Bedwetting
Your child may wet the bed every now and then. While it’s usually not a big deal, it can be frustrating for both you and your kid. Here’s some more information about the types of bedwetting, why it happens, and when to see a doctor.
What Is Bedwetting?
Bedwetting, or nocturnal enuresis, happens when someone accidentally pees while sleeping. It’s common in kids, even if they’ve been toilet trained. Your child will likely stop wetting the bed around 4 to 6 years old.
While bedwetting can be a symptom of an underlying disease, most children who wet the bed have no underlying disease that explains their bedwetting. An underlying condition is found in only about 1% of children who routinely wet the bed.
That does not mean that a child who wets the bed can control it or is doing it on purpose. They are not lazy, willful, or behaving badly. Bedwetting is most often a developmental issue. Most kids simply outgrow it and never need treatment.
It’s not a serious condition, but it can cause your child to feel embarrassed or upset. In some cases, they may even avoid activities, like sleepovers, out of fear that they’ll wet the bed.
Causes of Bedwetting
The cause is likely due to one or a combination of the following:
- The child cannot yet hold urine for the entire night.
- The child does not wake up when their bladder is full.
- The child makes a large amount of urine during the evening and night hours.
- The child has poor daytime toilet habits. Many children habitually ignore the urge to pee and put off peeing as long as they possibly can. Parents usually are familiar with the leg crossing, face straining, squirming, squatting, and groin holding that children use to hold back pee.
Bedwetting Treatments
Managing bedwetting at home
There are steps you can take at home to help your child stop wetting the bed. Some ways include to:
Avoid blaming them. If you feel angry or frustrated because you have a wet bed to clean up yet again, don’t direct your feelings toward your child. They likely feel bad about it, and they didn’t do it on purpose. So don’t blame.
Make sure your child knows that bedwetting isn’t their fault and they aren’t alone. Let them know that millions of children, and teenagers too, regularly wet their beds. Tell your child if you did it too when you were growing up. You can help them see that it’s a problem that they will outgrow.
Keep your other children from teasing them. If you have other children, let them know not to tease about bedwetting. You can make this a rule in your house.
Help them try to use the bathroom before bedtime and during the night. Have your child use the bathroom when they start to get ready for bed, then once again the minute before they get into bed. This helps to empty their bladder.
If you’re still awake an hour or two after your child’s bedtime, think about waking them for a quick bathroom visit (or if your child is older, they might be able to set this habit for themselves). It won’t stop bedwetting, but it can reduce the amount of pee that might end up in the bed.
If your child is afraid of the dark, put night lights in the hallway and the bathroom so they won’t hesitate to get up and go when the urge wakes them.
Use an alarm. Some kids wet the bed because their bodies don’t yet tell them to wake up when their bladders are full. Bedwetting alarms wake children at the first sign that they’re letting go of pee and train the body to notice what it feels like when the bladder is full. The child wears special underwear with sensors that beep loudly when a small amount of urine leaks out. The beeping wakes them, and then they can go to the bathroom.
Drink less water before bedtime. Some kids who worry that they’ll wet the bed don’t drink enough during the day. By evening, they’re so thirsty, they drink a lot.
Help your child to drink more during the day, and let them have only one drink with dinner.
Stay away from drinks with caffeine, including cola and iced tea. Caffeine makes the body speed up the pee-making process. Fizzy drinks can also cause problems, so be sure to have your child avoid soda.
Use covers that protect their bed. Use a zip-up waterproof mattress cover so pee won’t reach the mattress. There are also waterproof pads to go between the sheets and blanket. After a wet night, you’ll only have to wash the pad, not the bed sheets.
Credit: webmd
