Causes of bedwetting

The most common reasons for a child suffering from bedwetting are as follows: developmental delays (as mentioned earlier), genetics (same here), sleep disorder (such as sleeping too deeply), behavior and psychological disorders, anatomy, antidiuretic hormone levels.

The most commonly accepted, but also hardest to prove, cause of primary nocturnal enuresis is maturational delay of the central nervous system. Basically meaning that the child’s nervous system doesn’t sense that the bladder needs to be held, and the urine is released during sleep.

Sleeping disorders make up a very large percentage of children who suffer from bedwetting, and there has been extensive research done on the subject, but there have been such varying results, that it is hard for researchers to determine a primary sleep disorder that can be determined as the main cause for bedwetting.

Some people believe that bedwetting is mainly caused behaviorally, which leads to the issue of psychological consideration- some studies have shown that psychologically children who suffer from nocturnal enuresis have essentially the same behaviors as children who don’t, while other studies have concluded the opposite. In those studies that show psychological differences between the two groups, the differences have mainly been that a child who has a bedwetting problem is less social and has more self-esteem issues than the other group. This begs a question though: do the low self-esteem and social issues go hand in hand with bedwetting children, or does the bedwetting lead to these types of psychological situations in these children?

Family history is also very important, and many studies have shown results that deem it almost conclusive that if a parent suffered from bedwetting as a child, there is a very strong chance that their child will. In fact, one study showed that in a family where both parents suffered from this condition, there was a 77 percent chance that their child would do the same. This is a helpful finding, because it helps dispel the theory that enuresis is a behavioral problem. In turn, this makes it more acceptable, and causes slightly less frustration and guilt, which can lead the way for a better outcome following therapy.

Treating bedwetting

In the beginning of trying to deal with a bedwetting situation, you may opt to try different methods of battling it without the interference of doctor or medical care. Whether or not medical intervention will be necessary depends largely on many factors, including such issues as the child’s age, how often they actually wet the bed, and the perceived severity of the problem by the child’s family, and most children actually do outgrow bedwetting, never needing treatment for it by a physician at all.

Many parents use night time diapers to battle bedwetting, and while these work great in preventing the bed from getting wet due to the accident, they actually do very little in the way of helping resolve the issue. Although it is obviously very important to focus on this part of bedwetting, it is also very important to try to prevent future occurrences. This is why is a good idea to try and step in as early as possible to use many basic methods of prevention. Then, when these don’t work, you may decide to take your child to the doctor. You should know, though, that children younger than six years of age are usually not treated by doctors if bedwetting is the only problem.

Once you have decided to take your child to a physician concerning bedwetting, it is important to know that it may take a long time to actually reach the ultimate goal of completely accident-free nights. It is a long process in which both the parent and the child must remain dedicated. There are two methods which doctors utilize to deal with bedwetting problems: behavioral therapy and medicine. It is extremely important that the parent and child be as cooperative as possible, and be willing to try the doctor’s suggestions. If anyone has a bad attitude about the situation, it can make solving the problem a whole lot harder, if not impossible.

When you first take your child to the doctor, they will most likely want to rule out any medical conditions in the very beginning. While most of the children who are seen by physicians regarding bedwetting are perfectly healthy, some actually do have a medical condition. So, before a doctor will approach it as if they don’t, they will want to make sure that this really is the case. The evaluation the doctor does on your child should be geared toward ruling out anatomic abnormalities of the urinary tract or bladder. These can include such situations as posterior urethral valves, an ectopic ureter, or an epispadiac urethra, which is a urethral opening on the dorsum of the penis. When the doctor does a thorough exam, which will include gathering family medical history, a physical exam, and a urine evaluation, they are usually able to determine whether or not there is a medical condition and, if there is, what that condition might be. When, and even before, your child is being medically treated for enuresis, it is an excellent idea to keep a diary of bedwetting episodes. Along with this diary, if the child’s bedwetting does not occur repetitively on a nightly basis, it is a good idea to write down anything that might have occurred that day to upset your child’s normal psychological balance.

Once the doctor has determined whether there is, or is not, a medical condition contributing to your child’s bedwetting situation, they can determine which methods of treatment will best help them. Again, it is important to remember that consistent follow-up can be a key to improvement in bedwetting (it is also good to know that improvement is usually defined by most doctors as a 50 percent decrease in the frequency of bedwetting episodes).

Your doctor may decide to use just one method of treatment or both in conjunction with one another. The behavioral methods can, and usually do, include the following: an alarm system, a reward system, asking your child to change the sheets, and bladder training.

An alarm system Bedwetting Alarms