(Condensed from “How to Be a Great Camp Counselor)
Bedwetting or enuresis can ruin a camping experience for a child. If you have a camper with a history of bedwetting be calm, do not make the camper feel guilty. Handle the problem with a matter-of-fact attitude.
If a camper has had an “accident” during the night, he or she will be embarrassed. It is up to you to IMMEDIATELY take steps to alleviate the camper’s anxiety. You should assist the bed wetter in as quiet and unobtrusive manner as possible to change and clean the bedding.
Care needs to be taken to prevent the bed wetter from becoming an object of ridicule in the cabin. Develop a signal so that the bed wetter can comfortably ask you for help. Perhaps bedding can be changed while your other campers are occupied elsewhere.
Here are a couple tips to help in preventing bedwetting:
- Limit liquid from supper on.
- Have the camper use the bathroom RIGHT before they go to sleep.
- Then, get the camper up 45 minutes to 1 hour after they go to sleep and take him or her to the bathroom EVEN IF they say they don’t need to go.