Three-Year-Old Wetting the Bed

Q My three-year-old son lets you know when he is awake, that he has to use the potty. However, at nap time or during the night he never awakens to let myself or my wife know that he has to go. Is this a developmental problem or what can be done? A This is not a developmental problem. Your son has learned the first step in sleeping control which is to learn daytime control of tightening his sphincter muscles in response to tension in his bladder. The second step is to keep his sphincters closed without waking up. Clearly learning this step is going to make sleeping control more difficult and take longer than daytime control.

What do you do to help your son gain nighttime control? Not one thing! Don't bring attention to his wetting while sleeping, certainly don't respond by acting disappointed or blaming him for wetting the bed. As his bladder naturally matures, this maturation plus his present daytime control will result in sleeping control. Just let it happen, he's right on schedule.


Previous:

Next:

  • How to Prevent Bed-Wetting
    Parents may feel relieved after toilet training a child: finally, no more diaper changes! In reality, toddlers and young children may have mastered daytime bladder control but still struggle to stay dry at night. Though this difficulty can be embarra
  • Four-Year-Old Wets the Bed
    Q My four-year-old son wets his bed every night and sleeps right through it. It seems not to bother him. My husband and I even try to wake him up to go to the bathroom, but it does not work. What else we can do? A Dont feel alone! Your son is nearing
  • How to Treat Bed-Wetting
    Bed-wetting is no fun for parents or children, but it isnt necessarily a sign that anything is wrong with your child. About 15 percent of children wet the bed after the age of 3, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.