Wettin' the Bed

When Laura was just under 2 weeks old my “mommy adrenaline” was beginning to wear off and I was EXHAUSTED.  I asked her dad if he could take off the following day (Friday) from work and stay home so that I could get a break and rest.  He happily complied.  That night he agreed to take care of baby during the night and would only wake me when I needed to nurse Laura.  I went to bed relaxed and willingly drifted into a deep sleep knowing that he would take care of her and I could SLEEP.  Early in the morning I jolted out of bed because I HAD WET THE BED.  Yes, I, a grown woman peed in her sleep.  I was so tired my body had a difficult time recognizing the need that I had to empty my bladder.  Luckily, I had a sense of humor and was only moderately embarrassed.  My friend/neighbor soon learned of my bed wetting incident and thought I was crazy.  A few months later, after she gave birth to her first child.  She reminded me of my bed wetting incident, and commented that she was surprised that she hadn’t wet the bed due to exhaustion. 

Some kids wet the bed.  My mom says that my sister and I never really wet the bed.  Once we were potty trained we stayed dry easily through the night. 

Laura, however has never had a dry night in her life.  She is 3 ½ years old and still goes to bed with a diaper even though she has been potty trained for 1 year.  People have commented to me, that maybe I should try different techniques such as, limiting her water intake, waking her up, etc.  Here is the honest truth I don’t mind that she wets bed.  First, I think that we need to understand why kids wet the bed.  Most typical kids who wet the bed may have an immature bladder or are very deep sleepers.  If there bladders aren’t able to hold all of that urine they are going to wet the bed especially if their nerve endings aren’t sending super strong signals to their brain to wake them up.  Other kids are just deep sleepers.  But, it is important to remember that this is completely NORMAL.  Doctors typically will not address bed wetting until approximately age 8, anything before that is considered normal.  Also, it is important to note that bed wetting runs in the family.  I know that on Laura’s father’s side some of her cousins wet the bed.

Because of these things I don’t push Laura to have a dry night.  I am also very intentional so that she never feels bad about wetting the bed.  This is crucial for our kiddos to not feel shamed.  Yes, I have tried to limit her liquids.  But, seriously we live in the desert I am only going to limit them so much and I think hydration is so much more important than a dry diaper.  Second, we already know how strongly I feel about sleep.  And I do not want to wake her up and disrupt her sleep patter because she “needs to be dry at night”.

Moms, let’s not stress ourselves out over bed wetting (because it is normal).  Yes, when your child shows signs that they can be dry at night than do it!! But, let’s not put one more stress on ourselves.  Do you really want urine soaked sheets every morning? I don’t!   Being a mom is about learning to pick your battles, knowing what is appropriate for your child and teaching them how to deal with life.  Model this behavior to them, don’t over do it and stress yourself, bed wetting is OK.

*I would also like to make a note in this post.  IF your child was staying consistently dry and has now reverted.  That is a different situation.  Reverting back to bed wetting is a sign that your child is most likely dealing with something.  He/she may be sick, adjusting to new baby, or trying to deal with stresses that are going on in his/her environment.  If this is the case please reach out to the appropriate professional.  If you aren’t sure who that would be, please feel free to comment or email Cami or I and we would love to help guide you to an appropriate professional* -Loni