728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Bedwetting › Bedwetting and Your Special Needs Child

Bedwetting and Your Special Needs Child

Finding the Right Approach

By Gwen Morrison

Pages:  1  2  3  

"If you have a lot of anger about the problem, you need to seek counsel to help you work that through," Luke says. "Anger in parents produces guilt in children and never produces a positive outcome. It is OK to have the feelings of concern, but they must stay focused on the well-being of the child."

Luke says finding a healthy way to handle those feelings is paramount to a parent. It is pointless to show anger, resentment or severe annoyance at the child or at the wet bed. If the child is unable to control his behavior, it will not help the situation to make him feel as though he is doing something bad. Children, especially those with special needs, are very sensitive to their parents' feelings toward them. If a parent shows blatant disapproval at something that is clearly not in the child's immediate control, the results can be detrimental.

"A parent must be proactive and not see themselves or the child as a 'victim,'" says Dr. Jonathan A. Slater, director of pediatric psychiatry for Consultation-Liaison Service at Children's Hospital of New York. "They should not assume they know what the child is experiencing and should ask more open-ended questions."

Dr. Slater stresses that the parent must act comfortable with the topic when approaching it with their special needs child. "A child will borrow a parent's optimism, but also inherit a parent's anxiety and pessimism," says Dr. Slater. "A parent, similarly, should not make light of the situation. Accepting the child's feelings and validating them is very important."

Parents and kids are in this ogether. "An important thing to remember is not to get angry with the child for wetting the bed," DeLuca says. "Special needs children tend to be sensitive to parental displeasure. Many of these children know they're different, although they may not know why."


Pages:  1  2  3  


Want to see more?