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Dry nights
A more common issue than most parents imagine, bedwetting amongst school-age children can lead to great anxiety for the whole family. Hilary Pereira offers some solutions
On average, children are dry at night by around age four or five. If, however, your school-age child is still not dry at night, he's in good company: plenty of children simply take longer to achieve this particular milestone than others.
'The speed at which children achieve night-time dryness does vary, often starting with one or two dry nights a week and building up slowly over a number of months,' says a helpline advisor for ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence). It's not always easy to pinpoint the reason why some children acquire night-time control later than others, but it is not due to laziness or lack of willpower.
'We made several attempts to get Joshua out of night-time nappies but he was still in them by age five,' says his mum, Lindsay Harper, 32, from Basildon. 'For about three months after we finally abandoned nappies he wet the bed every night, but then he started having the odd dry night, and by his sixth birthday he'd been dry for about a month. It was stressful having a problem none of my friends seemed to understand, but our health visitor gave me plenty of information to reassure me that Joshua was perfectly normal. I hadn't realised it could be a genetic problem, and it turned out that Joshua's dad had also been late to get dry. The key is to remain as positive as you can, and to treat the issue consistently.'
There are plenty of things you can do to make your lives easier until your child eventually grows out of bedwetting, and it helps to understand why the situation occurs in the first place.
How common is bedwetting?
Bedwetting (also known as 'nocturnal enuresis') is more common than many parents think, affecting around one in seven children aged five and one in 20 children aged ten. Without any treatment, the problem usually resolves itself gradually over a number of years, with less wet nights each year. Most children who are still wetting at age 10 have never had a dry night; a few may have regressed after weeks or months of being dry.
Why children wet the bed
A small bladder Some children simply have a smaller bladder capacity than others, and this - combined with last-minute pre-bedtime drinks - can result in bedwetting accidents. About one child in seven who has the problem will also have a sibling or parent who was late to become dry at night. 'The bladder may also be "overactive", giving an urgent signal to empty before it is full,' says the ERIC advisor.
What you can do 'To increase bladder capacity and encourage good function, ensure that your child has 6-8 glasses of water or water-based drinks throughout the day,' stresses the advisor from ERIC. However, during the last couple of hours before bedtime, limit drinks to water or diluted juice only, as there are certain ingredients in other drinks that may exacerbate the problem. Encourage your child to empty his bladder just before you tuck him in.
Hormones It's believed that the production of a hormone that inhibits the amount of urine made throughout the night is greater in some children than others. Those children who don't produce as much of this hormone, known as vasopressin, will make more urine and be more prone to bedwetting - especially as they may also be less aware of having a full bladder than others.
What you can do This problem usually resolves itself as children mature. Again, it's wise to limit drinks close to bedtime, and make sure that your child visits the loo just before sleeping.
Food and drink choices Some food and drinks contain caffeine, which is a known diuretic (encouraging the production of urine). These include chocolate and caffeinated cola.
What you can do Avoid giving your child anything containing caffeine within an hour of bedtime. You can buy decaffeinated cola, which is a better choice healthwise anyway.
Constipation If your child is constipated, this can have a knock-on effect on the sensitivity of his bladder, as any obstruction in the rectum can 'irritate' the bladder.
What you can do Prevent or ease constipation by increasing the amount of roughage in your child's diet. This includes unpeeled fruit and vegetables and wholemeal or wholegrain foods, such as brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta. Encourage your child to drink more fluids during the daytime - but decrease the amount you offer him towards bedtime.
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