Bedwetting

Bedwetting is a common problem in children but it can also occur in adolescents. Millions of kids worldwide experience bedwetting during their early ages. Enuresis is the medical term used for bedwetting, which is also known as sleep wetting. People have baseless misconceptions about the causes of bedwetting such as drinking too much water before bedtime, mental or behavioral problems, or a child’s lethargy in getting up from the bed to go to the toilet. It must be borne in mind that children do not wet the bed purposely. It is just that such a child does have control over his or her urination when asleep. Bedwetting is twice as common in boys as it is in girls.

If a child under 5 years of age wets the bed, there is no need to worry. Normally, children stop wetting the bed by the time they are 5 years old without any kind of treatment. One should seek help from a medical professional only when bedwetting continues beyond seven or eight years of age, frequent bedwetting between the fifth and seventh years of age distresses the child, a child who has been 'dry' for a while suddenly starts wetting the bed again, a child begins to show signs of anger or frustration due to bedwetting, or the child's social life starts getting affected by bedwetting.

Experts believe that the control mechanism associated with the bladder sphincter may take longer time to develop in some children. Bedwetting may arise due to abnormal urethral valves or anatomical defects of the ureter, slow development of the central nervous system, spinal cord anomalies, hormonal disturbances, small bladder capacity, urinary tract infections, and heredity.

More than one-tenth of all the children that experience bedwetting stop wetting the bed on their own without any treatment. Treatment is advisable only for a child that continues to wet the bed even after the age of 5 years. Bedwetting treatment comprises behavioral therapy and medication. Medicines need to be administered only to bedwetting children over the age of 7 years and in whom behavioral therapy has failed to yield the desired results. Two types of medicines can be used to treat the problem. One type can increase the capacity of the urinary bladder, whereas the second type can act on the kidneys so as to reduce urine production at night. Since medicines can give rise to adverse reactions, it is advisable to avoid them as far as possible.

Following some of these behavioral therapy tips can help in the management of bedwetting. Appreciate and reward your child whenever he or she doesn’t wet the bed. Getting an alarm system installed that rings whenever the bed gets wet can alert your child so that he or she can wake up and rush to the toilet. Never humiliate or tease your child for wetting the bed. Be supportive of them in their attempt to control bedwetting. Teach your child bladder exercises so that he or she learns to hold urine for longer. There are no definitive methods of preventing bedwetting.

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