Long-term bedwetting is a real problem not only for a child but for their parents as well. This type of bedwetting can lead to low self-esteem, lack of concentration at school, feelings of isolation, and other related psychological problems. What it comes down to is that the child needs professional help to successfully stop wetting the bed.
Reasons
The most common reasons for bedwetting for children over five years old include:
- a family history of bedwetting
- a developmental delay
- a urinary tract infection or complications with medication.
If your child is over five years old and you suspect that it's just not time for them to stop wetting their bed, ask yourself the following questions: Has this been an ongoing problem? Does your child avoid drinking water at night? Does your child drink excessive amounts of liquids during the day?
If you answered "yes" to any one of these questions, don't wait another minute! Take them to see their doctor immediately. The doctor will be able to rule out medical reasons for why are continuing to wet the bed and then refer your child to a specialist.
One of the most common underlying reasons for bedwetting is that it's simply time to stop, but some children are still not ready for this transition. If your child wets the bed after receiving an alarm treatment, you can be sure that there must be another issue involved in their wetting cycle. Again, don't wait another minute! Take them back to see their doctor or head straight to a specialist who can help with this type of bedwetting.
Now adult children continue to wet the bed due to anxiety and phobias. This group of patients needs therapy before they are able to use the bedwetter alarm successfully. The success rate for treating adult children with widespread phobias is low. This doesn't mean that these children won't stop wetting the bed, it just means that they will take longer to stop successfully.
You should make sure your child gets this help as soon as possible. At first, you can discuss with your pediatrician whether there are any medical reasons behind the problem or if it might go away by itself over time. If neither seems to be the case, you should find out which treatment options are available for older children who continue wetting their beds.
The most important part of this process is finding ways to motivate your child enough so they will comply with whatever method will be used. Successful treatment requires your child's cooperation.
Tips to avoid it
You should try to find out which methods are used for older children who wet the bed, so you can pick one that seems most appropriate for your child. Before doing this research, however, you might want to ask around to see what other parents have tried in similar situations with their own kids and how it turned out.
The first step is usually getting organized by keeping a bedwetting diary. This helps you figure out whether there are any patterns or triggers that might help explain why your child wets the bed at night. After all, it doesn't really matter if he does it because of psychological reasons or physical problems - what you need help with is stopping the problem from happening again once your child has gone to sleep.
The next step is usually about getting organized. Children who continue bedwetting sometimes simply don't make it to the toilet on time, or they forget to use it altogether (some kids might need to get up at night and go by themselves). So you should start making your child follow a strict schedule - like always using the bathroom before going to bed and never drinking anything after around 7 pm.
Some children also benefit from restricting their fluid intake for two hours before bedtime. You can put some electrical tape over all the water taps in your house as a friendly reminder not to drink anything from them!
In some cases, being more demanding about this matter will help as well: tell your child that he must always ask for permission to go to the toilet at night. If this is not enough, you might have to offer an extra reward for your child's efforts at following this rule before bedtime. It can be anything from money to spending more time with you during the day.
Awareness and lack of shame
Just being aware of the problem at hand and having a diagnosis might be all that it takes for some children to stop wetting their beds - no further treatment is necessary! You should keep talking about the matter with your child, even if he does seem better after his first few nights without accidents.
Discuss it with your child's doctor. If your child doesn't go to a pediatrician, you should ask him/her for a referral to a urologist or a pediatrician who specializes in bedwetting. When discussing treatment options with your child's doctor or specialist, you will want to find out how successful the various programs have been in the past. Don't be afraid to get more than one opinion from several different sources if needed!
The problem could still come back in weeks or months, however, so there are other solutions as well: psychotherapy has proven very helpful for older children who wet the bed because it provides them with the insight into their problem they might have lacked before.
Only a very small percentage of children actually benefit from enuresis alarms, so you should probably think twice about investing in one of those unless your doctor or another expert recommends it for some reason.
An enuretic child is likely to have problems sleeping alone at night because he/she might be afraid not to wake up on time if there's an accident. So it's best to get used to this situation gradually by putting your child's bed away from yours step by step until she falls asleep comfortably in her own room.
Never shame bedwetting children. If you want to resolve this problem, your child and you must feel comfortable about it from the beginning.
