Older Children,Bed-Wetting,and Self Diapering

As usual, Colin is right on. But I think also that a parent continuing to diaper an older kid can be a bit punitive, a way of expressing displeasure regarding the continued wetting. A not very helpful power game.

My Mom called it 'creative shaming'. Every night until I was almost thirteen I had to submit to the humiliating ritual of being powdered, pinned into bulky cloth diapers and then being put in plastic pants, usually by her, but sometimes by someone else. Also the timing was at her convenience, so it wasn't always just before bed.

If it was meant to help me stop wetting, I think it had the opposite effect, because I'm still in diapers at night, but with a bit more privacy.

Getting diapers on an older bedwetter should not be in anyway punitive.  Cloth diapers and plastic pants are used in our house for bedwetting and it is handled with the utmost respect to the bedwetters.  It is done in private and is meant to keep their beds dry and for them to remain comfortable in spite of the wetting.  Simply  being with the child for this time send them a comforting message and as things are being readied the child generally is understanding of why diapers are being worn and that they are not babies or being babied because they wet their beds.  When all is ready then it is simply a matter of pinning, or velcro and the plastic pants.  Once done the pj's go on and then they are free to do what they wish until bed time.

No child should be shamed just because they wet the bed.  They can not help it as they are asleep and in our case it's a deep sleep that causes the bedwetting and so having the diapers on makes a bad situation much better for the kids and the parents.

I have seen people use an ordinary pillow as a training aid to show how to affix diapers,the pillow is laid on the bed long ways and this represents the upper and lower abdomen withot arms/legs/head etc.The diaper is then affixed around the lower end using the corners of the pillow to represent where the legas are,and as the average pillow laid this way is not much smaller than an average abdomen it works really well and doesnt cost a penny or any embarresment trying to obtain a maniquin!

Hope this helps,Stew.

Since bedwetters are generally deep sleepers I recommend using a bed alarm. That worked for me growing up. I found this link with some posted here: http://www.vitalitymedical.com/vitalitymed ical.storefront/4ac527cd0044e9e7271dd8b190 2c06eb/Search/Display