Advice for Bedwetters, From My Teens

Hi little kids! My kids are all big right now, but they were little like you just a few years ago. I’ve been a mom for a long, long time (since the ‘90s!) and helped all four of my kids through enuresis. That’s a fancy word for wetting the bed at night.

I know it feels like you are the only one who still wets the bed, but that’s not true. Enuresis/bedwetting is really common and nothing to be embarrassed about. I asked my kids if it would be okay if I talked about what it was like for them, and they said okay.

First of all, bedwetting is indeed really common. Almost everyone wets the bed after they are toilet trained. In fact, 70% still do at age seven. So if you are in second grade and you look around your classroom, most of your friends are dealing with it too.

I asked my kids what their best advice is for kids who still wet the bed, and here’s what they told me.

Have less to drink at night.

If you’re thirsty, of course you should have a little water, but try to limit beverages after you are done with dinner.

Go to the bathroom right before you get in the bed.

Do whatever your bedtime routine is: bath, pajamas, brush your teeth. Then, very last thing—empty your bladder fully. Make this a habit, just like anything else you do to get ready for sleep.

Make it easy to get to the bathroom at night.

One of my kids said she sometimes wet the bed because she’d wake up in the dark and be too afraid to go to the bathroom. When she told me this, we made sure to get another nightlight. It was a pretty cool one too. It was like a little lava lamp with glitter inside it, so it was nice to wake up to, and just bright enough to help her go to and from the bathroom.

If that’s not enough light, get a super cool Monster-Repelling flashlight. Your mom and dad will know how to find one of those. They work at getting rid of anything scary, I guarantee it!

Maybe go talk to your doctor.

Out of all four of my kids, one was a pretty persistent bedwetter. None of the previous advice was working. So, we went to our pediatrician. It turns out, my kid had a low-level chronic bladder infection. A short course of antibiotics cleared it right up.

We made sure to follow all the previous advice, and the bedwetting completely stopped!

Be prepared.

Sometimes, your bladder just hasn’t caught up with the rest of you. If that’s the case the only thing to do is wait until your body is ready to stay dry all night. Until then, don’t let anyone tease you or make you feel bad about wetting the bed. Odds are, they used to do it too.

I was glad to write this for Pampers UnderJams. When my kids were waiting to outgrow bedwetting, we used Pampers to keep the bed and their pajamas dry. It really helped my kids maintain a sense of dignity to not wake up to wet sheets. And, it gave them a sense of security if we were spending the night away from home.

Pampers UnderJams give you night wear leakage protection with a NightLock ultra-absorbent core. Now, they are made with quiet, cloth-like materials for privacy, and with a low waist so no one can tell you are wearing them.

Moms and dads, no kid wets the bed on purpose. Until they’re ready, help them have skills to head off nighttime enuresis, and the supplies to stay dry. Parents can learn even more about how to help kids at PampersUnderJams.com. That’s where you can watch videos and read articles with lots of great information from Moms who are leading pediatricians. They have experience helping their own children deal with bedwetting.