Bed Wetting Solution

When my daughter was 5 she still had a problem with wetting her bed. In fact, many times I would catch her during the day struggling not to go to the bathroom in order to finish playing or watching a television show. Although wetting herself because she didn’t want to miss out on anything can be easier to prevent, wetting her bed at night was entirely a different problem. Did you know that 20% of 5 year olds and 10% of 6 year olds wet the bed? Most children grow out of it and others need an easy bed wetting solution like a simple reward system to achieve a positive result, dry nights.

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Bedwetting usually runs in families and the children will stop at about the same time their parents did. Night time bedwetting is not due to being too lazy to get out of bed or spite. Your pediatrician will first take a medical history of the child and family to rule out medical reasons such as constipation or infection. Most bedwetters have primary enuresis which means they always wet the bed. Doctors have determined in most cases that it is caused by lack of matured mechanisms that control the bladder. If the child stops for a period of time then starts back up again this is known as secondary enuresis and usually this form of bedwetting is due to a medical or psychological condition where the child will need additional treatment or consultation.

One solution to help the child stop wetting the bed and regarded most effective is a urinary bed alarm. Alarms are available in different styles that include a moisture sensor and an alarm. Some sensors are worn on the underwear or a pajama bottom which is attached to an alarm box worn on their pajama top. The sensor detects moisture almost immediately sounding an alarm that wakes the child to get up and go to the bathroom. According to the Journal of Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing bedwetting solutions such as giving rewards, using alarms and some medication were found to be most effective. Researchers found that 70% of 505 children that wore alarms didn’t wet the bed after roughly 10 weeks. Many parents have used bedwetting alarms before consulting with their pediatrician, while other parents have tried the reward system. Anything special to the child can be used as a reward and don’t forget to add in a lot of positive reinforcement.

Remember the 1976 movie "The Loneliest Runner", starring Lance Kerwin? Lance plays the "child version" of Michael Landon, who was in real life was a bed wetter until the age of 14. Michael Landon was an Olympic hopeful pondering on his childhood through the movie. In the movie Lance is a 13 year old bed wetter, and his mother hangs his un-washed wet sheets outside his bedroom window in a cruel effort to get him to stop wetting his bed. This is how he becomes such an excellent runner, having to run home after school for nearly a year to get the sheets out of his window to avoid embarrassment and harassment from his friends. Even though this negative approach eventually had a happy ending (it’s a movie), you never know if belittling a child to stop wetting their bed will cause psychological problems in the future, so it is best to stick to positive methods.

Another bed wetting solution known as lifting is a strategy that involves making sure the child goes to the bathroom before going to bed and also waking him up periodically during the night (every 2-3 hours) to urinate. This method may take some time and often it is a temporary solution until the child grows out of wetting their bed on their own. Other methods are: urination delay - seeing how long the child can hold it during the day, then ask them to hold it for another few minutes adding a couple minutes every day. This almost sounds like doing Kegal exercises to build up the pelvic floor muscles that help control bladder function and fluid retention – eliminating liquids 2-3 hours before bedtime. This solution might seem as punishment to the child so it’s best to discuss it before hand and get their approval. If your child uses the “I want a glass of water” ploy to stay up longer, they might need further encouragement to use this method.

What can you do in the meantime while trying a bed wetting solution to save your child’s mattress? Try a plastic sheet or super absorbent training pants which are available for children up to age 6.

There are medications on the market that help, but many have bad side effects and if the child stops taking them the problem usually starts again. Desmopressin (DDAVP) is a synthetic copy of a chemical that is naturally produced by the body that controls urine production. It is available in tables and given right before bedtime. DDAVP is prescribed as a temporary solution only to be used for overnight stays and not recommended for children younger than 5 years old.

Tofranil an imipramine is an antidepressant that may work by reducing urine production. Possible side effects include constipation, dry mouth, nervousness, anxiety, difficulty sleeping (insomnia), mood or personality changes, headaches, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, blurred vision, uncontrollable crying, fast heartbeat, seizures, coma and low blood pressure.

Would it surprise you to learn that as many as 2% of all 19 year olds still wet the bed? If you have an older child that is a bedwetter and it isn’t due to family history, immature bladder function or a medical/psychological reason it could be a sign that they have a low level of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH tells the kidneys when to stop producing urine when they sleep. They could also be very deep sleepers, so their brain doesn’t receive the full bladder signal or they have a smaller bladder that can’t hold urine through the night.

Many teens that cannot stop bedwetting are too ashamed to go to ask for help. This can affect their emotional health and cause them to avoid sleepovers and any type of close emotional attachments because they fear that their secret will get out. Have you ever considered a bed wetting solution might be as simple as chiropractic care? How does chiropractic care help to stop bedwetting? Chiropractors can locate spine misalignments that can affect the nerves that travel to the bladder and communicate with the brain. These adjustments can be effective in reducing or even eliminating the number of “wet” nights.

Chiropractors can’t claim for certain that they can help someone who is a bedwetter. However, they do know that there is a good chance that chiropractic can help stop bedwetting, or at least reduce the frequency of “wet” nights, if the bedwetting is related to a spinal misalignment.

Several research studies have explored the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments on bedwetters. In one such study, 25 % of children who received chiropractic adjustments experienced a 50 % or greater reduction in the number of wet nights. None of the children in the control group experienced this same result.

No matter what bed wetting solution you try encouragement is crucial and it is important that they understand that they will eventually have control over the problem.  Eventually my daughter stopped wetting her bed by the age of 6 using the reward system and today is using this same method with own her children.  The content provided in Bed Wetting Solution is for information purposes only, intended to raise the awareness of different solutions for you or your families sleep problems and should not be considered medical advice. For medical diagnosis and treatment, please see your qualified health-care professional.