Bed wetting is a common problem with children who have been traumatized. It is fairly normal to some point with other children also.

Some children just sleep so deeply that they relax and the bladder just discharges itself before the child even realizes what is happening. Some even sleep right through it and wake up wet. Other children may have very weak bladders and may not have good control when they are not awake. So the child will dream they are in the bathroom because they feel the need to urinate but release the urine and wake up abruptly.

With traumatized children it is more on an emotional level but just as uncontrollable as with the deep sleeping child. In some cases the child's bladder may have some damage or trauma also.

For those who have never experienced the problems they may dismiss bed wetting as the result of just a lazy child. That is far from the truth.

No child would ever want to wet their bed. It is embarrassing and humiliating. Just another emotionally difficult issue they have to deal with.

As a parent of a child who has this issue, you must help them learn as much as possible on how to keep good hygiene. This can be done by using plastic mattress covers, then placing a top sheet on. You may wish to put another plastic cover on and another top sheet so if the child does wet during the night. They can easily change the sheet by pulling the top sheet and plastic cover off and placing it in the laundry basket.

Then they can wash up and change pjs and go back to a clean dry bed. This will cut down on any skin rashes they may get due to the bed wetting.

It will also help with the child's self esteem. They are not faced with a wet bed when their siblings get up in the morning.

You must encourage the child to shower every morning which means they may have to get up a little bit earlier than the other kids so they do not miss school.

This will help cut back on bed wetting trauma also because the child will not smell of urine in school. No one has to know the child has this issue.

Depending on the age of the child they can take some responsibility in cleaning up after themselves. At the age of around 7 you can ask the child to please make sure that the wet items get to the laundry room each morning so that you may get them washed. By the age of 8 they should be learning to help wash the items and change their own bed.

...To Be Continued...