• Choosing a Pediatrician for your child
• Vision problems diagnosed as ADHD

Bed Wetting

Guess what? Bedwetting is common (although embarrassing to the sufferer) and in many cases treatable. There are millions of people from young children to adults who wet their beds at night.

There are two types of bedwetting - Primary Nocturnal Enuresis and Secondary Nocturnal Enuresis.

PRIMARY NOCTURNAL ENURESIS

This is the more common of the two types of bedwetting. Invariably it means that your child has probably never been dry at night.

This problem is usually genetic, and it will probably be discovered that one or another of the parents (or even perhaps one of their siblings - not that anyone is likely to admit to it.) had a similar problem at night.

Time will be the "great healer". Eventually your child will out-grow the problem.

SECONDARY NOCTURNAL ENURESIS

This is another matter altogether. At some point, the bed wetter did not appear to have a problem and was certainly dry for an extended period of at least 6 months.

In this case, a more specific problem exists. It could be emotional e.g. stress and its myriad causes, or a specific medical condition such as diabetes, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder) or a variety of other conditions.

According to at least one pediatrician, children with ADHD have a higher incidence of bedwetting than non-ADHD children. There is also a strong possibility that in these cases stress also plays a major role.

Please be aware, that your child is likely to develop a low level of self esteem as a result of the bedwetting. He or she is also likely to avoid making friends with other kids in an effort to prevent them from finding out that he has a problem. He will feel both ashamed and traumatized.

WHAT TO DO

In both cases a visit to the pediatrician is called for. There is much that he can do to discover the underlying cause of the bedwetting.

The problem may be as "simple" as a bladder infection just a small bladder capacity. There may be a deformity of the urinary tract. It is also possible that the neurological system has not fully matured and that the signal from the bladder is not reaching the brain.

In the case of emotional problems and stress, e.g. a new baby in the home, the death of a pet, it is necessary to find out the underlying cause in order to be able to deal with it.

There could even be a combination of both physiological and emotional causes for the bedwetting. No matter what the problem, the pediatrician will be able to assist.

Meanwhile:

• Avoid giving the child chocolate, caffeine, carbonated drinks or citrus during the late afternoon or evening (they increase urine out-put)
• Cut down on evening fluids such as water, juice and milk. In fact, it would be better to have no fluids at all for at least two hours prior to bed-time.
• Ensure your child goes to the toilet before going to bed.
• Some children sleep very deeply at night and are hard to wake up. Try to get your child to focus on waking up at night rather than on the problem of wetting the bed.
• Wake your child to go to the toilet before you go to bed.
• Provide a night light so that he or she can find their way easily. A dark passage and bathroom can be very off-putting to a child. His own night-time torch may be an inducement for your child to wake up just so that he can use it.
• Protect the bed with a plastic or rubberized cover.
• Provide the child with disposable pull-up diapers if possible. It may make him feel more confident and secure.
• Use a good barrier cream and/or moisturizing cream to protect his or her skin from the irritation of the urine.
• Never, never show irritation or punish your child.
• Provide lots of love and support, and ensure that other members of the family do not tease him, or tell anyone else about the problem.

It seems that Keane has decided to potty-train himself, except that he is not interested in the potty, he insists on using the toilet. As soon as his mother makes use of the toilet, it is his turn. He doesn't always need to use it and sometimes really struggles to produce a few drops.

Baby Erin (Keane still just calls her "baba") is now holding her head up quite nicely and is smiling beautifully. She remains a very quiet baby and still only lets out a soft, ladylike whimper when she is hungry. Unlike Keane, she is already beginning to sleep through the night.

Keane really hates being indoors. The weather turned cool and unusually (for Cape Town summers) there has been rain for the last few days. There have been a few major tantrums because he wasn't allowed to go out.

Whilst his mother was feeding Erin today, Keane spotted the fact that a "big" bottle was being used. He was most upset. As far as he is concerned the little bottles are for Erin and the big ones are for him when he goes to bed. I am not sure how his mom is going to handle this new development.