Too Old to Wet the Bed?

I was disturbed by a blog I read on the Internet about adult bed wetting. I was disturbed because my teenager still wets the bed, and I am worried that this may affect him into his adulthood. Like any other difficulty my child may have to face, I feel the need to make his life as easy as possible. I want the best for him, but sometimes it's out of my control.

So off I went in search of the answer that would prevent my child from having to overcome a difficult issue in his life. Never once, did I think that it may not be the end of the world if my children were not perfect and have the happy fairytale life I want for them.

This man, Eric, writing on the blog about adult bed wetting describes all the things I fear most for my son; lack of self-esteem, embarrassing situations and isolation. As I read this, he says something that made me stop:
"My inability to be dry at night has no bearing on my manhood or anything else about me as a person - it's just how I'm made, " he writes.

Somehow, this gave me some comfort. Knowing that if this man could except this, then maybe my son could too.

Just realizing this made me aware that it may not be the worst thing that could happen. Maybe my son will have to overcome something that isn't perfect about himself, but who hasn't done this and become a better person for it?
I did find out that, as a parent, there are things that I can do to help my son come to terms with bed wetting on his own. Also things I can do to prevent further destruction of his precious self-esteem.

First I wanted to know why my son wets the bed, teenshealth.com gave me causes for "nocturnal enuresis" or bed wetting.

• Hormonal problems: the body does not make enough antiduretic hormone which causes the body to produce less urine at night while we sleep.
• Bladder problems: too many muscle spasms making it more difficult to hold urine or undersized bladders.
• Genetics: it is common for a child of a bed wetting parent to also wet the bed.
• Sleep problems: a child that sleeps deeply may not wake up when they need to go to the bathroom.
• Psychological problems: some children that are under stress or have sudden changes in their life may wet the bed.
• ADHD: bed wetting is often seen accompanied with ADHD children.

A few tips from About.com:Teens:

• Never punish your preteen for wetting the bed.
• If you were a bed wetter, share your experiences with your preteen.
• Keep this between your preteen and yourself. Sharing this problem with other family members or friends will only serve to embarrass your preteen.
• Find positive things to focus your conversations on. Don't let the only communication you have with your preteen be about bed wetting.

The most important thing I have learned is to preserve my son's self-esteem as much as possible by never saying anything negative about his condition. I make sure to let him know, that I love him even if he wets the bed. I accept this about him, so maybe he will accept it too.

To read Eric's story about adult bed wetting go to
http://www.wetbuster.com/Stories/eric.htm
For more information on teen bed wetting go to
http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/preteens/a/bedwetting.htm
http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/urinary/enuresis.html