Is deep sleeping the cause of bedwetting?

I often hear from parents that their children are in such a deep sleep, it’s simply impossible for them to wake up at night and that this is the cause of their bedwetting. My response to this is ‘beware the self-fulfilling prophecy’.

Yes – there are some children who are out for the count and nothing will seem to rouse them from a deep, deep sleep – not even lying in a soaking wet bed.

Is deep sleep linked to bedwetting?

I have worked with many ‘deep sleepers’ in my bedwetting clinic and it’s really interesting how many of them do admit that they are aware of the moment at which they wet their beds. They do momentarily wake up, but just can’t seem to bring themselves to get out of bed to visit the bathroom. This often comes as a big surprise to the parents who had thought their child was out for the count and completely oblivious. Various reasons for the accident are given – they are either slightly afraid (something the parent wasn’t aware of, even if steps had been taken to avoid this) or it was simply too cold to contemplate getting out of bed. After the event, they simply fall back asleep.

I mentioned the idea of the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ at the start of this article and it’s because, if you are convinced that your child’s ‘deep sleeping’ problem is the cause of their bedwetting, then it’s very likely that they will have overheard you repeating this many times over - either within the family or to any of the health professionals that you’ve consulted in the past.

For years your child could have been hearing that they are a ‘deep sleeper’ and nothing will wake them up. That’s a nice hypnotic suggestion if ever I heard one! I wonder how different things could be right now, if all your child had ever heard was what a ‘light sleeper’ they were and how easy it was for them to get up at night and go to the bathroom.

Your child can programme their mind to prevent bedwetting

The truth is, we all know that it’s possible to programme our minds to wake up at a specific time. How many times in the past have you had to wake up at some ridiculous hour, early in the morning to go on a holiday, say? Most of us go to bed worrying about oversleeping only to find ourselves waking up two minutes before the alarm clock goes off. And then we feel strangely spooked by it!

Your child is just as good at programming his or her mind. So many children don’t have a problem waking up extra early on Christmas morning or on their birthday. The prospect of receiving presents is enough to get them jumping out of bed in the morning. Without even realising it, they programmed their minds to wake up early, the night before.

And in just the same way, it’s possible to do the same with waking up to go to the bathroom to avoid a bed wetting accident. You can read more about how to programme your child’s mind to avoid wet beds in “Stop Bedwetting in 7 Days”.

Alicia Eaton is a Children’s Emotional Wellbeing and Behavioural Specialist based in London’s Harley Street since 2004.  She is the author of the best-selling ‘Stop Bedwetting in 7 days’ training programme.  Her other books include: ‘First Aid for your Child’s Mind’ and ‘Words that Work: How to Get Kids to Do Almost Anything’.

For more details see www.aliciaeaton.co.uk.