To Pee Or Not To Pee – That Is The Question

OK – so the title of this blog is “To Pee Or Not To Pee.”

As the mom of a boy who is the latest in a long line of bedwetters, I know that without a sense of humor, you’re a goner. This blog is intended to help other moms (and dads) who are coping with a child who wets the bed.

Bedwetting’s kind of a weird thing – it’s a problem that sort of creeps up on you. When your toddler wets the bed, you don’t give it much thought. Then if your preschooler can’t stay dry, you start thinking, “Hmmm – this doesn’t seem right.” By the time your child’s in elementary school, there’s no denying it – and it gets its own medical name – nocturnal enuresis. And having an official diagnosis kind of helps – but you’ve still got a lot to cope with. And more importantly, you’ve got a little one you’ve got to help as they cope, too.

Here are just a few of the challenges:

• You’re likely to get some bizarre, bad, and even sometimes horrible advice from your friends and family. They may say things that make you wonder whether you’ve somehow caused your child’s bedwetting problem.

• You’ve got questions. They sound something like, “Why can’t my kid stay dry? When will it end? What’s the cause? What can we do to help?” Your family physican can answer a lot of this, but it really helps to hear from other parents who are going through the same thing.

• You’re hoping to be able to help your child cope. They need to understand that this isn’t a problem that defines who they are. They probably struggle with feeling like a baby, feeling ashamed, wondering whether their friends and relatives would accept them if they were in on “the secret” – and wondering how they can handle doing the fun things other kids do without a second thought, like sleepovers and camp.

• You’ve probably got a laundry problem. Keeping up with the laundry’s never a piece of cake anyway, but add in a load (or two!) of sheets each day, and you can end up feeling like you’re pushing a rock up a steep hill.

I know what you deal with every morning, the struggles you have, the bad advice you’ve gotten, the guilt and fear that you’ve somehow done this to your child. We’ve tried lots of things – and are still in search of the bedwetting silver bullet! I’ve made lots of mistakes in dealing with my son.

Parenting’s not for sissies – or Lone Rangers

But I’m a firm believer in the power of having friends who are supportive and encouraging, who’ll share the information they come across, who’ll give me the scoop on bedwetting products before we try them, who’ll give a kind word when you need it, who’ll help me become a better parent. That’s what I hope to offer here.

If you’ve got a child with a bedwetting problem, I’d love to hear from you. Share what you’ve learned, what you’ve tried, what you struggle with.