Understand Bedwetting

by Prav

Understanding Nocturnal Enuresis or Bedwetting

What is bedwetting or Nocturnal Enuresis?

This is a condition where a person or a child has involuntary urination during sleep. This can be very common in children at the age of seven and below. Although there are some cases where adults can also experience the same condition they have experienced when they were still kids. 

Nocturnal enuresis can have many causes and can vary. Medically there is the primary nocturnal enuresis which is when a child continues to wet the bed after the age where normally they would be able to control urination. This can happen 2 to 3 times a week and there is no prolonged period of dryness. The secondary nocturnal enuresis is when a person after a long period of dry sleeping reverts back to bedwetting. This is between weeks or months of no bedwetting.

Common reasons for bedwetting or Nocturnal Enuresis

Reasons for these conditions can vary. Most common reasons involve genetics. Genetic research shows that if parents are both bed wetter there is a good chance that their child would also be bedwetting. Another most common cause of bedwetting involves neurological and developmental delay. Despite these being the most common reasons for the bedwetting, there is still no test available that would determine whether bedwetting is caused by genetics or developmental delays in the child. There are other proven causes of the condition such as disease, physical abnormalities, insufficient ADH production, psychological to name a few. So if your child is experiencing bedwetting after the age where they are expected to stay dry at night it would be good to consult your doctor

There are situations that as a parent, you would often worry about bedwetting. Children will develop differently from one another so try not to expect your child to stop bedwetting at a very early age. It is common for children to wet their beds until the age of 7 and putting pressure or reprimanding them for doing so is not going to help. Your reprimand or putting them in shame will only add to emotional stress that they are encountering from the situation. Children will often get stressed for wetting their beds and they have no control over it. This stress can lead to a lot of problems especially if children do not get the understanding from their parents.

Bedwetting can have tremendous effect on the self-esteem of a child if not handled properly. A child can be subjected to a lot of problems with this such as being teased by other children or other people finding out. This can also result to psychological harm depending on the gravity they are hampered on their social development. So, what a child needs is understandings from parents and the right attitude towards the condition. Parents should be able to handle the situation smartly and get the knowledge to best face the situation. Doctors would be a great source of information and medical journals. Before taking any steps, be sure you know what you are faced with, if it is a child phase or if you really need medical attention for your child.