As a pediatrician and mom, I have spent numerous hours listening to other moms concerns around potty training and bedwetting. From what I hear, there really are a lot of misconceptions about achieving daytime and nighttime dryness in children. In fact, GoodNites conducted a survey of parents nationwide and found “43% of parents think they can train their child out of bedwetting.” I’m hoping to provide clarification and help allay the stress and anxiety that parents are feeling.
There are distinct differences between staying dry during the day and overnight. Daytime dryness is usually learned around age 3 or 4 when a child is developmentally, emotionally, and physically ready to do so, while staying dry at night often occurs years later. Actually, night time wetting is common. 5-7 million children wet the bed in the United States according to the National Kidney Foundation – that’s more than the number of children who entered kindergarten in the United States in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Education (4 million). Many parents often think that once daytime potty training is successful with their child, a similar process can be taught to prevent bedwetting. But that’s not the case. Nighttime dryness occurs when the bladder grows sufficiently in size and its nerve signals to and from the brain mature.
Parents often fear that their child is one of the only ones still wetting the bed, and are always relieved to find out otherwise. I reassure parents that it often takes much longer for nighttime dryness to be achieved, and that bedwetting is usually not a sign of emotional or psychological issues. For most kids staying dry at night develops without training, but instead with time and patience.
There are also measures you can take to help your child until bedwetting subsides. First, let them know that it’s not their fault and that you don’t blame them. Next, it is crucial to educate yourself on the topic so you can find the right solution for your child. For more information, check out the infographic below or go to GoodNites.com for more tools, and solutions for a drier night’s sleep.
Written by: Jennifer Trachtenberg MD
At what age did your child stop wetting the bed?
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Comments 52
Goodnights and Pull ups are for lazy parenting. You can train a child out of bedwetting and wetting their pants. Cut off liquids an hour before bedtime. Have the child sit on the toilet before bed, even if they say they don't need to go. Wake the child up every four hours to go to the bathroom. During the day, ask if they have to go to the bathroom often. Take them there, even if they say "no". If they mess their pants, let them deal with being uncomfortable for a few minutes.
None of this is hard, but it all works. It takes time and patience, but kids who are trained this way take less time to be trained than those who have no consequences from peeing in their diaper product.
Don't be lazy parents. Train your kids yourself.
Not all kids are able to be potty trained at the same age or rate. Not all kids can stay dry at night at the same age. Kids who are still wetting the bed after successfully staying dry during the day may have physical issues (ie anatomy or unable to wake to go to the bathroom) that simply need time to grow out of. My little brother was like that. We had to get him up in the middle of the night to pee for months after he was potty trained during the day.
My daughter successfully transitioned from diapers to no diapers within a couple of weeks when she was about 3.5 years old. Night time dryness took a few more weeks and we used pull ups and mattress pads in the meantime. Overall, she only wet the bed a few times when she went from pullups to underwear at night. We limited liquids before bedtime and I got her up to go pee before I went to bed at night. Within a month or less, there were no more accidents at night and she was completely potty trained. It was fast and easy because she was ready emotionally, and physically.
Wow, you must be, like, a genius and superhero in one! You know it all, AND have x-ray vision that can see the devolpment of kids' bladders! I'm so insanely jealous of you. *snort*
On to the topic: my oldest 2 never had any problems training, or with accidents, or bed wetting. My 4 y/o didn't stop wetting the bed until about 4 months ago. And I did evey single thing the genius up there seaks of. Nothing worked. I spoke to her pediatrician about it, who said exactly what this blog said. Lo-an-behold, she "magically" stopped wetting the bed, all on her own.
Couldn't have anything to do with devolping bladder & nerve sensors though, right? LoL
My 6 year old still wets at night and limiting her fluids, peeing before bed, and waking up to make her go at night do not help. Although, she had to have reconstructive surgery on her ureters, so I'm unsure of when she will stay dry through the night. My 3 year old still wets at night too - I'm not worried about it. And I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a lazy parent or not. I know I'm not lazy and this is more of a biological issue, not parental issue. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead and call me lazy. Your opinion would have to matter to me for me to take offense :o)
Anyone heard of girls bedwetting from 11 - 16 years of age?
I'm sure there's lots of reasons for it, but that's the experiece I had with it.
When I potty trained my youngest son at age 3, I had no problems with him bed-wetting.