Her 7-year-old son started wetting the bed again, at least 3-4 times a week, which disturbed her. I heard that bedwetting is normal for children and will heal on its own as they get older, but her own child is still wetting the bed at this age? Is bedwetting a disease, should I go to the hospital and see if I should do anything about it?
First, is bedwetting a disease in children?
Generally speaking, most children have basic control over urination by the age of 3, and bedwetting is rare after the age of 5. If a child over the age of 5 still wets the bed and wets the bed more than 2 times a month, it can be diagnosed as a disease called “enuresis”. According to a survey, the incidence of pediatric enuresis is about 15% at the age of 5 and 5% to 6% at the age of 10.
Many parents believe that bedwetting is normal for children and that they will get better slowly when they grow up and do not need treatment. In fact, this is wrong. Long-term enuresis has serious harmful effects on the physical and mental health of children. Children with enuresis are weak, easily catch colds, and are often picky and anorexic. They are also prone to skin diseases and allergies because they often lie in damp bedding. They are also prone to abdominal pain caused by cold, and the supply and absorption of nutrients in the intestines are affected. Children with enuresis often have an inferiority complex and psychological burden, and are reluctant to let others know about it, do not like to have more contact with other children, do not want to participate in group activities, and are afraid to sleep in group dormitories. After a long time, they gradually develop a timid, lonely, introverted and over-sensitive personality. According to the survey, the intellectual development of children with long-term enuresis is also affected to a certain extent, and their IQ is 17%~23% lower than that of normal children.
Second, what factors are related to enuresis?
The causes of enuresis in children are complex and may be related to the following factors.
1. Genetic factors
If both parents have enuresis when they are young, the incidence of enuresis in children is 77%; if one of the parents has enuresis when they are young, the incidence of children is 44%; if both parents have no history of enuresis, the incidence of children is 15%.
2.Physiological factors
Many children with enuresis have disorders of bladder function, and the bladder volume is often 30% or more less than normal. The function of the secreted antidiuretic hormone is not mature enough to control nighttime urination. Some children are too tired from playing, studying and sleeping too late during the day, so that they sleep too deeply and are not easily awakened, and their brains cannot accept the awakening of the bladder to urinate, and thus urine loss occurs.
3.Psychological factors
If a child is under excessive psychological stress, is frightened, takes exams, etc., or if a loved one is killed or injured, there is family discord, or parents are divorced, etc., this can lead to enuresis. If a child wets the bed, he or she will be blamed and scolded by parents, causing a psychological burden, which in turn makes the enuresis persist.
4.Disease factors
Possessing prepuce, prepuce, urinary tract infection, vulvodynia, congenital urethral malformation and kidney function damage, etc. are prone to enuresis, in addition to spina bifida, parasitic diseases, diabetes, urolithiasis, epilepsy, etc. are also related to enuresis.
5.Improper training
Improper training of waking children at night to urinate can also easily cause enuresis. If the number of times is too much, the bladder can lose its effective stress response; if the number of times is too little, the child will easily lose the habit of waking up to urinate; if the training starts too early, such as when the baby is a few months old, bedwetting will occur because the cognitive and language comprehension ability is not yet mature; if the training is forced, no matter how the baby struggles and cries, and no matter whether there is urine or not, it will also make the baby fearful of urination and cause urine loss. If forced to train, no matter how much the baby struggles and cries, regardless of whether there is urine or not, it will also make the baby fear of urination and cause bedwetting.
6.Other factors
Such as sudden change of new living room, sleeping environment or climate change, etc. In winter, as the body sweats less, the amount of urine increases, and the weather is colder, the baby is reluctant to get up to urinate, so bedwetting easily occurs.
Third, how to prevent and control enuresis in daily life?
1.Regular life
Children should have a regular life and avoid excessive fatigue and stress. Insist on taking a nap in winter to avoid sleeping too deeply at night. Develop good sleep habits and remind your child to urinate before bedtime, and give your child a bath before bedtime if possible. Do not allow your child to be strenuously active and overly excited before bedtime, and do not tell thrilling and exciting stories to your child before bedtime. Strengthen personal hygiene, and change the bedding in time when the child wets the bed.
2.Eating adjustment
Winter weather is dry and cold, drink more water during the day and less water at night. Dinner should be lighter and dryer, with less liquid food and less sweets and high protein diet. After dinner, try to drink less water and drinks, milk, etc., to reduce the amount of urine storage in the bladder at night. Don’t eat too cold food in winter, such as bitter melon, water chestnut, Chinese mushroom, hawthorn, radish and kumquat, etc. You can eat more red dates, white fruit and wolfberry to regulate your baby’s body.
3.Psychological treatment
For children who wet themselves, parents should not use punitive means such as ridicule, scolding and threats, but should comfort and encourage the child to eliminate tension and praise or reward when there is no bedwetting. In winter, when the weather is cold and the child does not want to leave the warm blanket in the middle of the night, parents should encourage the child to get up and urinate, so that the child can urinate in a more awake situation.
4.Functional exercise
Try to extend the time between urination during the day so that the volume of urine increases and the bladder volume gradually increases. Or encourage your child to “hold urine” by deliberately interrupting urination during the day, then “urinate again” and “interrupt again”, and so on several times, and finally finish urination, which can improve Assess the control ability of the sphincter.
5.Behavioral training
Such as alarm clock timed wake up and wetting alarm treatment, has good therapeutic effect. By waking up at regular intervals with an alarm clock, a conditioned reflex can be established to achieve the purpose of self-control of urination. With the use of wet urine alarm, the electric bell will automatically ring when there is urine loss, so that the child can be awakened from sleep and get up to urinate.
6.Medication
Seriously ill children should be treated with medication under the guidance of a doctor and according to their specific condition. Commonly used drugs include antidiuretic hormones, central stimulants, antidepressants and so on. Chinese medicine can also be used as appropriate. Chinese medicine believes that enuresis is mostly related to the incomplete function of internal organs, so attention should be paid to dialectical evidence and targeted medication.