Every parent knows that feeling when their little one shows up at their door in the middle of the night with the obvious signs that a wet accident has happened. This usually indicates that your little one has just vetted his pants and made a mess in his bed. This can be disrupting and quite uncomfortable both for the parents and for the child, especially when it happens to older children. This condition is commonly known by the clinical term ‘enuresis’ or simply bedwetting.
Before we jump into the most common causes and treatments available for this situation, let’s first define what actually bedwetting is for those of you who don’t know.
What Is Nocturnal Enuresis (Bedwetting)?
Bedwetting or nocturnal enuresis is defined as involuntary urination which happens usually in kids between ages four to five when the child is unable to control his or her bladder most often during the night. This is a common problem for many adult kids as well and requires special attention and treatment. Luckily, there are a plethora of functional bed wetting solution options that can be used.
Causes of Bedwetting
Soggy sheets and pyjamas and an embarrassed child’s face are familiar scenes in many homes. However, this is usually a normal part of a child’s development which doesn’t indicate any major issues. However, when it happens to older kids, most bedwetting scenarios may be caused by certain health-related issues.
Slow Development of Brain Bladder Connection
Children who are deep sleepers are most likely to urinate at night. Deep sleep affects the way the brain communicates with the bladder, so instead of waking up to use the toilet, the kid’s pelvic muscles relax which results in bedwetting.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea is yet another factor that may cause nighttime incontinence in children. Sleep apnea causes the body to repeatedly stop breathing during the night due to the production of a hormone called “atria natriuretic peptide” (ANP) which causes the kidney to produce extra urine during sleep which may lead to bedwetting.
Kidney Issues
As kidneys play a major role in urine production and its disposal, kids who have enlarged kidneys or some chronic kidney disease may experience many health-related issues such as weight loss, increased thirst, and an increased need for urination or bedwetting.
Anxiety
According to some studies conducted, children who suffer from anxiety are more prone to experience bedwetting, mostly due to the result of an ongoing state of stress that be caused by various factors, including school phobia, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety disorder. This can be a serious issue that parents need to take seriously if the problem got persistent and consider special therapy treatment for their children which we’ll discuss later.
Diabetes
People who have diabetes have an insufficient production of the hormone insulin which helps the body to process sugar. Therefore, in untreated patients, diabetes causes the body to dispose of the sugar through the urine which leads to hyper frequent urination and bedwetting in kids with this disease.
Treatment Options
Thanks to the advancements in the field of medicine, there are various treatments available for bedwetting.
Bedwetting Alarms
One very popular and innovative bed wetting solution is bedwetting alarms. These are suitable for children and teenagers between the ages of 4 to 18. The world-renowned expert in bedwetting (enuresis) Dr Saggie has invented this product, which has proven to be successful in more than 40, 000 patients around the world. Combining the latest technology with web-based interactive software, this product has helped many kids with a success rate of over 90% within a period of 12-20 weeks.
Bedwetting Pants
Another great bed wetting solution is bedwetting pants. These pants are specially designed with a waterproof outer layer and soft organic cotton lining which is gentle against the kid’s skin. They are the perfect alternative for bulky, wasteful, and disposable baby diapers that don’t retain anything.
For older kids, these pants also feature a super absorbent material that makes the urine stay inside the pants and keeps the bed dry. They have sewn-in sensor threads to which you can easily connect with the bedwetting alarm for the treatment. If the child starts urinating, the sensor detects the moisture and the alarm goes off, which wakes up the child and gives them the chance to get to the toilet on time.
Medication
As with the treatment of many diseases, treatments that involve medication are also useful. The most common pill given for treating patients with this disorder is desmopressin which is made from the hormone “vasopressin”. In many children with enuresis, this hormone surge is absent, and therefore this pill is given one hour before bedtime to reduce the volume of the urine made which causes frequent urination and eventually bedwetting.
Psychotherapy
As already mentioned, some types of bedwetting are directly caused by some types of mental health problems such as anxiety. Usually, the symptoms are treated by meds, but the root of the problem remains unresolved. Therefore, modern psychotherapy adopts another approach when it comes to this problem with kids. As mind and body are connected in one whole, there is no question about it that the solution to the problem is usually very simple and is most likely related to some unresolved issues in our minds.
Those subconscious beliefs or traumas are usually very harmful and persist to affect the person’s life in many ways, physically and emotionally. Regular sessions about a child’s issues can help immensely in the treatment of many diseases, including bedwetting. Sharing openly their struggles with licensed psychotherapists can help resolve many of their issues, and through some of the bedwetting training programs, many kids and adults find long-term relief.
