Tips for Bed Wetting

Last night my almost 3 year old had a pee in the night.

It’s been a little more common lately.

Toddlers that are potty trained, and right up to preschool ages, can have accidental bed wetting, for a variety of reasons. For us it likely stems from food and liquid intake close to bedtime, but there are a variety of things that come into play. The main thing is a) how to deal with it in the moment, and b) what to do moving forward.

In response I have two tricks and a nickel’s worth of free advice.

Always have a extra pair of clean jammies close by.

If it’s not in your little one’s dresser or closet, lay them out on a rocker or somewhere easily accessible. It’s never fun waking up out of a dead sleep and having to root around in the dark for clean pyjamas.

It’s also never fun waking up out of a dead sleep and having to find clean pyjamas that FIT. If you’re anything like us, with two boys that are growing like weeds and have either interchangeable or indistinguishable clothes, it’s key to have one or two sets of jams on hand that are current: i.e. that fit right now.

If you’re also anything like us, and have a toddler who has VERY strong and highly mercurial preferences, it might behoove you to have 2-3 pairs of pyjamas ready in case you run into “I DON’T WANT THOOOOOOOOOOSE!”. Which happens to us every second time this happens.

Put two crib or bed sheets on the mattress

A big save both for time and not losing the sleep state after a pee wake up, is wrapping your crib or bed mattress in TWO sheets.

Option 1

Put on a first sheet. Lay down a mattress protector mat over that. Then wrap that whole apparatus in ANOTHER sheet. In the event of a late night pee accident, you can rip off the top wet sheet, take off the mattress protector, and have a clean, dry fresh sheet all ready to go.

The caveat with this one is mattress protectors don’t often cover the ENTIRE mattress. If your darling child happens to roll to a corner and lets it rip in an uncovered area of the mattress, you’ll be SOL and have to do a traditional middle of the night sheet change (or just let em sleep the rest of the night on the bare mattress).

Option 2

Similar to #1, start by putting on a standard sheet. Then, flip the mattress over and put on another clean sheet. In the even of a late night pee accient, you can rip off the top wet sheet, flip the mattress over, and voila, dry, fresh sheet, no fuss no muss.

Curb water intake before bed

This one is a little tricky to actually monitor and implement.

Kids need to be hydrated, and it’s never intuitive to say “Stop drinking water!”. And often after dinner in the grey zone before bed, it’s hard to have eyes on what kids are doing/watching/eating/drinking. But there is method to limiting how much your kids drink right before bed. Obviously the more they do, the greater the chance they’ll have to pee.

Curb salty and sugary foods before bed

You can also limit salty foods, sugary foods, or drinks with caffeine. For us, the latter isn’t an issue as we don’t feed coffee to our 3 and 5 year olds. But salt and sugar is another matter. My oldest LOVES chips, and my youngest LOVES goldfish. Both are highly salty. And salt, as we know, increases thirst. Which begets drinking. Which begets peeing. So, no salty stuff before bed.

Another fave of ours is popsicles, ice cream, and fruit/pedialite freezies. Sugar like salt also triggers thirst. So again, try to limit sugary stuff before bed.

No salt. No sugar. Not too much to drink. Doesn’t sound like fun. But it doesn’t sound like no peeing in the night. Which on balance, is an acceptable outcome.

Habitual bathroom tries before bed

You can also make a habit out of doing bathroom tries right before bed to curb the chances of late night accidents.

Medical, behavioural, or psychological factors

If the occurence persists you can take a closer look at what might be other factors involved. Be sure that it’s not weird, or odd, or that you’re the only one going through it. If there’s anything I’ve learn from being a parent and the occasional though rare, honest internet source, is that lots of people experience the same or similar problems raising kids. It’s not easy. Shit literally happens. Lots of shit. And different kinds of shit.

Remember you’re not the only one. No matter how hard. You’re (mostly, probably) normal.

Teach that it’s ok

Make sure to encourage your little ones to call for oummy or Daddy in the night to go to the bathroom. It’s always ok to call out, and if they’re old enough, it’s always ok to go to the bathroom on their own.

It’s also ok to have accidental pees in the bed. If it’s happening every night then something else might be up. But on occasion, kids need to know there’s no fault or shame or wrongdoing. And that they always have the support of their parents.

https://www.realsimple.com/foods-that-dehydrate-you-7501710 https://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/behavior/bed-wetting.aspx