Punishment for bed-wetting is unwarranted

Dear Dr. Donohue: My son is 7 and he still wets the bed. My husband can't imagine why he does this, and he believes it's willful. He thinks the boy needs to be punished. I don't. What do you recommend for this situation, which is a source of conflict between my husband and me?— H.N.Answer: The first thing I recommend is for your husband to realize that this isn't a voluntary act by the child. Punishment shouldn't be considered. No one has the answer to why some children cannot hold urine throughout the night. The child might have a slightly smaller-than-normal bladder that will enlarge as he grows older. Or it might be that the nerve connections to the bladder are not yet functioning. Don't blame the boy, don't punish him and don't humiliate him.

You can explain to your son that holding the urge to empty his bladder during the day for a little longer time will stretch the bladder and could keep him dry during the night. The boy's fluid intake should be managed in such a way that he drinks 40 percent of the total intake in the morning, another 40 percent in the afternoon and 20 percent in the evening.

Alarms that sound at the first drops of fluid often work. The sensor device is placed on a mat on the bed or in the boy's pajamas. The boy wakens, goes to the bathroom, returns to his room and changes his pajamas if need be. Or you can set an alarm to waken the boy two or three hours after going to sleep for a trip to the bathroom.

Medicines are a help when they are judiciously used for special occasions, like sleeping at a friend's house or at camp. First, test the medicine a couple of times to see how the boy responds to it. The one most often prescribed is desmopressin, DDAVP, which decreases urine production during the night.

Dear Dr. Donohue: Every evening I drink two cans of beer and have been doing so for many years. I'm not overweight, and I don't have high blood pressure. The beer doesn't make me groggy. I like it.

In the past month, on two occasions, about half an hour after the second can, my heart begins to beat fast. It lasts maybe 15 minutes. I have no chest pain when it happens. Do you think that alcohol is the reason?— M.D.Answer: It could be.

It's strange that beer would have this effect on you after years of drinking a modest amount. I can't say for sure.

You can get to the bottom of this in two ways. One is not to drink and see if these heart speed-ups stop. The other is to see a doctor for a complete exam to possibly include wearing a heart monitor that records all heartbeats that occur during the wearing time. That discloses the kind of beats that happen.

Why Do Children Wet The Bed - News


Punishment for bed-wetting is unwarranted

Dear Dr. Donohue: My son is 7 and he still wets the bed. My husband can't imagine why he does this, and he believes it's willful. He thinks the boy needs to be punished. I don't. What do you recommend for this situation, which is a source of conflict



Sotomayor Opens Up About Diabetes

She fainted in church, was thirsty all the time, so she drank too much water and wet her bed. "I was ashamed," the justice said in opening remarks Tuesday to the Children's Congress of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.



Kids Hit Capitol for Diabetes Cure
Kids Hit Capitol for Diabetes Cure

Before she was diagnosed, Sotomayor had chronic thirst and wet the bed at night. "It's a disease you have to deal with, but you can," Sotomayor told the group of children. The Supreme Court justice continues to cope with diabetes, injecting herself



Bed-Wetting Deeply Affects Children

No one can understand the isolation and hopelessness he has to grapple with. He could stand professional counseling. Between the ages of 5 and 6, 15 percent to 20 percent of children are still wetting the bed. Of that number, every following year,



Last train to Hogwarts

WHEN Erica Crombie's parents bought her a book about wizards and magic to help alleviate the boredom of a wet week in a Queensland holiday park, little did they know what they'd let themselves in for. Between the rather ordinary covers lay a story so




What Might Be The Factors Behind Bed Wetting? | welcome to ...

Every child certainly experiences a point where they wet their beds at night. Bed wetting , also known as nighttime enuresis, is very common among young children, particularly those younger than eight, and this is generally very annoying not just for parents, but for kids as well. Typically, bedwetting children could have the ability to stop this particular habit independently, but there are several kids also who require the assistance of a doctor as well as their parents. So how could you know what’s causing your son or daughter to wet his or her bed?

You may possibly not know this, but bed wetting is regarded by many experts as genetic. There were several studies saying that a parent that has problems with nighttime enuresis is very likely to have children who can also face the same troubles.

The possibility will get higher when both parents experience this kind of problem. Thereforeit really is essential to determine if your child’s bedwetting habit is genetic or not. At least you’ll feel assured that there isn’t anything wrong with your child’s health. Moreover, it could be easier for you to understand and be patient to your son or daughter whenever he or she wets the bed.

Another thing you should do is to take your son or daughter to the doctor for a checkup. You need to determine if your son or daughter has a rather small bladder, which may not have completely developed yet to contain urine during the night. There are cases also in which the nerves in the bladder aren’t developed yet, making the child not have the capability of recognizing the feeling of having a full bladder while asleep. In case it turns out that your boy or girl has a small bladder, then you certainly should be more understanding because it will surely take some time until your son or daughter learn how to handle his or her pee.

Whenyou’ve discovered the reason why your child usually wets his bed, you should then think of solutions to help your child stop bed wetting . There’s an item called wetting alarm, which your son or daughter can use at night so that he could wake up and go to the bathroom if the alarm goes off after it detects moisture on the bed.


Why Do Children Wet The Bed - Bookshelf

JAMA., The Journal of the American Medical Association

JAMA., The Journal of the American Medical Association

The following are the histories of two children in one family who haye been under my care ... Urination was frequent, and the child wets the bed at night. ...

Emotional and behavioral problems of young children, effective interventions in the preschool and kindergarten years

Emotional and behavioral problems of young children, effective interventions in the preschool and kindergarten years

However, it appears that when children stop wetting the bed, many of them sleep ... When the alarm is first used, children often do not awaken to its sound. ...

Babyhood, devoted exclusively to the care of infants and young children

Babyhood, devoted exclusively to the care of infants and young children

What we wish to consider is bed-wetting after bed-wetting should cease. ... In the same way, some children get over this trouble of wetting the bed earlier ...

The Power of Your Child's Imagination, How to Transform Stress and Anxiety Into Joy and Success

The Power of Your Child's Imagination, How to Transform Stress and Anxiety Into Joy and Success

Up to 20 percent of five-year-olds wet the bed, as do 10 percent of seven-year- olds and 3 percent of ten-year-olds. Five to seven million kids in the United ...

The Portable Pediatrician, Everything You Need to Know About Your Child's Health

The Portable Pediatrician, Everything You Need to Know About Your Child's Health

See if you can remove some of the stress triggers in your child's life. • Attention deficit disorder (ADD). Children with ADD are more likely to wet the bed ...

Day-after-day Report Directory


Bedwetting (enuresis)
The child should not be put under pressure if younger than six - children do not wet the bed on purpose. ... Don't get angry with the child or punish them if they wet their bed. ...

Why does my child wet the bed?|Insomnia Connection
Why does my child wet the bed? It could be a simple reason like a small bladder. A child produces urine during the night and the bladder may be too small to contain it.

Why does our child still wet the bed? How can we help him stop?
Why does our child still wet the bed? How can we help him stop? ... For many children, keeping the bed dry at night is a more elusive goal, one that might ...

Why Does My Child Wet the Bed? - March 1, 1999 - American ...
Bed-wetting is fairly common; about 5 million to 7 million children wet the bed. ... And children do not wet the bed on purpose, out of spite or to irritate their parents. ...

What I need to know about My Child's Bedwetting
Why does my child wet the bed? Many children wet the bed until they ... If both parents wet the bed as children, their child is likely to have the same problem. ...