Hi there, I’m alex and I am 27 and I want to talk to you about my experience with bedwetting as an older child. I, to the best of my recollection, I was bedwetting until about age 12 and then I finally stopped and I just want to share with you what it’s like, what it was like for me being uh you know a near teenager with this bedwetting problem because it caused me a lot and a lot of stress and I think it’s good for people to understand and to know that they’re not the only ones out there.
So I remember I would wet the bed all the time. I probably have a small bladder, whatever – anyway. It was really awkward because as I got older it’s like I didn’t want my friends to know because like how embarrassing would that be, if you’re like an eighth grader or seventh grade or sixth grader and your friends found out that you had to wear pull-ups or big diapers to bed every night. And so I would try things like not drinking as much liquid, I think that would help but I would just wake up all wet in pull-ups and it was gross and I felt upset at myself because it was something I didn’t feel like I could control, really even when I tried. And I was worried about it.
One thing I was worried about was like, what if I get married and I have to wear diapers? They’re like, this is like so awkward! Like no one’s going to want to marry an adult who has to wear diapers or whatever. Anyway, I had all these. Those were some stressors that I had and I felt embarrassed about it, you know? I think a couple of my friends next-door neighbors who I’d hang out with, they found out about it and maybe a couple other random friends, but you know it wasn’t something I wanted like all my friends to know and for me to be teased about at school. And yeah, luckily I mean, it just kind of happened naturally as I started becoming a teenager. Maybe my bladder starts growing bigger,but I was able to stop wetting the bed, and it hasn’t been an issue – hasn’t been an issue since my teenage years since I overcame it.
But I guess some things you can do to maybe support someone who has bedwetting, and an older child who has a bedwetting problem, is to just not like bring it up, like, or if they if they bring it up just like treat them normally. Don’t, like, tease them about it. They may or may not be sensitive to it. Likely, likely, they will be a little sensitive about it – especially if you tell other friends. I wouldn’t tell other friends. I’d let your friend do that if they want to, but honestly, I don’t think most you know teenagers and younger are so socially mature that they can talk openly about their problems without fear of their friends judging them or making fun of them, so I’d just say be nice to them.
It might be tempting to tease them about wearing diapers or pull-ups but I wouldn’t. It would help them feel better and to cope with it because you know more than anyone else they don’t want to have that problem, and to some extent they can control it. Maybe by not drinking liquids, but in another extent they can’t really control it if their bladder’s really small. It might be they want to but they their body just doesn’t wake them up. But just they go, wet, you know without waking up and then they wake up and they feel awful and they get upset at themselves and they feel self-conscious and depressed and kind of angry at themselves for not being able to be potty trained at nighttime.
Anyway, so that’s my experience with bedwetting as a teenager, right before teenage years, right around the beginning of you know adolescence and I hope if you or your child has bedwetting issues, you know, just be patient with it. I, as far as I understand, the vast majority of people grow out of it naturally. Some people do it as a toddler, some people outgrow it when they’re 10 or 11 or 12 or 8 or 9 and just to be patient with it and to explain to them that it’s normal they don’t have to feel like they’re broken at all they’re just just a normal thing that happens. Their body is just growing and some people it takes longer because their bladders are smaller or their ability to hold in urine and liquid isn’t as as high as maybe other people’s.
So anyway, I hope this video has been helpful if you have any experience that you’re willing to share or things you’ve learned about bedwetting feel free to leave it in the comments section I’d be very curious to hear what your personal experience or insights are.
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