Mommy hugs can fix unlikely things

Last night the Girl wet the bed again for the first time in weeks. (This is why I don’t use my kids real names BTW. In case you ever wondered.)

It’s also the first time in weeks that I’ve completely forgotten to go in after she’s asleep and give her an extra hug/jostle her around a bit.

She never wakes when I go in. But somehow, that I do makes all the difference in her sleep patterns, and keeps her from wetting the bed.

Odd don’t you think? It makes me wonder what’s happening in her little head.

I know the obvious answer. I’ve done the research. Bed wetting has to do with a combination of bladder size/strength, sleep cycles, plus a mysterious hormone/chemical that’s thrown into the mix. We have lived with bed wetting for a long time. If there is something written about it, I probably own the book. So on some level, I know that when I go in I disturb her sleep cycles, perhaps knocking her out of deep sleep where she sometimes gets caught and into the other sleep cycles. That could be the difference.

Except, it doesn’t seem to matter when I go in, so long as it’s not after she’s already wet, just that I do it. I can go in right after she’s fallen asleep or several hours later. What matters is that I go in, and hug her, and move her around a bit and adjust her blankets. She claims to have no memory of any of these nighttime movements, though she frequently hugs back in her sleep.

So I’m back to, “What happens in my little Girl’s head?”

Whatever it is, I’m glad the solution is a simple one. I may not understand why it works, but it’s nice to know that there are some problems that can still be solved with a mommy or daddy hug. Even the unlikely ones. (The Boy is an entirely different story.)

I just hope I don’t have to follow her to college and wake her up there too.

all content © Carrien Blue

4 thoughts on “Mommy hugs can fix unlikely things

  1. We have a five year old who wets profusely every night. Enough that we're buying diapers for him, three years after toilet training. RRrrrrr! It's especially grating since we never bought diapers for him anyway–he was in cloth. So buying disposables now is particularly irksome. We've been gearing up for this "dry bed training" thing the doctor gave us…but maybe I'll try your way first. It would be so much more pleasant. 🙂

  2. I have to be honest, although I live with pretty much nightly bedwetting for my 8 yr old son, I apparently have not researched very well. We do use overnights/underjam night pullups but he typically soaks right through those, but usually just bottom sheet and not top if I use them (vs everything including comforter if I do not). I don't even bother with a mattress pad anymore – his sheet goes right on the plastic mattress cover poor boy (I use flannel except in summer just to give him more layering between plastic cover and his body through the sheet). Anyways, I've spoken to our pediatrician in length and they feel its genetic and part of it due to his ability to sleep very deeply. I am going to try your method – it seems much more pleasant than the alarms (which our dr actually didn't recommend because it can truly hamper sleep patterns in a child who sleeps well). So thanks for this – I am going to start this as of tonight and see if it helps!

    Its so hard on the kids (more than us as annoying as it is to be woken up to change sheets at 3 am on a regular basis). My son wants to do sleepovers, boy scout overnights, etc and I just can't let him.

  3. I'm living at college right now and have been sick and I want a mommy hug so bad right now.
    The post is good! Potty training is hard.
    Katherine
    whataboutsummer

  4. Just so you know. This doesn't work on my 8 yo. His bladder isn't strong enough, still, to hold it all night. The Girl's is. It helps with him, he's dry a bit more often, but he's not anywhere near dry all night yet. He still has incontinent moments during the day also.

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