What is Bedwetting/Enuresis?
Bedwetting or enuresis is urinary incontinence or involuntary urination during sleep. Bedwetting is common and considered normal among children till they are two or three years old. It can also often occur among older children and cause parents to worry and wonder if there is a solution.
If you are concerned as a parent, this calculator can help if your child has a
bedwetting problem and guide you on the next steps and the recommended actions you can take.
Bedwetting can be quite distressing for families. However, it is important to keep in mind that bedwetting is almost never the fault of the child - it is not something they do on purpose or because they are lazy. In fact, children are often embarrassed and feel guilty about wetting the bed at night. This common problem does have a solution though and there is no reason for parents to feel helpless. It is important for parents to continue to provide emotional support and reassurance to the child until the problem is resolved.
Use this calculator to find solutions to the bedwetting problem and what needs to be done for the child:
What is Bedwetting?
Five Tips for Parents on How to Stop a Child from Wetting the Bed
- Explain bedwetting to your child. Reassure your child that bedwetting is not his or her fault and that it will go away as they grow older. This builds confidence in the child enabling him/her to overcome bedwetting. Behavioral therapy combined with counseling
- Limit fluid intake before bedtime. Especially avoiding drinks that have caffeine, such as colas, tea and coffee helps to avoid bedwetting.
- Use an alarm clock or a moisture alarm if available. The clock should be set so that it wakes the child up at fixed times during the night to use the bathroom. This is the simplest strategy and can be quite effective. The moisture alarm is usually triggered by a few drops of urine which can awaken the child.
- Use a night lamp. Children who are afraid of the dark can be encouraged to use the toilet at night by keeping a night lamp on. This can help dispel fears of darkness that sometines prevent children from going to the toilet.
- Use of Medication.Drugs can be used for short term to give confidence to the child. They can be also used when the child spends the night at a friend’s place or goes out socially.
- Desmopressin tablets work effectively and can be given sublingually or as tablets and reduce urine production at night.
Other drugs like anticholinergics may also be used but desmopressin is more effective for the condition. The bladder may be trained to hold large quantities of urine for a long period of time. Children may also be trained during the day to drink large quantities of water and prolong the periods between urination.
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Interesting Facts about Bedwetting
- Bedwetting is found more commonly in boys than in girls.
- Most children gain day-time control by the age of 3, but night-time control takes a little longer; girls often achieve this earlier than boys.
- At 5 years of age, around 1 in 6 children still wet the bed.
- Around 17% of 7 year old boys wet the bed. Around 10% of 7 year old girls wet the bed.
- By the age of 10, only one in 15 still wet the bed.
- Even in adulthood 1 in 100 still suffer from the problem.
- Enuresis is often hereditary and a child has 77% probability of bedwetting if both parents wet the bed when they were young.
- If one parent wet the bed as a child, the risk of his/her children also being affected by bedwetting is around 40-44%.
- Only 5-10% of bedwetting cases are due to underlying medical conditions.
- You should seek medical help if the child continues bedwetting even after 5-7 years of age.
What is a Moisture Alarm?
A moisture alarm is a small sensory device that can be put in the child’s bed or inside his underwear. The alarm responds to the first drops of urine, and triggers a buzzer that awakens the child. The child can then get up, and go to the toilet to relieve themselves.
Very Nice calculator.Very useful