Statistics show that in some countries only 34 percent of many families with a child who wets the bed seek skilled support. As an alternative, they wait for what’s called spontaneous remission, where the child grows out of it naturally. Quite often, this is something that does finally happen naturally in quite a few children, but not all of them.
It is a worrying statistic when you contemplate the effect that bed wetting can have on a youngster. It can affect everything from self-esteem to the child’s relationships with buddies and parents, even when bed wetting happens as little as once a month. Many people do understand that the majority of strategies that families try themselves to solve the dilemma don’t work. In comparison, suitable treatment for bed wetting can be successful in more than 90 percent of circumstances.
The initial treatment for a child with a bed wetting or nocturnal enuresis problem is an alarm, waking a child at the precise second when wetting begins. The thought is that after a period of time, alarm therapy improves arousal from sleep, assisting to notify and sensitise a child to respond to a full bladder when they’re asleep.
Generally, there are two varieties of enuresis or bed wetting alarms obtainable to parents and children – the pad-and-bell alarm consists of a soft rubber mat which is connected to an alarm unit. The mat is positioned on the bed and covered with sheets. The alarm rings as the child starts to wet. The personal or body-worn alarm consists of an alarm unit and sensor. The alarm unit is clipped onto the child’s pyjamas and the sensor is positioned inside the pants. Once the sensor becomes wet, the alarm sounds. Studies indicate that around two-thirds of children treated with alarm therapy turn out to be ‘dry’ during the period of time that the alarm is being used, and about half of those continue to be dry, without the need for more treatment.
It’s usually recommended that alarm treatment be continued for at least two to three months, with the suggestion being that a child uses the alarm right up until they achieve 14 consecutive nights of remaining dry.
Medications are also offered to treat bed wetting. One of them has an active element called desmopressin. It works like vasopressin, which is a naturally occurring substance created by the brain. For children who wet the bed as a result of low levels of vasopressin during the night, desmopressin supplements the body’s natural vasopressin, thus minimizing the amount of urine produced through the night.
Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic medication and might be used if a child has an overactive bladder during sleep. Tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine, are also approved for the treatment of bedwetting, however they are less frequently recommended because of their potential side-effects.
You may also hear about other treatments that are less commonly used such as hypnosis, acupuncture, psychotherapy, reward systems and fluid restriction. It has not been recognized whether these treatments are effective in managing bedwetting. The major goal however is to use the most successful treatment that will keep your child dry at night.