Give Your Enuretic Child the Gift of Confidence

Imagine you wake up soaking wet - again. You're already a 'big kid' because every day, for as long as you can remember, you wake up feeling like a baby. Maybe your siblings tease you. Even if they don't, it just doesn't feel fair that even your little brother or sister has stayed dry at night for years.

How do you think your bedwetting child feels?What do they tell themselves about this problem? What can you do to help?

Most parents agree - being a kid today is much more complicated than it was when we did it. Sure, kids have a lot cooler toys than we had. But they've also got a lot more challenges than we ever had. You already know all about them - you're living it every day. In fact, it's probably giving you the occasional nightmare!

Add to all the normal pressures 'normal' kids face the nagging feeling many bedwetting kids have that they're somehow 'less' - and it's no surprise they struggle with a lack of confidence. The world (especially the world of kids in school) can be tough. Group a bunch of insecure kids (or adults for that matter) together, and it's not long before they're cutting each other to the quick.

Your home should be a safe haven for your children. The fact that you're reading this now means that you realize this. You're doing all you can to help your bedwetting child cope with and conquer enuresis.

As parents, we need to be a little creative sometimes when you want to help build your child's confidence. Just like how if you smell the same flowers all day every day you can't smell them anymore, if you praise your children the same way all the time - they almost don't hear it anymore.

Our family learned about a really neat exercise when we went to a seminar this summer. It doubles as a pretty cool room decoration, too. All you need is a roll of kraft paper or other long paper, some scissors, and some crayons or markers.

Roll out a length of paper long enough for your child to lie down on. Trace around your child's body with a marker. Then work with your child to write affirmation statements within the lines of the body. Suggest things like:

I am smart.
I am strong.
I am a good friend.
I am creative.

You get the idea. Challenge your child to come up with as many positive qualities as possible. They may be silly at first - "I have hair." "I like pickles." But if you stick with it, you may hear some pretty neat statements. Afterward, have your child decorate the outline, add clothes, hair, a face.

Hang this big physical reminder of your child's greatness up where it can be seen every day. In time, they'll put together the fact that the things that matter most about who they are have NOTHING to do with enuresis.