Bedwetting which is known as Enuresis in medical terminology is the involuntary
urination during sleep. Everybody wets their
beds during infancy but they start to keep their beds dry at the age of 3 to 5. If child continues to wet bed, this signifies a physiological or a psychological reason for it. In some rare cases, one continues to wet bed even after puberty.
One should not look Enuresis as a disease and more often it requires proper parental guidance and support. If a child wets bed too often, the parent must not punish or tease the kid. This can lead to shooting down of the child’s self-esteem and confidence.
Psychological reasons for enuresis may due various factors such as feeling of insecurity, pressure of studies, fear of ghosts or a bully or disharmony at the parental level.
Such problems don’t need any medication and can be easily handled by psychotherapy. Cultivating the habit of
urination before sleep and decreased intake of liquids after dinner may help. Exercises to strengthen the bladder’s muscular walls like intermittent releasing and holding of urine during urination, holding urine under pressure for longer times during the day are of great help.
Even if the child urinates in bed during sleep, he should not be rebuked for it because it is totally involuntary. Instead he must be encouraged with rewards for nights the child keep the bed dry.
Physiological reasons for
bedwetting include smaller bladder size, higher urine formation and infection of the urinary tract.These problems must be taken care of medically and a physician must be consulted.
Finally, bedwetting does not lead to any serious problem except that rebuking a child for it or teasing him may lead to a severe traumatic condition for the child and hamper with his mental growth.