Bedwetting is frustrating, especially when the children are past the diaper age and they are in school. You try to limit liquids, waking up your child in the middle of the night but they bed wet still. Well, you are not alone children over 5 years involuntary urination which can be termed normal, no need to panic. Bedwetting is almost normal, although most children’s bodies have a problem with keeping nighttime dryness.
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Most important thing to put in mind is to know that your child urinates involuntarily during the night so do not blame them because they cannot control it. Sometimes it is good to analyze the cause of bedwetting so that you come up with better solutions when dealing with it.
Causes of bedwetting
The causes may not be fully understood as this is a normal stage in a child’s life. Here are some factors which could cause bed wetting.
- The child’s body, that is the brain, bladder and nervous system, are still developing. This means that they have not developed to the point that they feel they need nighttime dryness. You cannot rush this part of the growth of the child.
- Sometimes genetics come into play. If a parent experienced bedwetting in their life their child is likely to go through the same too.
- Your child’s body could be producing too much urine at night. The body produces a hormone which reduces the production of urine in the night time. While fluids before bedtime could contribute to this, restricting the fluids might not be the overall solution after all.
- Your child might be in deep sleep, causing them to sleep through the body signal that the bladder is full.
- If the daily routine of your child is disrupted, they might bed wet. When your child is too tired, stressed or is ill the body might not respond by urinating at night. Changes such as a new school or a new sibling will disrupt their routine.
- Underlying medical conditions such as urinary tract infections and constipations can cause bed-wetting but they can be easily treated. It could also be a sign of a condition such as diabetes, although it is uncommon. This means if you notice more worrisome symptoms in your child other than the normal bedwetting seek medical advice.
How do you help your child to stop wetting the bed?
When the child is between the age of four and five years, start recording their patterns of nights he stays dry and wet. Record your child routine in relation to food intake, fluid intakes, bladder patterns and bowel movements. This will help you easily identify the wetting triggers in your child’s day.- Shift times of fluid intake. Give most fluids earlier in the day and reduce it as the day goes by.
- Create a bathroom schedule for your child to urinate regularly before bedtime.
- Encourage your child whenever they pass a night without bed-wetting. Rewarding and congratulating them for this encourages them.
- Get rid of bladder irritants, especially in the night time. A child’s bladder is irritated by some elements which seem harmless, such as caffeine, chocolate milk, citrus juices, cocoa, artificially flavored fluids, sweeteners and dyes. They seem harmless by they can irritate a child’s bladder.
- Always give your child a water bottle to take throughout the day to avoid them being excessively thirsty after school.
- Constipation causes bed wetting. The rectum is behind the bladder and it causes bladder problems. A child might not be in a position to rightly describe what is happening to their body which could prolong the problem.
- Do not blame your child when they urinate. Do not be angry, just take it easy, blame could lead to mental distress and the problem might remain unresolved.
- Waking up a child to urinate in the night could be a solution for some, but to some it causes distress because it will lead to sleepless nights. This will cause a child to wake up more tired rather than rested.
- Clip a bedwetting or moisture alarm on your child’s underwear. When the alarm detects any moisture it goes off, causing the child to wake up. However, parents should not solely depend on the alarm to wake their kids up. When the alarm goes off wake the child take her/ him to the bathroom clean up and get them back in bed.
- Medications should be the last option if it is a must for them to be prescribed. Medications are hormones in synthetic form. This is not a solution because there are side effects of the medication that a child has to deal with and it gives a temporal fix to the problem.
