By Contributing Author Running Girl of Kaynou = Our House
It’s finally summertime. It was a mad sprint to the finish line at the end of this school year. As a teacher, I was so looking forward to summer vacation. A few weeks before school was out I began to stay up later during the week, reading and watching movies. This happens every year. I think it’s the anticipation of lazy days of summer. I picture myself enjoying the late summer evenings, sleeping with the ceiling fan blowing over me and the delicious feeling of sleeping as late as I want. This translates into me staying up too late the last few weeks before school is out. I figure I have plenty of time to catch up on my sleep.
Cruelly, once summer vacation arrived, I remembered a vow I had made earlier in the year, to myself and to my spouse. Summer was the perfect time to tackle a certain nighttime issue our 5 year old, Island Boy has: Nocturnal Enuresis. What is that, you might wonder? Well, it’s bed wetting.
Upon further research it has come to my attention that it is a problem that generally runs in families. I recall having a few bed wetting incidents in my early childhood. My two older children had to work through this milestone. How did I get so lucky with my 5 year old? My youngest happens to be adopted. This would be such a nice problem to not have to deal with a third time around.
I found myself purchasing yet another bed wetting alarm. Who saves those kinds of things for an unexpected “later in life” child? This was $100 purchase I was slightly bitter about buying. I added it to my credit card bill and hoped for a delay in the mail.
You know how anxious you are to receive fun packages in the mail? A new pair of running shoes, a new pair of running shorts, a new running book? You can see where my interests lie. This particular package, however, I was not looking forward to receiving. This package would mark the end of my restful, full nights of sleep. Wouldn’t you know the alarm arrived not two days after I ordered it?
Island Boy was super excited about the alarm. He thought this was going to be a grand adventure. Waking up in the middle of the night? What could possibly be more exciting? We practiced setting the alarm off with water in the bathroom before bedtime the first night. When IB heard how loud the alarm was, he had his first doubt. He said, “Wow, that is really loud!”, covered his ears and ran from the room.
The first night also reminded me of what a sound sleeper IB is. This is another common sign of a bed wetter. Sound sleepers have a hard time listening to their body’s signal of a full bladder, which makes sense. As a result, IB slept completely through the alarm, while the rest of the family was awoken. He also appears to have a small bladder, another common symptom. We found he wets the bed numerous times during the night.
The second night, the alarm was not met with such enthusiasm. Clearly, the adventure was over for our dear Island Boy. “What? Are you kidding me? I am NOT wearing that THING again!” Oh ye of little faith. I chased him down and rigged him back up.
IB is what one might call a spirited child. He loves to test the boundaries like no other. One night, during the first week, we went through our bedtime ritual. Sight words were read, stories told, hugs and kisses and I was headed downstairs for the rest of my evening. My butt had no sooner hit the couch when I heard the alarm screeching. I was not a happy Momma, going back upstairs to address this issue. This was clearly a test on IB’s part to see how well the alarm would work if he was fully awake.
We had about 5 nights in a row where IB was waking up several times a night. When I say “waking up” I do mean well after his bladder has completely been emptied. Lucky for me, I had his mattress fully encased in a plastic cover, a towel under his sheet and his fitted sheet, all of which ensured a full load of laundry every morning. I finally turned to my husband, the Major with the fear that IB was making zero progress. The Major nearly begged me to give IB (and the rest of the family) a break from the alarm. I said we should give it another night before we took a break.
Miraculously, the next night the alarm did not go off until 5:30 am! The following night was the same. We were pretty excited about our restful nights’ sleep. As a veteran mom, I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet. I was right. The following morning I lamented our setback of the night before. My darling, well rested and chipper husband said, “What are you talking about? IB slept until 6 am when his alarm went off.”
How nice for you, dear. Actually, I was up at 12:30 am and again at 2:30 am. Not to mention the fact that IB started Summer School that day. I had to wake the wee tyke up for school that morning.
So much for the lazy days of summer. I don’t think I’ll fully acknowledge the alarm’s packaging which states that it can take up to 6 weeks to retrain a child to either wake up to go to the bathroom or to “hold it” until the morning. That would be wishing my summer away and I won’t have it.
About the Author: Running Girl is the mother of 3, a wife, music teacher and long distance enthusiasts who lives in Western New York. Please visit her blog at kaynou.wordpress.com
Photo of Pirate Pillow by Eva, found on Flickr
