Once a child is old enough to be toilet trained, if they are still unable to control their bladder the condition is known as enuresis. Less than three percent of children have a physical cause contributing to enuresis, which means that the condition is largely behavioral. Enuresis is also commonly referred to as bedwetting, and there are many different factors that can contribute to the condition.
If your family has a history of bedwetting then it should not be a surprise if at least one of your children also has a challenge with enuresis. The effect of genetics on enuresis can also appear as delayed maturation, where bladder muscles are not yet fully developed and coordinated. This condition is also likely to occur if your child has a small bladder capacity or if they are an extremely sound sleeper. Another sleep related condition that can contribute to enuresis is sleep apnea, which decreases oxygen levels in the blood making a child’s body less likely to respond to the signals when it is time to urinate.
Physical problems that can contribute to a child’s bedwetting can include a urinary tract infection or bladder irritation from chronic constipation. Some children’s bodies produce a high volume of urine during the night making it more likely that they will have a toileting accident in their sleep.
There are also outside factors that can have a huge effect on a child manifesting themselves in enuresis among other things. Events like a parent going away such as in divorce, the addition of a new family member as in the birth of a sibling or the first steps at independence as in the first days of school can all cause bedwetting problems.
The question then becomes what to do about your child’s enuresis symptoms. Almost always the first line of treatment is behavioral therapy. There are several proven methods that routinely work, but before you even attempt this type of treatment, you need to make sure that your child is ready and able to succeed. They need to be able to understand your instructions, and their muscles need to be developed enough so that your child can control them.
As you work with your child, take care to be patient and positive as punishing a child for bedwetting can actually do more harm than good. Toilet training is a process, and as such it takes some time. Generally a child will make forward progress and then fall back a bit before going forward again. So as you are making your way through this, two steps forward, one step back process, realize that this is a normal pattern, and if you feel that the process is working on your last nerve, get some help from a medical professional.
Here are some simple things that you can do to stack the deck in favor of your child’s success. Start by having your child go to the bathroom right before getting into bed, even if they do not have to go. Leave a nightlight on in the bathroom so that your child can easily find their way should they wake during the night. Take your child out of diapers at night. You may want to put a protective mattress cover on their bed just in case they have an accident. You can also place a disposable bed pad on the mattress, and in the event of a bedwetting incident, your child can simply change their nightclothes, throw away the wet pad, replace it with a dry one and go back to sleep. Then in the morning your child can remake their bed and take a shower. By having your child be responsible for cleaning up after his or her own accident, you are supplying motivation for them to have a dry night. You can also encourage them with a small reward when they have a successful night.
You can also help your child be successful by managing their liquid intake and limiting their consumption during evening hours. There are also night wet alarms that awaken the child at the first sign of wetness, but the most important thing is for your child to be motivated for success. So solutions like medication and night alarms are often the last stitch solutions. As you are working on solving your child’s enuresis problems, make the challenge easier by using quality mattress covers and disposable mattress pads to help your child successfully complete their toilet training process.
Further Enuresis Articles
