THE KIDNEYS ARE ALL RIGHT

WORKING TOGETHER FOR A DRY NIGHT’S SLEEP: A CAREGIVER & CHILD’S GUIDE

This guide offers tips for caregivers on how to praise, engage, and encourage their child who is overcoming bedwetting. It emphasizes positive reinforcement, open communication, and practical solutions.

 

PEE FOR ALL AGES

Praise

  • Celebrate dry nights! Every success, no matter how small, deserves a positive response. This reinforces the progress.

  • Offer reassurance and support. Let your child know bedwetting is common, you love them, and it's not their fault. This helps reduce anxiety and embarrassment.

  • Be gentle on wet nights. Avoid punishment and focus on patience. Work together to find solutions and offer encouragement.

  • Stop sibling teasing. Teasing can make things worse. Talk to siblings about understanding and supporting their brother/sister.

Engage

  • Explain what's happening, simply. Keep it age-appropriate, but give them some basic understanding of what's happening at night.

  • Clean-up together (when possible). If your child wakes up wet, turn clean-up into a quick team effort. This fosters a sense of shared responsibility and avoids negativity.

  • Protect the bed with layers. Waterproof mattress pads and washable sheets can help manage accidents without feeling like punishment.

  • Ditch the diapers/pull-ups. These can hinder the progress of nighttime dryness.

  • Talk about worries (if applicable). If your child started wetting the bed after a period of dryness (secondary enuresis), have a calm conversation about any potential stressors they might be facing.

Encourage

  • Family History: Share if someone else in the family wet the bed to reduce anxiety.

  • Rewards: Use star charts & reward systems

  • Emptying of bladder at night

  • Drinking fluids early in the day & no later than 2 hours before bedtime

  • Getting up during the night 

GUIDED IMAGERY PRACTICE (Ages 6 years & older )

It’s important to provide an explanation for your child before you begin this exercise.
Explanation: Imagine a clean river flowing through your body. Your kidneys filter it, leaving extra stuff like pee. This pee travels down tubes to a stretchy bladder, like a hidden lake! When the lake gets full, it sends a "waterfall" message to your brain (the gate keeper!). The brain decides if it's time to release the flow (pee!) or wait till morning. Pretty cool team, right? Kidneys clean, bladder stores, brain decides - you're a pee pro in the making!

Guided Imagery Exercise: Close your eyes and take a deep breath, feeling it flow down to your belly. Now breathe out slowly, like a river emptying. Tiny factories (kidneys) clean your body, making pee that travels down small tubes, joining the river. This river flows into a hidden lake in your belly! At night, the gate at the bottom (muscles) might open on its own. But we can be the gatekeepers, even asleep! Take a deep breath, filling the lake with air (holding the gate closed). Breathe out slowly, feeling strong. Even sleeping, you're the gatekeeper! The pee stays in the lake until you wake up to go. You're doing great! Take a few more breaths, wiggle your toes, and open your eyes. You're a nighttime pee pro!

BREATH WORK PRACTICE (Ages 6 years & older )

Rest like a calm stream (knees bent, hands on tummy). Take a deep breath, feel your tummy rise (river filling). Hold (strong!). Breathe out slowly, feel your tummy sink (river calm). Repeat a few times. Imagine your breath travels down to your hidden river source (kidneys). Breathe in (source filling!), breathe out slow (holding tight!). Repeat, feeling like a pee-holding champ! Wiggle toes, open eyes. You're a nighttime river warrior, ready for anything!

WISDOM FOR AGES (6 YEARS & OLDER)

Eye on the Pee Prize

Help your child understand that the goal is to become dry at night & that it is their responsibility to reach that milestone with their parental support & encouragement. 


Pep Talk 

Get comfy, close your eyes, and imagine it's night. Think about your bladder filling up. Feel any pressure? That's your bladder's secret signal — “Time to go!" If you feel it, open your eyes and be a stealthy spy — mission: bathroom before anything happens! Practice this work at night, and soon you'll wake up on your own, a total bathroom secret agent!


Daytime Bladder Awareness Practice 

When your child needs to pee at home: Have them go to their bedroom instead of the bathroom.

Let them pretend to sleep: Lie down and explain this is how their bladder feels at night when it might try to wake them up.

