Bed Wetting Regression Now School Has Started?

Has your child has started wetting after a long period of being dry?   This is quite common as starting school can be a source of anxieties or stresses that can suddenly trigger bed wetting.  Or they may just be very tired with a full busy day in the heat of summer.

There are a few reasons why your child may wet the bed, with some solutions at the end of this post : 

Your child doesn’t wake up in the night

Your child may just not be getting the signal from their brain that wakes them up when their bladder is full and needs to be emptied.   This may have been fine in the past, but with starting school or going back to school, they may be more tired than normal and just not waking up.  Otherwise they may be worried about school and so not sleeping well and again being over tired.    Finding out the reason is priority, (it could be social, bullying, or just a new place and new people) but whilst you do that, a bed wetting alarm can help as the alarm wakes up the child and they gradually learn the signals from the brain to start waking themselves up.  Plus now school has started, get back into a routine of a regular bed time and one that isn’t too late.

Their bladder can’t stretch enough

If the bladder is restricted, then it won’t have enough space to stretch when it fills with wee.  This means it may empty earlier during the night than if there were more room.  This is quite common if your child is constipated.  If their bowel is full of poo it can press into the bladder and limit space for wee. 

It could be that your child is avoiding going to the toilet at school which can lead to constipation and bladder problems such as a UTI.  (Urinary Track Infection).   It is surprising how many children do not want to use the school toilets. 

It is likely this secondary enuresis (begin wetting after being dry for a long period), will settle down as they grow used to life at school or get back into school routines.   It is still important to check with your doctor to rule out any underlying physical causes including constipation and UTIs.

How you can help

Stop drinks an hour before bedtime.

If they drink plenty during the day – they shouldn’t need a big drink before bed.   Plus make sure they do a ‘decent” wee before bed.   Choose your child’s drinks carefully.  Avoid giving your child caffeinated drinks as caffeine increases the bodies urge to wee.

Make it easy to get to the toilet at night.  A night light is a great idea for giving your child confidence to get up in the night.  Check out our night lights here.    Or else leave on a hall light or the toilet light.

Give your child enough to drink during the day. 

Not always easy to monitor when they are at school. Let’s face it – kids are busy and sometimes just plain forget to get a drink.    You could make it a competition to see if they can drink two bottles of water a day.  Or have a big glass with breakfast and when they get home from school to make up for not drinking much at school. Restricting drinks during the day will not help a child be dry at night and if it causes constipation – it could make it worse. 

Don’t tell your child off. 

Remember – no one wants to wake up in a wet bed.  It is out of their control and you being cross isn’t going to help at all.  Get some Brolly Sheets so you can easily change their wet bed – or if they are a bit older, they can change the Brolly Sheet themselves.  This can really help as an older child will get some independence and the feeling he is at least in control of changing his bed.

 Bed wetting alarms

If your child is a heavy sleeper a bed wetting alarm can help.  There is a sensor worn in the pyjamas or underwear which sounds an alarm when wet.  The idea is they wake your child once they start to wee so they don’t fully wet the bed and they can get to the toilet to finish the wee.  When the alarm goes off, they clench their sphincter automatically and over time the do not need the noise, but the feeling of a start of a wee is enough to wake them up.  It is called conditioned learning.

Alarms are loud- they are designed to wake a deep sleeper and you as the parent will need to get up to ensure your child wakes up and goes to the toilet to finish the wee.  Then they need to reset the alarm and go back to bed.   So – they do take some work – but have fabulous results – you can check out all our reviews on line to see what you think.  We publish both the good and the bad.

1. Check out the reviews on our wireless alarm here

2. Check out our reviews on our wired alarm here

The difference between the two is cost and convenience. Like all wireless technology, it is much simpler to use but comes at a higher cost due to a higher level of technology. 

School toilets

Your child may not drink during the day because they do not want to use the toilet.   This is more common than you think and you could start a general conversation just asking what the toilets are like at school.  They may say why they don’t like using them. 

New school – with littlies it go with them and do a practise run.  Go with your kid to the school bathroom to practise locking and unlocking the stall door or to see if the flushing noise is scary. This can desensitizes an anxious child so they feel more comfortable.   You can also talk to the teacher to find out if there are rules about when they can go and what they need to tell the teacher.  Some kids need to know the process before they will raise a hand and ask to go. 

Find out what they do not like about the school toilets.  Is it the smell, the different toilet paper, the ways the doors lock?  They won’t be used to having to lock a door and some kids have a fear of being trapped inside. There are many reasons and so sitting down and talking with your child is a start.

It may help to go to as many public toilets as you can so they can see toilets come in lots of different styles, different ways to dry their hands, different toilet paper holders (toilet paper may not come out as easily as a roll at home), different soap dispensers etc. 

Boys – at home they may drop their pants to the floor, where at school older boys using a fly will see this as a reason for laughter.  Teaching them to use a urinal is also important if this is what our school has.  Maybe get dad to go with him to check them out.  

 Books

Book on how their body works can really help them understand why it is important to go to the toilet when their bodies tell them they need to go

You can check out our Brolly Sheets (to make changing a wet bed at 2 am a breeze) here and our bed wetting alarms here:

Brolly Sheets

Bed wetting alarms