Older Children,Bed-Wetting,and Self Diapering

  I had covered this issue briefly in an earlier sharepost. This issue concerns me and that is why I felt it needed to be covered in more depth. On this website and others I have read about parents and babysitters diapering  older children with bed-wetting problems. Some of these children are 9 or older. As we all know bed-wetting can be very stressful and in my opinion this stress can be exacerbated by parents not letting their child put on their own protection. By no means am I a childcare expert but my intuition tells me that above the age of 3 or 4 a child should be taught how to put on their own diapers.

  As mentioned in a previous post I had a friend who had to babysit a 6 year old. She was telling me that she had to diaper the child before he went to bed. Due to his age I assumed he was potty trained and that the reason he wore diapers was because of a bed-wetting problem. She told me that he went running through the house naked and screaming and refused to let her put the diapers on him,which I can't say as I blame him.

  I do believe that an older child,adolescent,or teenager should wear diapers to bed if all attempts to cure it have failed and if other garments such as pull-ups and “Goodnites” don't offer adequate protection but I also feel that the youngster should be responsible for putting on their own protection unless they have some cognitive and/or physical disability that makes it either difficult for them to do so or prevents them from doing so. Diapering an older child has the potential to drastically effect a child's psychological health for years to come.

  There are certain tasks that can be accomplished by youngsters who aren't cognitively or physically impaired including tying one's shoes,putting on one's clothes,etc. Diapering one's self in my opinion would fit into this category also.

  If the parents are concerned that the child might not fasten the diapers correctly thereby causing the diapers to leak the parents can show the child how to fasten the diapers correctly. One way of doing this is to lay the diaper on the bed,have the child sit in the diaper,and tell them how to fold and fasten the diapers properly. I would do this when the child is young because the older the child gets the more embarrassed the child will feel. This is a very sensitive area for children. Many bed-wetting children feel self-conscious and embarrassed about wearing diapers to bed(although as I have pointed out many times they shouldn't be) and having their parents diapering them will make them feel even more self-conscious and embarrassed. Also bed-wetting makes many children feel helpless and by parents diapering the child it reinforces the feeling of helplessness. That is why children should be taught to be independent in this are as soon as possible.

  As far as pin-on diapers are concerned some parents are afraid that the youngster might stick themselves with the pins. This is certainly a valid concern but if appropriate precautions are taken this shouldn't be an issue. I was talking to someone in customer service for a company that sells pin-on cloth diapers and plastic pants for older children and adults with bed-wetting problems to get her take on the situation and she told me that at the age of 7 or below the parents might need to fasten the diapers,above the age of 7 it would depend on the child's development. I believe the same steps taken with disposable diapers can also be taken with pin-on diapers. Again the parents should lay the diapers on the bed,have the child sit in them,and teach them the correct way to fasten the diapers. I can't emphasize this enough-children need to be taught at a young age how to be independent in this area.