
preferred not to try that route unless absolutely necessary.
He also briefly mentioned the bedwetting alarms. I called
several toy stores and drugstores to try to get more
information about the alarms, but no one carried them.
So I went back to the old stand-by of no drinking after dinner,
and waking him up before I went to bed. And the endless
frustration and dirty laundry continued. I didn’t know anyone
else whose child wet the bed-so I had no support system.
My husband mostly pretended he didn’t notice. Meanwhile,
my son became more and more irritable. My mother
nicknamed him, Mr. Miserable. She said it jokingly, to try to
tease him out of his downtrodden and dejected demeanor.
He seemed to walk around with his head down, never really
looking anyone in the eye. Several times he was invited to
sleepovers, but broken heartedly turned them down. I ached
to help him but I’d run out of ideas.
Finally, I went on the internet and researched the bedwetting
alarms. Apparently they condition the brain to recognize full
bladder signals while sleeping and help form different sleep
patterns. I talked with my son about them and told him to let
me know if he wanted to try the alarm. About a month after I
mentioned them, he asked if he could give it a try. I told him
if I spent the money for the alarm, he would have to promise
to use it every night. I bought one that vibrated as well as
sent out an alarm. It clipped on the underwear in the spot
most likely to get wet first. A wire runs along to a small unit
that pinned to the shoulder of his pajamas. When the clip
gets wet, it sets off the unit which vibrates and sounds an
alarm. The first week, my son slept right through the alarm. I’
d wake him, take him to the bathroom and take off the alarm.
He had to try to finish peeing in the toilet and change his wet
clothes. I would help him put the monitor back on. I’d
purchased several waterproof mattress pads, so we took off
the wet one and replaced it with a dry one. Then he would
climb in and go back to sleep.
A few nights in the beginning, the alarm went off more than
once through the night. Sometimes it felt like having a
newborn again. During the first week, he was wet 5 days and
dry 2 days. The second was a little better. The third week he
was wet 5 days again and began fighting me about wearing
the alarm. I calmly reminded him he promised to wear it.
Over and over, I said, “I know it is frustrating, but you
promised.” Or “You wish you would just learn to stay dry
without having to wear the alarm, but the alarm is the only
way to train your brain while you are sleeping.” I was really
careful to stay upbeat and positive, praising him for just
wearing the alarm. He earned extra bedtime book reading
when he cooperated willingly with the process. We made
sure to fill out the progress report each morning, so he
could see how he was doing. When he would have a wet
night and feel like giving up, I would remind him that learning
something new takes time. Then I would compare it to
learning to ride his bike. How hard it was at first. Then when
he got a bit better, he would still often fall. But he didn’t give
up, he kept trying and trying until he learned to keep his
balance and now he never falls. The forth week, we had 4
dry nights in a row!
He wore the alarm every single night for ten weeks. At the
end of week 10, he had 14 dry nights in a row! We kept the
alarm by his bedside in case of a relapse. In the next six
months, that only happened twice. He became a much
happier child, tons more smiles and much more positive
attitude. I actually had his little league coach come up and
ask me what had changed. He said, “Your son never used to
look at me, let alone talk with me, now he’s Mister Self
confident!” My son is now a teenager and the bedwetting is
just a distant memory for him. I sometimes wonder if he
would still be wetting the bed, if we hadn’t tried the alarm.
I know you are looking for the right answers for you and your
child. Making the choice to use a bedwetting alarm is one of
the best decisions I have made as a parent. It required
patience and dedication, but the end result was worth every
single minute of lost sleep. Look at it this way, a few minutes
of lost sleep for a few weeks versus 52 more weeks of wet
nights. And the sheer joy you will both experience at working
together to finally stop the bedwetting will make it all
worthwhile!
Purchase my book for your child and read it together. It
explains bedwetting and bedwetting alarms in a fun way-
without ever mentioning the word bedwetting. Your child
will definitely relate to the young prince who struggles with
“the Wet Knights” and eventually defeats them by using an
alarm. My book is full of dragons and knights which children
love, and it provides a light hearted look at the challenges of
defeating “the Wet Knights.” I hope our journey gives you
hope and courage. Please feel free to contact me via my
website, www.braveryandgrace.com, contact page. I look
forward to receiving your questions and success stories.
~Gail A. Gross
Additional links:
| Purchase personally autographed book from author, Gail A. Gross |