As your child grows, they will develop attitudes and feelings towards themselves.  These might be feelings about their academic or sporting ability, their appearance, their social interactions, or their problems, such as wetting the bed.

The feelings and belief they have in themselves all contribute towards their overall self-worth and self-confidence.

While your toddler or pre-schooler may seem to have all the confidence of superhero, this tends to dissipate during the primary school years, as they expand their knowledge to the world around them become more realistic. They learn critical thinking, which they might apply to themselves, and they absorb behaviours or thoughts from their peers.

It’s important as a parent that you are able to build your child’s self-confidence and resilience. Self-esteem influences all aspects of kids’ behaviour and development, and while children with high self-esteem think of themselves in a pretty positive light, kids with low-self-esteem tend to focus on things they do “wrong”.

Resilience and bedwetting

If your child has problems with bedwetting, high self-esteem will allow them to feel proud of their achievements rather than focus on their failures.

If bedwetting affects your child’s self-confidence negatively, this can lead to:

• Shying away from social events – invitations like sleepovers or school camp can be particularly stressful, because of their fear of discovery.

• Feelings of failure – older kids may feel as though they have failed their parents, too.

Your child’s high self-esteem will not only help with bedwetting, but also:

• Starting a new school

• School tests

• Forming close, high quality friendships

• Decision-making

• Standing up for themselves and others

• Trying new things

• Being independent

• Setting goals

• Caring about themselves and others

A child with high self-esteem will see their bedwetting as just a small ‘hiccup’ in their overall development.

This article was written for Huggies DryNites. For more information visit www.drynites.co.nz