 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
Nocturnal Eneuresis - Bedwetting
| | No, not some unwanted night-time rodent, but it can be equally as pesky.
| | Nocturnal eneuresis or inappropriate bedwetting is a common occurrence in children of all ages. At the age of 5 years, 1 in 7 children still wets the bed and, at 10 years approximately, 1 in 14. Fortunately, bedwetting disappears with time and very few adults will have this problem. However, it can affect children’s sense of self esteem and can hinder their social life. They often don’t want to sleep over at friends' homes and they avoid school camps.
| Bedwetting often runs in families, with parents, grandparents and extended family members having been bedwetters too. Boys are more likely to be bedwetters than girls.
| | What Causes Bedwetting? | | Occasionally there may be physical problems - eg urinary tract infection - and it is always wise to check this out with your doctor. This is secondary eneuresis and will likely show as a return to bedwetting once a child has achieved night time control. Emotional and psychological causes are possible but rare. Importantly, bedwetting is not caused by naughtiness or laziness or drinking too much.
| For the majority of children, bedwetting can be explained as a hiccup in the communication between the brain and the bladder when a child is sleeping.
| | How is bedwetting treated? | | For some children, doctors will prescribe a small dose of tricyclic medication such as imipramine. This helps children to be continent for the time they are taking the drugs, with a few children managing to keep dry once the drugs are stopped. This medication can be helpful for those school camps.
| Fox & Azrin were the first to develop a package of re-training known as ‘Dry Bed Training’. It uses an eneuresis alarm. The alarm helps solve the communication problem between the bladder and brain. It trains the brain to be aware of when the bladder is full and about to empty by sounding a buzzer as soon as the child starts to wet. Firstly with parents help, the child learns to awaken to the buzzer. Once they can wake up quickly, they learn to hold on and stop the flow of urine. With practice and on-going training, children learn to respond to the sensation of a full bladder by themselves. The brain either wakes them up and takes them off to the toilet or the child’s brain instructs the bladder to hold on until morning.
| How successful is it? | | Research tells us that Dry Bed Training methods using similar principles to those above are the most successful ways of assisting a child over 6 years of age with nocturnal eneuresis. Parents need to have clear instructions on how to help their child, not just with the alarm, but with other aspects of a training programme. Success rates of between 75% and 90% have been reported from the research when this method is used. Although it might seem expensive to get assistance to help the child with bedwetting, imagine the savings on washing powder over the years!
| Talk to us about gains in these areas
| |
| - depression - alcohol & substance abuse - work related problems | | - anxieties, fearful states, obsessions and compulsions | | - adjustment problems in chronic illness, including pain management | | - child & family problems - eating disorders | | - relationship & interpersonal concerns - dementia | | - sexual dysfunction - post traumatic stress disorder, including physical, | | emotional & sexual abuse - intellectual & memory concerns | | - stress management - neuropsychological assessment & rehabilitation |
|
