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Home › Articles › Bedwetting › Catch Some Zzz's!

Catch Some Zzz's!

Getting to Sleep Despite Bedwetting

By Amy Carey-Bowman

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Constantly waking your child in the night to take her to the bathroom not only interrupts your child's sleep, but your sleep, too! Nelson and many parents have found less stressful ways of dealing with bedwetting, including using absorbent products and mattress protectors.

For now, Nelson's son wears Pull-Ups® Training Pants at night. Using absorbent products such as Pull-Ups® Training Pants or GoodNites® Underpants can help your child stay dry through the night and help you avoid getting up to change his pajamas or sheets, which helps everyone sleep through the night. A protective waterproof sheet covering his mattress also can help.

Falling Back to Sleep

When your child does wake up in the night, make sure getting back to sleep is as speedy as possible by first responding to his immediate need (changing his bed or helping him to the bathroom and comforting him if necessary), then help him relax by following a familiar routine. For instance, if your child falls asleep to a particular sound or music, play that for him with the lights off, keeping the setting as calm as possible.

"Don't tell [your] child to try harder when he can't sleep," Dr. Kuo says. "Trying is an awake activity. [It creates] cognitive and emotional arousal, [which are] sleep-incompatible."

Making sure your child gets enough sleep is an ongoing challenge. Talk to your doctor or other parents about ways you can make this time manageable for both of you. And take heart that this stage won't last forever – most kids outgrow bedwetting by age 10.

Sleepy Time

Parents are key when it comes to children getting all the sleep they need. Here are a few habits to share with your children at bedtime that will help both of you get some sleep at night.

  • Set a good example. "Kids learn from their parents," says Dr. Tracy Kuo, staff psychologist at The Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic. "Parents need to practice meeting their own sleep needs on a regular basis."
  • Make sleep a priority. "Given ... an overscheduled, highly hectic lifestyle, time is the most [limited] resource," Dr. Kuo says. "[Provide] protected time for sleep. Choose not to let other activities squeeze into time for sleep."
  • Follow a consistent schedule.


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