Bed wetting – Finding solutions without medication
Bed wetting, or nocturnal enuresis, is one of the most common childhood conditions that can take a tremendous toll on families as well as a child’s social well-being. Up to 40% of school-age children also show signs of bowel and bladder dysfunction. Symptoms include pain with peeing, urgency, wetting episodes during the day, delayed voiding, and constipation issues. Often, fixing the bowel and bladder dysfunction can fix urinary symptoms during the day as well as the bed wetting tendencies.
The 2-B-Dry Program at Rady Children’s Hospital employs a systematic, therapeutic approach from the simple steps of behavioral and diet modification to pelvic biofeedback, making every effort to avoid medication when possible. Here are some tips we share with families in our 2-B-Dry Program:
• Take your child to the bathroom every two hours during the day and perform double voiding – have them try to urinate twice a few minutes between attempts. This may help release residual urine that can remain in the bladder and cause overactive bladder symptoms.
• Avoid any type of liquid intake three hours prior to bedtime.
• Make sure your child drinks plenty of water and eats fiber rich foods to ensure constipation is not an issue.
• Avoid spicy foods, citrus, caffeine, chocolate, and carbonated beverages.
I look forward to discussing the steps employed in the 2-B-Dry Program and answering your questions regarding pediatric urology at the blogging event next month.
