Bedwetting Causes: Knowledge Helps!

How can you help your child if you don't understand what's causing this bedwetting problem? Knowing what DOESN'T cause bedwetting is just as important!

There’s no way you’re going to be able to help your child overcome bedwetting if you don’t understand it yourself.

Learn even just the basics, and you’ll be able to explain the problem better to your child. Learn a couple of big words, and it’ll all start to come together. Even just knowing that this is a true medical condition is a huge relief and a big help.

First of all, it’s called enuresis.

There are two types of enuresis – primary and secondary. If it’s happening at night, you can throw the word ‘nocturnal’ in there, too – as in Primary Nocturnal Enuresis, or Secondary Nocturnal Enuresis.

See? Just having a medical term for it helps a little already. The more you learn about your child’s enuresis, the better you’ll understand what’s happening, what’s causing it, and how to help. As far as I know, there’s no medical term for laziness or spite – and it’s a good thing, because there’s no connection whatsoever between them and bedwetting. Your kid doesn’t wet the bed because he doesn’t feel like getting up; and he doesn’t do it to push your buttons. If you can understand that, it’ll help the situation a lot. Parents who buy into those myths are likely to punish their enuretic children, which is completely inappropriate and counter-productive.

You might not know that enuresis runs in families.

Now, don’t go off trying to play detective just yet. Parents are a lot more open about medical conditions now than in generations past. Some challenges that you hear your friends discussing would never have been talked about by your grandparents. Going on a hunt for the bedwetters in your family tree isn’t going to win you any friends. Just know that, chances are, some of the nests in that family tree were probably wet. You may get lucky and have the former bedwetters come forward to offer support and encouragement – but you may not.

Learning about the causes of bedwetting can help you help your child better.

You might be tempted to hit the panic button, lose your confidence as a parent, or lose your temper with your child without a good education about the problem.

• Bedwetting is a really common childhood problem – especially in kids age six and under. It’s a phase – and in about 99% of all cases, the child stops wetting before puberty (I know that sounds like a long, long time, but it’s better than having a lifelong challenge, right?).

• Bedwetting is not caused by how you potty trained your child, no matter what Sigmund Freud might say.

It’s much more likely to be more like a sleep disorder.

The child sleeps so deeply that the signals that wake other people up in time to go to the bathroom just don’t make it through. Another suspected cause is having an immature bladder. Yet another involves a dysfunctional sleep cycle – your child doesn’t go into REM sleep and stay there at the right intervals. Probably it’s some combination of all of these causes.

Chances are wetting the bed makes your child feel pretty lousy. They might feel ashamed, embarrassed, or “babyish.” When you know the facts, you can discuss them with your child in a way that will make them feel better. Let them know that it’s not their fault and that the problem will eventually go away.

Encourage your other family members to learn a little about enuresis, too. This will help them to be more sensitive and supportive, and less likely to tease. As a family, when one member is struggling, it’s up to the rest of you to give the help, understanding, and encouragement that’s needed. The world can be mean – getting an education on enuresis means your family won’t be.

Susan Lewis

© 2007 Triumph Communications, LLC