Riding the “bed-wetting” wave

After the initial wonderment of bringing a newborn baby into this world recedes, next comes a wave of uncertainty and worry. From the day we bring our beautiful bouncing babies home we are worried about their sleeping schedules, are they getting enough milk, are they meeting their development targets...and the list is endless. Then as they blossom into delightful toddlers we are faced with a new set of problems, from tantrums to picky eating to stranger anxiety we are dealt with a different obstacle course at each development stage. One of the trickiest challenges we face during the toddler phase is that of bed-wetting. The transition from leaving the safety net of diapers into big boy/girl pants is usually a slippery slide of hits or misses. First “dry” night leaves you feeling victorious that you have met the challenge head on and won, but the next night your victories can easily be washed away, by the bed wetting toddler!

Here are some ways to help your child from bedwetting

According to the experts children's bladders mature at different times. Just because your friend's five year old doesn't wet the bed does not mean that your one should also stop. It is important not to compare and to allow your child to cross that milestone on their own timeframe.

Always have a laid back attitude towards solving the bed wetting process, if your child feels that you are stressed by it then they will also get stressed and it is unnecessary to trouble them on a problem that they cannot control.

When your child shows signs of keeping dry till morning or going to the toilet by themselves, reward them accordingly. This will boost their confidence and help in achieving the common goal. Of course limiting the amount of liquids they have in the evening helps to keep the bed-wetting at minimum. Do not let your youngster indulge in bucket loads of liquids after seven and make sure they go to the toilet beforehand.

If you feel that your child needs to go to the toilet by a certain time late at night, then always take them before you go to bed. I used to take my four year old by ten o clock before I go to bed, but sometimes she doesn't always need to go and more times I feel too exhausted to go to all that hassle just before bed. This method only works for some.

Experts have suggested that if the nighttime bed wetting does continue there is no harm in putting the child back in diapers and trying again in a few months.

Bed-wetting in younger children will sort themselves out as they get older. If your child has suddenly started to wet that bed, then external factors might be at hand and you will have to talk them through their problems. Parenting is the single most selfless job one can do, but it is also the only job that your get paid in hugs and kisses and it's fully worth it!