“Mooooommmmm my bed is wet!”bedwetting

Sound vaguely familiar from the fog in your head at 1am?

Taking a deep breath you jump out of bed, all the lights go on and the cleanup begins.

(You may be thinking)
“Do they make beds that are 100% water repellant?”
“I just washed all those sheets, pajamas, and comforter LAST night”
“Why is this happening every night?”
Or with a pathetic moan of self pity… “I have to get up for work in a few hours”

We have all been in this situation multiple times as our child advances from pull-ups to underwear at bedtime.  With Type 1 diabetes and bedwetting in children, it can take much longer to master potty training which is no surprise to these families.

At diagnosis most families report increased bedwetting, accidents at school, pull-up and diaper explosions, etc.  We all know increased urination is a sign of diabetes (at least you do now, after diagnosis).  If your child wasn’t potty trained prior to diagnosis you may have a more difficult time with potty training after diagnosis.  Of course, the goal in managing Type 1 diabetes is maintaining blood sugars within normal range.  However, we all know there are always fluctuations and surprises.

Can you say, “Where’s my water cup?”

Yes, thirst and blood sugars are highly correlated, as one goes up so does the other.  Putting your child to bed after having high sugars during the day is like putting a giant water balloon to sleep (literally).  Putting your child to bed as blood sugars are creeping up due to multiple factors (insufficient insulin, unknown insulin pump error, illness, etc.) will also increase the likelihood of an accident- even in grown children who are potty trained.

(As your child ages, you may begin to think):
“How can we make this better, will we ever be able to have a sleepover?”
“I feel so bad for them; I know they don’t do it on purpose”
“Who can help us with this?”

Oh yes, there is one more factor to keep in mind too.  That factor is constipation, which is another common visitor in these kiddo’s lives.  As blood sugars fluctuate their smart little bodies pull water from every crack and crevice of themselves to help flush out the extra sugar from their bloodstream.  Guess where some of that water comes from?  Bingo, the bowel! This leaves many in a chronic state of constipation.  Constipation is high on the list of known culprits in bedwetting.  So, how does this situation ever resolve?  It has to be something close to magic, right?

***See PART TWO of this article for She Sugars suggestions on overnight success!