NYTimes article about wetting bed.

[isabchi]

What do you think about it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/he...2klas.html?hpw

[zoebird]

i believe it to be true.

i have long known that boys bladders tend to grow slower than girls, and slower than the rest of hteir bodies. after a growth spurt, it is common for bed-wetting to occur. and it does happen in girls too, though less frequently in general.

i also think that it does have a heavy stigma. but i think that's because a lot of things that parents do and have done in parenting in the pastwas shame-based and punishment based. so, bed wetting was treated--like so many other things--as something to be ashamed of or punished for.

i'm glad that this information is becoming more mainstream, because more parents should be aware of these physiological elements and then temper themselves accordingly.

[pixiepunk]

i think that there is definitely a genetic tendency towards it, but i do think that long-term diapering (especially sposies) exacerbate the issue. for those children who have smaller bladders, building the sphincter control and the awareness from birth is particularly important IMO. i think that what is common and genetic and biological is the need to pee at night... i don't necessarily think that staying asleeping during the process is. most diapered kids are *encouraged* to ignore their elimination, especially at night. and once those kids get older and regain their awareness during the day, i think it is just harder to develop the awareness at night because you're asleep and in general not as aware of things.

[isabchi]

Originally Posted by pixiepunk

i think that there is definitely a genetic tendency towards it, but i do think that long-term diapering (especially sposies) exacerbate the issue. for those children who have smaller bladders, building the sphincter control and the awareness from birth is particularly important IMO. i think that what is common and genetic and biological is the need to pee at night... i don't necessarily think that staying asleeping during the process is. most diapered kids are *encouraged* to ignore their elimination, especially at night. and once those kids get older and regain their awareness during the day, i think it is just harder to develop the awareness at night because you're asleep and in general not as aware of things.

That's exactly what i thought...My DD (almost 5yo.) didn't had a night misses in years, but we still bring her to potty once in the middleof the night as she needs. As well, DS (1 1/2 yo) who I think has a small bladder, plus loves water with passion, we potty him twice every night.
I was thinking also about DH that wet his bed until 8 or someting, he was also in medication for that. DH is the most happy one after two EC babies that his children don't have to live his traumatic experience including a scary visit to the ER, 'cause he took all the pills of his medicine at once to save the worry to take one once a day...LOL

[zoebird]

i don't think that my son has a smal bladder, so much as when he grows, his bladder is smaller than the rest of him, and therefore his needs. that is, being bigger, he needs more water/food, but potties more because the bladder is catching up. usually, it's a few days or a week when it evens out, and stays that way until the next growth spurt.

[JMJ]

I wet the bed regularly until I was 5. After that, it was intermittent. I had figured out to wake myself up to go, but I kept having this recurring dream that I was sitting on the toilet.... I don't blame myself or my parents. I know they were frusterated, but I don't ever remember being punished for it. I was in cloth diapers, so sposies weren't the issue, either.

I think that EC can help prevent bed wetting, though. I don't think that not doing EC makes for a problem, and I'm sure that some ECed kids still have problems, but I think that EC helps to build those muscles. My ECed daughter started sleeping dry all night at about 2 months old. She'll wake to pee in the middle of the night every once in a while, but even then, she's very good at letting me know that she's not going back to sleep until I take her potty. Her dad must have given her some better genes.