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Bed Wetting – What Are The Treatments Available?

Figures show that in some countries only 34 percent of many families with a child who wets the bed seek out professional support.  Rather, they wait for what’s called spontaneous remission, where the child grows out of it by natural means. Quite often, this is something that does eventually happen naturally in quite a few children, but not all of them. 

It is a worrying statistic when you look at the impact that bed wetting can have on a child. It can influence everything from self-esteem to the child’s interactions with pals and parents, even when bed wetting occurs as little as once a month. Many people do realize that the majority of methods that families try themselves to solve the issue don’t work.  In comparison, proper treatment for bed wetting can be effective in more than 90 percent of situations.

The preliminary treatment for a child with a bed wetting or nocturnal enuresis problem is an alarm, waking a child at the exact moment when wetting commences.  The notion 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.

Often, there are two forms of enuresis or bed wetting alarms available 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 is made up of an alarm unit and sensor. The alarm unit is clipped onto the child’s pyjamas and the sensor is positioned within the pants. Once the sensor becomes wet, the alarm sounds.  Studies show that around two-thirds of children treated with alarm therapy turn out to be ‘dry’ during the period of time that they use the alarm, and about half of those remain dry, without the need for additional treatment.

It’s typically encouraged that alarm treatment be continued for at least two to three months, with the suggestion being that a child uses the alarm until eventually they achieve 14 consecutive nights of remaining dry.

Medications are also offered to treat bed wetting.  One of them has an active ingredient 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 lowering the amount of urine produced throughout the night.

Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic medication and may possibly be used if a child has an overactive bladder while sleeping.   Tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine, are also approved for the treatment of bedwetting, however they are not so commonly recommended because of their potential side-effects.

You may also learn about other treatments that are less commonly used such as hypnosis, acupuncture, psychotherapy, reward systems and fluid restriction. It has not been identified whether these treatments are effective in managing bedwetting. The main aim however is to use the most efficient treatment that will keep your child dry at night.