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Parents of Bedwetters Unite

Finding Support and Advice Both Online and Off

By Beth Skarupa

If you need help finding a supportive doctor, consider calling the The National Kidney Foundation's toll-free bedwetting hotline, (888) WAKE-DRY, where you can request a free brochure on bedwetting, as well as get a referral for a doctor in your area.

"Parents of children with bedwetting should know that help is available," says Dr. Lane Robson of the National Kidney Foundation's enuresis committee. "They might have to search for the local expert or travel to a nearby community ... They should keep accessing the health care system until they find someone who is knowledgeable, has experience and cares. Knowledge definitely isn't enough."

Although your child's bedwetting is a private matter, talking to a friend or family member you can trust may be helpful. Relating to others can make both you and your child feel less alone.

"Children won't talk to other kids about it," says Joe Peraino, a clinical psychologist in Houston, Texas. "They are too embarrassed about it. Heck, they don't even want to talk to their parents about it. Parents, however, would benefit from talking with other parents."

Kathy's* oldest son, now 6, has only been dry through the night a handful of times. When she potty-trained him during the day, she switched him to disposable underwear at night. "The pull-ups work fine, and it saves him from embarrassment over something he can't control," she says. "I am frustrated with my son's bedwetting and wish I could help him stop, but I was a bedwetter as a child, and I know from personal experience that the child has absolutely no control over this." She has only confided in a few of her good friends about her son's bedwetting, and she says, they're all supportive of her decision to use the pull-ups.

Want to see more?

• Communicating About Bedwetting: How to Talk With Your Child
• Of Bladders and Bedwetting: A Simple Explanation of the Urinary System
• Bringing Up Bedwetting: Talking to Your Doctor About Enuresis
• Wet But Dry: How Absorbent Underwear May Help Your Bedwetting Child
• Beat the Bedwetting Blues: 3 Steps to Providing a Positive Atmosphere for Children Who Wet the Bed
• Talk about it!