Parent Support and Community Understanding: Helping Your Child Cope with Bed Wetting
Children who wet their beds are mostly regarded as one of the two: a child who has psychological problems stemming from a dysfunctional home; or two, a child who has a physiologically untreatable disorder.
Both of these perspectives are inaccurate; and the fact that they are popular is a thing to be disgruntled about. A child who wets his bed will not only suffer from a damaged self-mage, he will also suffer from discrimination from his parents, his peers and the community in general. This is definitely not what he needs to overcome the situation.
Bed Wetting Truths
There are 15 percent of children that remain urinary incontinent at age 5. If this is the case, this child will have rare episodes of nocturnal enuresis.
There are two forms of nocturnal enuresis; primary and secondary. Primary enuresis is diagnosed of children who have never really gotten to the point of controlling their bladders completely; secondary enuresis is when the child has had at least six months of dry bed before the nocturnal enuresis occurs.
Although secondary enuresis is associated with stressful times for the child, it does not necessarily mean that the child has a psychological disorder; in truth, it has not been accurately proven if enuresis is indeed a direct product of stress. Primary enuresis on the other hand can be cause by physical problems in the bladder. Both of these conditions are treatable and can be overcome.
Get Behind the Fellow
Bed wetting can cause grief to a child who suffers from it and embarrassment that is felt by the parents plus the discrimination from his immediate community will just make things worse. You may think that the child does not yet understand feelings of shame, but they feel it even if they cannot name it. The bad part is that since they are young, they do not know how to deal with this feeling correctly.
It is therefore up to the parents and the community to help the child realize that bed wetting is not something to be embarrassed about. It is true that it should not happen and that it is not normal development. Still, the child needs to know that he will not be subject to ridicule because of something that he lacks or something that he has no control over.
Support comes primarily from the parents and the siblings. If you have a child who suffers from nocturnal enuresis, it is important to sit him down and assure him that this is not his fault. Remind him that you believe in his capabilities and even if he cannot overcome bed wetting on his own, you are there to help him through it.
His peer group is another difficulty to address; children normally tease other children who suffer from this condition. Since you cannot tell the children not to be discriminatory, it would be much better to discuss this with their parents. Most parents have no idea what causes bed wetting and therefore will not be able to explain the condition clearly to their own children. This is why it is important for you to pioneer an awareness campaign. There is no need to blow things out of proportion; that is true. But short and personal talks to parents of your child’s friends will immensely help. Children can be sensitive to the feelings of others; they just need to be reminded now and then.