Resources Provide Advice on How to Help Children Who Haven’t Outgrown Bedwetting
It is common for young children to wet the bed or have other toileting challenges during the day, but this can cause shame, especially for those who are slow to grow out of it.
If a child continues to wet the bed or have accidents during the day more than just occasionally after their fifth birthday, it can be a sign of a disorder known as enuresis, the Child Mind Institute notes.
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For children with enuresis, urinating voluntarily or involuntarily at inappropriate times or places can be caused by different things. However, treatment should never involve punishment or shaming.
The Child Mind Institute has provided some resources on enuresis and other toileting challenges, such as encopresis, which is when a child cannot control their bladder or bowels.
The resources focus on situations in which children might be too anxious to go to the bathroom at school and on children with ADHD who may struggle to transition from doing something interesting to sitting on a toilet. Children with autism can have sensory sensitivities that can cause constipation or abdominal pain.
Because all of these scenarios can be embarrassing for children, the institute has provided advice on how to help them cope with their feelings as they learn to listen to and gain better control of their bodies.
The resources include: