Helping Your Child To Stop Wetting The Bed

The old joke goes as “A sailor makes his bed on the sea and a baby makes his bed the sea”. For the new parents managing child's bedwetting habits in the later years can be a Herculean task. You can protect the mattresses with a new generation of mattress protector but teaching the baby to regulate himself is important.

Our body has special muscles called as sphincter muscle that controls the urine passage and helps signal the brain that it's time to get to the pot. In smaller kids, these muscles are still not fully perfect for holding up the urine for longer periods and also the kid may himself not be able to decipher the brain signals as he may be sleeping too. Also, Children sleep like a log as their physical activity exceeds their dietary intake and also their hyperactivity makes body get the signal of being super tired and they end up sleeping anywhere.

The bedwetting till age of 5 years is normal as the child is unable to get the signal of his full bladder and passes it off unknowingly. A few management techniques for this can be:

Regulate the water intake

Like an intelligent person, it is important to manage the liquid intake of the child. Try to keep the kid hydrated with fluids in the daytime and gradually reduce this in the evening hours. Buy a larger size bottle if your kid is school going.

Time the loo routine

Make it a habit to take the kid to the toilet bowl after every two hours (three if your kid is older) before bedtime. This will automatically condition the child and clear the bladder.

Extrinsic reward

Introduce external reminders for the kid to keep attention to his bladder with small rewards like stickers, cars, etc. and help him keep a tab along with you (the days he helped keep the bed dry). If this is not your parenting plan then buy a wetness monitor to help you pick the child and relieve him in the loo. (Your little one will be too busy rolling in his sleep).

Go ayurvedic

Ayurvedic treatments rely on cinnamon, cranberry juice and amla powder for helping with the bladder control. Make your child chew on to a healthy stick of cinnamon at any time during the day or use amla powder along with healthy honey and warm water for same results.

Citrus juices and cocoa powder

These two are bladder irritants which make your kid pass urine. Again avoid them in the evening and especially during bedtime.

Massage

Give the little one a bedtime massage especially in the lower abdomen area. You can use baby oil, coconut and even olive oil for this. This will make the kid relaxed and help his muscles grow steadily.

Psychiatrist support

Sometimes the child develops a psychological fear or problem and expresses it by bedwetting. If your pediatrician recommends it, meet a psychology expert and help your child grow up in a healthy manner. You may be given medication to ease the issue of the bedwetting (Sometimes bedwetting is an outcome of existing medication as well).

Consult the pediatrician

If the problem becomes severe, consult with the pediatrician as it may signal any of the diseases like Sleep apnea, childhood diabetes and urinary tract infection amongst others. Constipation puts pressure on the bladder and it can be another cause of the bedwetting.