theirhistory
Hands Up Who..........
As soon as the Sister has entered the bedroom and wished you good morning, some of them now asked the most important question of the morning - Who has wet their bed,
For many ordinary boys this would have been a cringe making moment, for those in the Children's Home it was something we thought of as quite normal.
The Children's Home official records showed that 92% of school age boys would have wet the bed during a year and that 17% would have regular wet beds.
Some of the Sisters tried not to ask such an embarrassing question, by getting you out of bed first, then whilst you were standing at the side of your bed, would inspect each bed.
Once the ritual was over, those that did not have any problems, left for their morning wash the others gathered up their wet sheet and under blanket and went for their bath, later wiping down the rubber sheet that stopped any damage to the mattress.
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Some of the older Sisters had devised a system that would slowly stop boys wetting the bed.
If the boy entered their care at about four, he was encouraged to stay in bed all night, if the bed was wet, he was then reassured that in time he would grow out of it. There were no punishments other than to help was out the sheets in the morning. When he reached five or six if the wet beds were slightly less everything was going to plan, (every time we wet the bed it was recorded in our file) if there were as many wet beds, then a little medical advice was taken to see if there were any other problems.
It was thought that over the next few years the boy should slowly gaining more control and eventually stop completely wetting the bed, the occasional accident could be ignored, by not making a fuss over the matter the boy should not have any fear, and realise that it had been just a part of growing up when he had managed to remain dry on the majority of the nights.
On my part arriving in the Home at the age of eight, I never realised how younger boys were progressed through their ideas. All I knew was that when I woke up at night, if I went for a pee, it would in most cases mean that I did not have a wet bed. Until the Home most of my wet beds had been when I was upset or the like.
Once settled in the Home I was encouraged by Sister to stay in bed, if there was a wet bed it did not really matter. With the Sister retiring a short time after my arrival, I was now looked after by another lady who who had a different view over bedwetting, I was now punished with the slipper for any bedwetting. The two different methods did not help, had I been allowed to use my own judgement and been allowed to leave the bedroom at any point, my bedwetting would have generally ended.
There was some medical tests that were given to me at the age of ten, their only thought about my night problems were that a bit of mild sedation might help. On the nights I was given a sedative I always wet the bed, most of the time I was let of any punishment, and it was not recorded that I had wet the bed. When I was punished it might have been forgotten that I was given a sedative and that was a possible cause rather than their general thought that I was lazy about not going for a pee before going to bed.
Hands Up Who..........
As soon as the Sister has entered the bedroom and wished you good morning, some of them now asked the most important question of the morning - Who has wet their bed,
For many ordinary boys this would have been a cringe making moment, for those in the Children's Home it was something we thought of as quite normal.
The Children's Home official records showed that 92% of school age boys would have wet the bed during a year and that 17% would have regular wet beds.
Some of the Sisters tried not to ask such an embarrassing question, by getting you out of bed first, then whilst you were standing at the side of your bed, would inspect each bed.
Once the ritual was over, those that did not have any problems, left for their morning wash the others gathered up their wet sheet and under blanket and went for their bath, later wiping down the rubber sheet that stopped any damage to the mattress.
-------------------
Some of the older Sisters had devised a system that would slowly stop boys wetting the bed.
If the boy entered their care at about four, he was encouraged to stay in bed all night, if the bed was wet, he was then reassured that in time he would grow out of it. There were no punishments other than to help was out the sheets in the morning. When he reached five or six if the wet beds were slightly less everything was going to plan, (every time we wet the bed it was recorded in our file) if there were as many wet beds, then a little medical advice was taken to see if there were any other problems.
It was thought that over the next few years the boy should slowly gaining more control and eventually stop completely wetting the bed, the occasional accident could be ignored, by not making a fuss over the matter the boy should not have any fear, and realise that it had been just a part of growing up when he had managed to remain dry on the majority of the nights.
On my part arriving in the Home at the age of eight, I never realised how younger boys were progressed through their ideas. All I knew was that when I woke up at night, if I went for a pee, it would in most cases mean that I did not have a wet bed. Until the Home most of my wet beds had been when I was upset or the like.
Once settled in the Home I was encouraged by Sister to stay in bed, if there was a wet bed it did not really matter. With the Sister retiring a short time after my arrival, I was now looked after by another lady who who had a different view over bedwetting, I was now punished with the slipper for any bedwetting. The two different methods did not help, had I been allowed to use my own judgement and been allowed to leave the bedroom at any point, my bedwetting would have generally ended.
There was some medical tests that were given to me at the age of ten, their only thought about my night problems were that a bit of mild sedation might help. On the nights I was given a sedative I always wet the bed, most of the time I was let of any punishment, and it was not recorded that I had wet the bed. When I was punished it might have been forgotten that I was given a sedative and that was a possible cause rather than their general thought that I was lazy about not going for a pee before going to bed.