Appropriate Time To Be Concerned About Bed-Wetting

Bed-wetting is a common problem in children, yet most who do it think they are the only ones.

If not reassured, this can easily damage their self-esteem. If you scold your child, taunt him, or compare him to other children his age who have stopped bed-wetting, you are not helping him in any way. In fact, this only chips away his self-esteem.

The fact is that it is normal for children under five years to wet their beds as they sleep. Bed-wetting, however, becomes a concern when it continues after five years. 

CAUSES

Contrary to common thinking, bed wetting is neither caused by psychological problems nor a bladder dysfunction. The main causes include overproduction of nighttime urine, small bladder capacity, or deep sleep.

Children with a nighttime bed-wetting problem have been shown to produce twice as much urine as children who have stopped.

This increase in the amount of urine production is related to a hormonal imbalance. Some children may produce a normal amount of urine, but their bladder capacity is small, triggering nighttime urination.

In other children, they might produce a normal amount of urine and have a normal bladder capacity, but they tend to be deep sleepers and, as a result, do not feel the sensation of a full bladder, making it to contract automatically to release urine.

SOLUTION

It is difficult to determine the exact cause of a child’s bed-wetting without evaluation. Evaluation is important since it has been proven that traditional methods of emptying the bladder before bedtime or restricting fluids in the evening do not seem to work alone. These methods work best when accompanied by something else — for instance, rewarding your child for dry nights.

Medication, in extreme cases, also appears to be effective in managing bed-wetting. 
 If your child has a bed-wetting problem, have him evaluated by a medical professional, preferably a paediatrician or a urologist. These doctors will help to determine the underlying cause of his bed-wetting, if there is any, and also advise how to deal with the problem.

Bed-wetting that is caused by medical complications is generally uncommon. Urinary tract infections, diabetes, spinal cord problems, and deformities of the bladder or urinary tract are all worth mentioning, but probably not worrying over.

At times, you may need to seek counselling for both you and your child. Most of the time, these psychological issues come up when the child has gone for an overnight school trip or has been sent to boarding school. If not handled well, issues like anxiety, depression, anti-social behaviour, and low self-esteem may creep in. To avoid these problems, any psychological issues need to be dealt with as soon as they occur.

In most cases, no intervention is needed to stop bed-wetting; it will stop on its own. As a parent or guardian, always remember: Your child needs love, patience, and understanding at every stage of their growth and development. 

Did you know?

Seventy five per cent of bed-wetting children have inherited the problem from their parents