Bedwetting and Bedwetting Solutions

Primary enuresis, or bedwetting, is more common than you might think. Roughly 15 percent of all children who are 6 years old are bedwetters. While this percentage decreases as children get older, 5 percent of 10 year olds will still wet the bed.
 

Bedwetting Causes

Experts are not completely able to explain the causes of bedwetting. Factors that may induce bedwetting include:
  • Hormone imbalances: The body usually produces an anti-diuretic hormone that slows the production of urine while a person is asleep. Your child may not be producing enough of this hormone, causing him to wet the bed.

  • Obstructive sleep apnea: Sometimes, children who have sleep apnea wet the bed. Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person stops breathing many times during the night without realizing it. Other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include snoring, frequent earaches and frequent sore throats. In some cases, enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids can cause obstructive sleep apnea.

  • Stress: Any kind of stress, such as having a new baby in the family or moving to a new home, can cause bedwetting in children.

  • Type 1 diabetes: Bedwetting may indicate that a child suffers from type 1 diabetes, particularly if the child starts wetting the bed "out of the blue." Other symptoms of type 1 diabetes are losing weight, even with a good appetite, and being thirstier than usual.

  • Underdeveloped bladder: Your child's bladder may be too small to hold the amount of urine the child produces while sleeping.

  • Underdeveloped nerves that control the bladder: If the nerves that control the bladder have not matured sufficiently, your child may not be receiving the message that the bladder is full.

  • Urinary tract infection (UTI): If your child has a bacterial infection in his urinary tract, he may also wet the bed. Other symptoms of UTIs typically include pain while urinating and wetting during the day. In rare cases, a child may also have a defect in his urinary system or neurological system.
Bedwetting tends to run in families and occurs more frequently in boys than in girls.

Bedwetting Solutions

As you deal with bedwetting, remember that children don't wet the bed on purpose. Punishing or shaming a child after bedwetting will not solve the problem and will only add to a child's embarrassment.
 
In most cases, children simply outgrow bedwetting. However, if you have concerns that bedwetting is a symptom of a more serious condition, make an appointment with your doctor.
 
As you work to pinpoint the cause of your child's bedwetting, try practicing the following to prevent him or her from wetting the bed:
  • Limit the fluids your child drinks before sleeping.
  • Make sure that your child urinates before going to bed.
  • Wake your child up once during the night to go to the bathroom.
Interestingly, sometimes putting your child to bed about 30 minutes early can stop bedwetting.
 

Bedwetting Alarms
Bedwetting alarms include moisture sensitive pads that your child wears in his or her pajamas or that you place on top of the bed. When the pad senses moisture, an alarm goes off, waking the child. While bedwetting alarms are quite effective, they do take some time to work, sometimes up to twelve weeks.

 
If these methods do not stop bedwetting, your physician may prescribe:
  • a drug that will boost the level of anti-diuretic hormone so that your child produces less urine when asleep
  • an anticholinergic drug that will help prevent your child's bladder from contracting as much and may help to increase the bladder's capacity
  • an antidepressant that will change your child's sleeping and waking habits.
Your physician may also prescribe a combination of these drugs. However, bedwetting may reoccur as soon as the medications are discontinued.

Bedwetting Products

As you help your child get over bedwetting, special diapers or pants can ease cleanup worries. If your child is older, using bedwetting pants may also be helpful because he or she can discreetly remove them without your help, lessening his or her embarrassment and giving your child more of a sense of control.
 
Do not forget to praise your child when he or she has a dry night!
 
Resources
 
American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (2002). Bedwetting. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from the AACAP.org Web site: http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Bedwetting&section=Facts+for+Families.
 
Mayo Clinic (n.d.). Bed-Wetting. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from the MayoClinic.com Web site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bed-wetting/DS00611/DSECTION=2.
 
Nemours Foundation (n.d.).Bedwetting. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from the Kids Health for Parents Web site: http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/enuresis.html.