Archive for the ‘Parental assistance’ Category

Bed Wetting Problem

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

RA writes, I hope you can help with my son’s bedwetting problem. My almost 10 year old boy is a major bedwetter and I mean he wets 3-4 times per night. He has been seeing a urologist and the biofeedback determines he is not an efficient voider during the day- he does not empty his bladder completely. So all this urine builds up all day long and he wets at night. He is supposed to be doing kegel type exercises. We have tried the alarm for six months and it does not help. He was on medication for nighttime but it made no difference. He is a heavy sleeper and we end up getting up. He double voids before bed and we limit liquids. What else can we do? I am at my wits end! I feel he will be 16 before this ends!

Bedwetting can be so frustrating at times. It sounds like you have explored many avenues to get your son to dryness. Since it sounds like his daytime voiding is inefficient, working on that a little more may help. Did the urologist recommend a timed voiding program in the daytime? The kids wear a vibratory wristwatch that discreetly reminds them to go to the bathroom about every 2 hours, even if they don’t feel like it. If he hasn’t tried this yet, it may help to empty his bladder more efficiently during the day. I use the Vibrowatch for my patients because it can be set to precise times. I like to set times that do not require the kids to leave the middle of class, and allow them to start the bus ride home at the end of the day with an empty bladder. Taking a water bottle to school helps to assure that they are adequately hydrated during the day and not thirsty late in the day. Once he’s done this for a few months, he could restart the alarm at night.

Scared of Alarm

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

RT writes about her 6 year old daughter who thinks that a bedwetting alarm will scare her. She wonders if we have heard that from other families.

Children are all so different in their response to new situations, new sounds, and new feelings. I want to offer you some tips if the loud sound is a concern to your daughter.

• Describe the bedwetting alarm in a different way, perhaps a bedwetting alert or a bedwetting reminder.
• Let her listen to the sounds, both on-line as well as when you receive it.
• Play with the alarm, turning it on and off many times, so that she can get used to the sound it makes. Have her hold it in her hand and turn it off and on herself.
• Attach the alarm to a dry pair of panties. The alarm is silent. Then attach it to wet panties. Let her observe how the alarm works to let her know in the nighttime that wetting is occurring.

When she uses her bedwetting alarm:

If the loud sound is still a concern, you can offer the turn down the volume (on the wireless alarms) or position the alarm further from her ear (with the wearable models).

Her actual response in the nighttime has to do with the time in her sleep cycle that the alarm sounds. Early wettings, within a couple of hours of going to sleep, are common when first starting an alarm. During this phase of sleep, it’s common for kids (as well as some adults) to be disoriented, possibly combative, say things that don’t make sense, cry or not know the way to the bathroom. Many of the kids have no memory of this in the morning. If she remembers this as being scared, remind her that it’s just a sound and her brain isn’t quite used to that noise yet. After using the alarm for a few nights, her brain begins to figure it out.

In my practice, I see that wetting early in the sleep cycle usually stops after a few weeks. When the wetting takes place later in the sleep cycle, a much different response is observed. Closer to morning, your daughter most likely will know what the sound means, know what to do next or at least be able to reason with you.

Anticipate her nighttime response and reassure her that you will be there to help her if she can’t remember what to do when the alarm sounds. If your reassurance isn’t enough right now, maybe this is not the right time to begin using the alarm. Let her know that you and her bedwetting reminder will be ready to start when she is.

Illness and Bedwetting

Monday, December 21st, 2009

My son is using his Malem alarm. We make sure he double voids before bedtime. He is on a 5 day course of Amoxicillin 3x a day. He was having longer stretches of dryness- a couple of days at a time. Since he has started the Amoxicillin, he is wetting every night- sometimes really small and sometimes a medium spot. Is this typical when a child is on antibiotics?

I do see this phenomenon regularly in the kids that I work with. I don’t know of a medical explanation, but I do see more wetting in children who have colds, ear infections, flu etc. and who are on medications such as antibiotics, cold medicine, and acetaminophen. It seems like the body is working hard to fight off the virus or bacteria, and cannot attend to the alarm or other bodily messages. Some parents discontinue the alarm for a few nights when the kids are most ill, then restart it when he feels better. That is perfectly fine.

The good news is that once the kids are off the medication and feeling better, dryness patterns do return. Working around challenges that face families is part of getting to dryness. Ultimately, your son will be able to stay dry, no matter what the challenges are.

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