Reply from Maggie, Child's Age 11 - 3/23/02 - IP#: 12.86.16.113Bob 1: You make two comments in your post below (3/23/02) that would seem to fly in the face of today’s politically correct bewetting theory. First, “The whole idea of dealing with nighttime wetting should be to cure it as soon as possible,” and second, “I think that diapers prolong nighttime wetting, because they remove the negative stimuli necessary to stop nighttime wetting (i.e. a cold, wet bed and the social stigma associated with wetting the bed).” Practically everyone else nowadays is telling us to (1) make the bedwetter as comfortable as possible under all circumstances, and (2) remove all negative stimuli (punishment) and all social stigma (embarassment, teasing) from the issue of bedwetting. I bet you weren’t intending to, but you have just told us not to let children become too comfortable with their bedwetting, but rather see to it that they feel some negative stimulus and social stigma about it. My husband and I do not specifically punish for bedwetting (though I can understand parents who do), but we neither do we seek to remove all discomfort and/or embarassment from being wet, wearing diapers, etc. Not only your post, but also your research board and some of the other parts of this site suggest that when children get TOO comfortable with bedwetting (and diapers) they lose all motivation to stop and keep it up well into adulthood. Taking a clue from the research board, here is an idea for next month’s poll: If you (as a parent or child) have seen a reduction or an end to bedwetting, how much would you attribute it to: (1) alarms, (2) medication, (3) drink and/or food changes, (4) embarassment at wetting and/or diapers, (5) rewards, stars, etc., (6) punishment, (7) just growing out of it, (8) other (specify). |