How to Use Bladder Training to Stop Bedwetting

Bedwetting is a common issue among children, and the causes for it may vary. Also called enuresis, this condition is not considered medically hazardous but can be a source of frustration for children and their parents. Children may sleep so deeply that they do not feel the urge to urinate, or they may have a bladder that is small or underdeveloped. Sudden lifestyle changes can cause children to begin wetting the bed at night, and many children wet their beds during toilet training or after the consumption of a caffeinated sugary beverage. Doctors may prescribe bladder training for children struggling to stay dry at night.

Things You'll Need

  • Bladder training or conditioning alarm (optional)

Instructions

    • 1

      Ask the child to eliminate just before bedtime. Some kids are too tired to feel the urge to go by the time bedtime rolls around. When parents limit the consumption of large amounts of fluid in the pre-bedtime hours, they are helping to ensure that their child's bladder isn't going to be full when he hits the hay, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' HealthyChildren.org website.

    • 2

      Wake your child up before you go to bed. Healthy Children asserts that most nighttime accidents occur between 1 to 2 hours after the child has gone to bed. When the child is fully awake, she can use the bathroom and return to her bed with an empty bladder.

    • 3

      Encourage children to strengthen bladder control through triple voiding. According to the experts at Ask Dr. Sears, this is the process of squeezing the bladder to push all of the urine from the child's body. Squeezing or pushing the bladder three times will expel the urine from the child's body and prepare the child for a dry night.

    • 4

      Practice bladder-training drills which increase neuro-muscular control and bladder capacity. Parents can also encourage children to stop the stream of urine mid-evacuation, showing the child that they are capable of controlling their body. Giving the child plenty of fluids and then asking him to wait for the bathroom for increasingly extended periods of time can help him develop greater bladder capacity, according to Ask Dr. Sears.

    • 5

      Utilize a bedwetting alarm. If bladder training is not helping a child, some parents use these conditioning devices. The alarm system consists of a moisture-sensitive pad which is worn inside the underwear. When the first few drops of urine touch it, an alarm attached to the child's shoulder buzzes to wake the child. Once awake, the child can use the toilet and return to bed.

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