You can train baby not to bed-wet

May 18, 2003

ENURESIS is the term used for bed-wetting. Sometimes it is called urine incontinence, which is the failure to control urine. It is considered normal for children until the age of six.

By Juliet Kakeeto

ENURESIS is the term used for bed-wetting. Sometimes it is called urine incontinence, which is the failure to control urine. It is considered normal for children until the age of six.

Dr Mayanja, a paediatrician at Victoria Medical Centre, says most children who wet their beds have inherited small bladders which cannot hold all the urine produced in a night.

In addition, they are deep sleepers who do not wake up to the signal of a full bladder. In this case, the kidneys are normal. Emotional problems do not necessarily cause enuresis, but they can occur if it is mishandled. Physical causes are very rare.

Mayanja says sometimes bedwetting is a result of urinary tract infections. Abnormalities in the urethral valves in boys or in the urethra in girls or boys can cause it.

An imbalance of the bladder muscles, for instance, the muscle that contracts to squeeze the urine out is at times stronger than the sphincter muscle that holds the urine, can also lead to enuresis.

Dr Samuel Kaggwa, a
gynaecologist at Victoria Medical Centre, says that children who wet their beds are normal psychologically and anatomically.

Kaggwa says that genetics also play a part. Children with a parent, who wet the bed, have a chance of being bedwetters, and a child with two parents who both wet the bed has an even greater chance.

Children who used to be dry at night but then start to wet the bed may be under stress, he says.

Common stress includes physical illness, which could even be a bad cold, parents’ divorce or remarriage, birth of a new sibling, harsh punishments, or the death of a beloved pet or relative.

The doctor, however, notes that the cause of daytime wetting with or without night-time wetting is rarely the sign of something serious and is very common.

He says most children who bedwet overcome the problem even without treatment.

However, if the problem persists, one needs to encourage the child to get up to urinate during the night.

“Encourage your child to drink a lot during the morning and early afternoon. The more the child drinks, the more urine he will produce, and more urine leads to a larger bladder and therefore the capacity to hold more urine, leading to less bed-wetting caused by full bladders,” he said.

On the other hand, you ought to discourage your child from drinking a lot during the last two hours before bedtime,” he continues.
Scientists recommend that if your child is still bedwetting at six, include him as a helper in washing the wet bedclothes.

Responding positively to dry nights is also another kind of treatment to the behaviour.

Most bed-wetters feel quite guilty and embarrassed about this problem. They need support and encouragement, not blame or punishment. Siblings should not be allowed to tease bed-wetters.

Punishment or pressure will delay getting a cure and cause secondary emotional problems.

Learn to change your babies nappies when they are soiled.

Leaving the baby in wet clothes makes it get used to being wet and therefore it may pick up the habit.

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