Is There Really a Problem?

Your child wets the bed one night and panic sets in. Did all that potty training come undone? Will I have a 17-year old that needs Depends? Take a deep breath, say “Om,” and remember that bedwetting is normal for young children. 

If your child is under the age of three, bedwetting is a particularly common problem.  

Toddlers have short little arms, tiny toes, and a teensy bladder to match! Seriously, though, at that age, a lot of children’s bladders aren’t fully developed. During the night, their body can produce too much urine for their bladder to hold. As the bladder develops, the bedwetting stops. 

Even children up to age five wet the bed occasionally, and it’s no cause for alarm.  

At this age, medication or a trip to the psychologist should be a distant thought. The scientific term for frequent bedwetting is “nocturnal enuresis.” Millions of children deal with enuresis, and only 1% of them carry the problem into adulthood.  

If your child is older than five, you’ll want to look at the problem more closely.  

Does bedwetting run in the family? If so, the problem will likely run its course and then go away. Learning what helped those family members overcome the bedwetting might help your child.  

Frequent bedwetting in older children might be a sign of a physical problem, some of which are quite serious.  

Unlike a newly potty trained two-year old, a seven or eight-year who wets the bed multiple times a week should see a doctor – not that anything’s necessarily wrong. You just want to be sure to rule out a urinary tract or bladder infection, among other pretty benign conditions. For many children, a period of bedwetting is just part of growing up. They may never outgrow leaving dirty socks on the floor, but they will outgrow enuresis.

Start and Stop

There are a few different bladder control exercises out there that help with bedwetting. Maybe Suzanne Somers could host an instructional DVD (Bladders of Steel?). Until Ms. Somers trades in the Thigh Master for a Bladder Master regimen, I’ll step in and do the explaining! The muscle that holds back and releases urine is called the “urinary sphincter” – not a word I particularly enjoy saying, or typing, as the case may be. Scientific words aren’t exactly known for leaving a poetic ringing in your ears. Remember the bladder control exercise (holding the pee for a few minutes before going)? This exercise, called the urination control exercise, can be used in conjunction with that one. In fact, both exercises are most effective when you use them together. Here’s how this one works:

1. When your child urinates, have them stop mid-stream. By squeezing the muscles that control the flow of urine, your child should be able to stop urinating once they’ve started.
2. Have your child do the start-stop thing three times
3. Repeat the start-stop process during each trip to the bathroom

 What you’re hoping to accomplish is this – if your child has better bladder control during the day, then they’ll have better bladder control at night, too.  Using these two exercises in conjunction is completely safe.

Bedwetting and Circadian Rhythms?

Ever hear of circadian rhythms? It’s basically this unseen force in your body that says, “It’s dark – you should sleep. It’s light – you should get up.” Of course, we mess that all up by staying up watching TV, having lights on, that kind of thing.  But here’s the other thing circadian rhythms do – they tell your body to speed up or slow down of various bodily functions – including urinating. Ahhhh – we may be onto something! Does your bedwetting child use a night light? Mine likes to sleep with a regular, full-sized lamp on all night. In fact, if we turn it off, he’ll pop awake and say, “Mom, you’re busted!” He’s not really afraid of the dark (or so he says!), but just likes it on.  I’m up for a few nights of experimenting – how about you? Of course, this may cost me a few bucks (bribe money!). I’d like to see what happens pee-wise if he sleeps in a dark room (even just with the hall light on instead of the one in his room). If you try it, let me know what happens.