In every case of long-term bedwetting, remember that treatment for this problem can be successful as long as you don't give up and a doctor or a specialist is involved in your child`s care. Also, remember the vast majority of cases of kids who continue to wet the bed after age five have underlying emotional issues that need to be addressed before any type of treatment can begin.
Comments:
You mention it in the “limit fluid intake” but there can be a lot of hidden water in foods as well. Our oldest had a problem with bed wetting and we noticed that it happened a lot if she had ice cream before bed.Never shame themThis one is super important, and sometimes hard when you get that 3 am wakeup.
this-guy / 2021-11-11 02:12:00
Protip: Double bag the mattress with two waterproof pads: one that zips around and one that covers over the top with elastic. And leave an extra pair of clothes out when they go to bed.Then, if there is an event in the middle of the night is a quick fix: rip off the sheets and wet cover, quickly put on new sheets, and no hunting for clothes. Helps prevent frustration on both sides and a faster transition back to sleep.
jaycutlerdoesnotcare- / 2021-11-15 02:24:16
Both of my kids had bouts of bedwetting after they were pottytrained, and both times it was caused by impacted stool that infringed on their bladder space. Once we went to a fancy pediatric urologist who had my daughter urinate into an amazing space-age toilet that measured the flow of her urine and diagnosed the partial blockage, and the other time my son had an Xray that showed a humongous ball of poop. He was so impressed with himself! Both were fixed with daily doses of Pedialax to move the poop out without pain, about a week-long process for both. So whenever my son had a incident after that, we would do a couple days of Pedialax and he was back to dry nights. So yes, check with your doctor to rule out any minor health issues.
midwesternmom / 2021-11-17 19:24:29
These can help until the kid’s bladder matures. They even make them in teen sizes. Very popular in other countries with absolutely no stigma - with parents or peers.https://www.goodnites.com/Not popular in the United States because too many of us would rather drug, shame, blame, or look for deep-rooted psychological causes instead of acknowledging this happens because kids, even teens, are not yet physically or mentally baked yet.I was acquainted with a fundamentalist Christian family that gave their son a tablespoon of hot-sauce whenever he wet the bed, on the advice of their pastor.I’m sure that did the trick.A professor friend I knew told me that his dept. head had a 15 year old son that she, her wife, and husband -thought- was wetting the bed, although the kid denied it.The family’s psychoanalyst said it was because the boy desired his bio-mother...wanted to bang her. They sent him to some nutty, expensive boarding school in the forests of Mendocino County, CA, where some classes were held n scary-altitude treehouses in massive, ancient redwoods. The kid told my friend’s son that one of the sex-ed classes had an activity were they masterbated, in a mixed gender group, on their backs, in a field looking at the stars, listening to the Beatles. OOOkaaay....We All Live in a Yellow Submarine...Better than hot sauce.Rich kids have all the fun. The little bastards don’t know how lucky they are.
cdhawke / 2021-11-19 15:36:51
Limit liquids before bedtime.Make sure aquariums and running water sounds are not in or near their bedroom.Get
a plastic cover for the mattress so that if they have an accident,
cleanup is quick and not a big deal. Don’t make them cleanup and don’t
get angry with them.When they start having dry
nights give them a “good job” or “way to go” as a simple
acknowledgement. Don’t make a huge deal out of it so they don’t feel
pressured.Reassure them that everyone grows out of it
and some people just do it sooner than others. Some walk sooner than
others. Some ride bikes sooner than others. Don’t worry about it,
success will happen.And if you’re going on a campout, bring an extra sleeping bag, preferably one that looks like the first one.
notthatmj / 2021-11-21 11:48:15
Azalso, these can help until the kid’s bladder matures. They even make them in teen sizes. Very popular in other countries with absolutely no stigma - with parents or peers.https://www.goodnites.com/Not popular in the United States because too many of us would rather drug, shame, blame, or look for deep-rooted psychological causes instead of acknowledging this happens because kids, even teens, are not yet physically or mentally baked yet.I was acquainted with a fundamentalist Christian family that gave their son a tablespoon of hot-sauce whenever he wet the bed, on the advice of their pastor. I’m sure that did the trick.
cdhawke / 2021-11-23 18:24:11