06.14.07
The Potty Problem
Husband and I have been wrestling with Daughter over one of the most common problems a parent faces: the bed-wetting. Daughter potty-trained on schedule at about 2 years old. During the daytime, she has always been a champ. She is aware of when she needs to use the potty and does so without assistance (unless I have dressed her that day in complicated clothing, like overalls or a straight jacket). However, bedtime is a different story. More often than not, in the morning she will wake up to a wet bed. Lately, the problem has escalated, and she is wetting the bed during her afternoon nap also.
Husband and I have tried all (I think) classic strategies of dealing with this:
- No drinks after 7:00 PM (her bedtime is 8:00 PM)
- Waking her up before we go to bed and taking her to the potty. (Forgetting to do this is almost a guarantee of wet sheets in the morning.)
- Avoiding shaming her for wetting the bed, or punishing her for doing so.
- Giving her lots of praise for making it through the night without wetting the bed.
I really think the problem is that the girl is just a really heavy sleeper. The child, once she is asleep, can sleep through anything. Last night, we had a thunderstorm and the claps of thunder were so loud that I think God must have just seen the last episode of the Sopranos on His DVR. Daughter slept right through that.
So here are my questions: Is there anything else we can try? Are my expectations just too high to expect stay dry through the night? Does anybody have any twin-size sheets that we can have?
said,
06.15.07 at 2:41 pm
My stepdaughter wet the bed until nearly 8 or 9. Your daughter is still very young, but she is old enough to begin helping with the clean up. SD is a very deep sleeper, too. Both of my boys take after me and wake up if a dust mote lands too heavily.
Have patience. :-/
said,
06.15.07 at 7:48 pm
This article may help. And this article deals specifically with the connection between sound sleepers and bedwetting. Hope this helps!
–Shell