Bedwetting in Older Children

Bedwetting by children twice in a month, when they are 5-6 years old is pretty common and is called enuresis. The condition of children, who were dry for 6 months and then showing bedwetting is called secondary enuresis. Bedwetting in children, starts to go away as children become older. Bedwetting in older children doesn't have any physical harms, but can be an embarrassing problem to the child, which can affect his/her self-esteem. With some effective measures, parent can help the children get rid of the bedwetting problem.

Causes
Here, are the causes of bedwetting by older children:

• Bedwetting happens in children if they have not managed to establish control over their bladder
• This condition also happens, if it runs in the family
• If the children sleep very deeply or go for more time than normal into paralytic sleep
• It can also be happening due to an abnormally small bladder capacity of the child
• Diurnal enuresis, occurs if the child has urinary tract infections (UTI) or other abnormalities. It also occurs due to inadequate potty training
• Other causes of bedwetting in children can be hormonal factors, certain medications, time of intake of fluids and emotional factors

How to Stop It?
Parents should reassure the child that bedwetting is common, and as a part of child care, should not punish or ignore the bedwetting. Use these tips, to prevent bedwetting:

• Make sure the child goes to toilet before going to bed
• Avoid giving too many fluids, before few hours of the bedtime. If the child is thirsty only give little amount of water
• Prescription medicine called DDAVP (desmopressin), is used to prevent bedwetting. You can talk to the doctor about the medication, and its prescription
• There are bedwetting older children alarms available, which go off at the first sign of moisture. If you observe the child has not wet the bed for 3 weeks, then continue using the bedwetting alarm for 2 more weeks and then stop. These alarms are available at most of the stores, and don't need any prescription
• The combination of the medicine and wee alarms, is one of the best bedwetting solutions, to get rid of bedwetting
• Use vinyl covers to spread on the bed, this will prevent the mattress from getting wet
• You can train the child to wake-up in the middle of night, and go to toilet, so that the bladder remains empty
• If your child is going for sleep-overs, you can give your child big kids pull-up. Also, give the child a plastic bag so that the child after using the pull-up, can be kept in the plastic bag, without the friends knowing about the pull-up
• To stop bedwetting, teach your children Kegel exercises, to hold the urine better

This was about the causes and tips to prevent bedwetting. However, it is time to see a doctor for ensuring kid's health, especially if girls older than 7 and boys older than 8 are still going through bedwetting. This condition can be occurring due to some infection in which case, the urine culture test should be done. If your child is bothered by the bedwetting, professional help is required, as the bedwetting condition could harm the child's self-esteem.