After a few minutes: Let them go to the bathroom and actually pee (like they would at night).

This exercise helps them connect the feeling of a full bladder with using the toilet, hopefully leading to fewer nighttime accidents.


Scheduled Nighttime Practice

Forget about waking your child up themselves (self-awakening). Instead, you (parent-awakening) can help them learn to use the potty at night. This is way better than diapers (wrong goal) that lead to nighttime accidents.

Here's how:

Wake your child 1-2 times a night to use the toilet. You can wake them up before bed if they haven't gone in a few hours.

Start with gentle nudges: Try turning on a light, saying their name, or a light touch. Alarm clocks can be used too. If they're too out of it, wait 20 minutes and try again.

Once awake, let them find the bathroom on their own. Don't guide them.

This approach helps them learn to use the toilet at night, eventually leading to fewer nighttime wake-ups for you.

ACUPRESSURE POINT LOCATIONS

Remember, children are more sensitive than adults, so be gentle when applying pressure on these points! If you're unsure about locating acupressure points on your child, it's always best to consult a qualified acupuncturist or healthcare professional.

Finding Spleen-6 (SP-6) on your child:

  1. Locate the inner ankle bone: This is the bony bump on the inside of your child's ankle.

  2. Imagine a line straight up: Draw an imaginary line straight up from the center of the ankle bone.

  3. Feel for a dip: On the inner side of your child's shin bone, directly above the imaginary line, there will be a slight indentation.

Finding Ren-4 (Guanyuan) on your child:

  1. Divide the distance: Imagine a line dividing your child's abdomen in half, from the bottom of their ribcage to their pubic bone.

  2. Halfway point: Locate the spot exactly halfway down this imaginary line.

  3. Ren-4 is located on the midline of the abdomen, directly below the navel.

Finding Bladder-23 (BL-23) on your child:

  1. Locate the lower back: Have your child lie down comfortably on their tummy.

  2. Feel for the bony bump: Find the spinous process (the bony bump) of the second lumbar vertebra (L2) in the lower back. This is usually located about halfway down the back, just below the ribcage.

Alternative method (without feeling the bony bump):

  1. Imagine a line across the hips: Picture a line connecting the two pointy hip bones on your child's back.

  2. Divide the distance above: Imagine dividing the area between this line and the bottom of their ribcage in half.

Locate the midpoint: Both methods will lead you to the same spot: a point approximately halfway between the bony bump of the L2 vertebra and the imaginary line across the hips. BL-23 is located about 1.5 finger-widths (an adult's finger width) lateral (to the side) of this midpoint. 


Finding KI-1 (Yongquan) on your child:

  1. Look at the sole of the foot: Have your child sit comfortably or lie down with their foot relaxed.

  2. Imagine a line dividing the foot: Picture a line drawn down the center of the sole, from the toes to the heel.

  3. Divide the foot in thirds: Imagine dividing this line into three equal sections.

Locate the sweet spot: KI-1 is located at the junction of the front third and the back two-thirds of the foot, directly below the ball of the foot, on the midline. It's a slightly indented area and may feel tender when pressed gently.



Finding KI-3 (Tai Xi) on your child:

  1. Look at the inner ankle. Have your child sit comfortably or lie down with their foot relaxed.

  2. Feel for the bony bump. Locate the medial malleolus, which is the bony bump on the inner side of the ankle joint.

  3. Imagine a line straight down. Draw an imaginary line straight down from the tip of the medial malleolus.

Locate the dip. KI-3 is located in the slight depression between the medial malleolus (the bony bump) and the Achilles tendon, directly below the tip of the bony bump and following the imaginary line.

Alternative method:

  1. Make a "C" with your thumb and index finger. Form a "C" shape with your thumb and index finger, with the opening facing the inner ankle.

  2. Place it around the ankle bone. Wrap this "C" around the inner ankle bone, with the opening positioned directly below the tip of the medial malleolus.

Feel for the indentation. The spot where your thumb and index finger meet naturally will be close to KI-3, which is located in the slight indentation within that area.

This information is for general knowledge only and does not replace professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment.

SOURCES

Helmer, Robert. Treating Pediatric Bed-wetting with Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine. Blue Poppy Press, 2006.

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Wholefoods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. North Atlantic Books, 2002.