ENURESIS DO'S AND DON'TS
by Dr Marc Cendron, M.D., Pediatric Urologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire

Do:

If you wet the bed as a child, share your experience. Making sure that your child understands that bed-wetting may be hereditary can ease your child's anxiety and better help him/her cope with the condition.

Try to change your child's habits: Encourage your child to urinate before going to bed; have him/her avoid foods and drinks containing caffeine, which can increase the output of urine.

Discuss available treatment options with your physician.

Don't:

Don't punish or belittle your child as it only adds to the child's embarrassment. Support your child by offering encouraging words.

Try not to reward your child for simply achieving dry nights. Instead, reward your child for compliance with the treatment program you've chosen.

Practical tips for parents of children who wet the bed

While bed-wetting can be stressful for children, it's equally frustrating for their parents.

• Children deserve an explanation of what is happening to them. Many children hide the problem and think something is wrong with them. Children who understand they suffer from a medical problem will understand they are not to blame.
• Change your child's habits. Start by allowing only two ounces of liquid after 6 p.m. and avoiding liquids before bedtime. Avoid foods and drinks containing caffeine, a diuretic. Encourage the child to urinate before going to bed.
• If your child has never been dry at night since toilet training, mention the problem at each annual physical. Some testing may be done to rule out other medical conditions, such as urinary tract infections.
• If your child is constipated, treat the constipation first. This sometimes relieves the bed-wetting problem.
• Don't punish or belittle the child. Since bed-wetting is not in their control and really is a problem, blaming will not help and adds to the child's embarrassment.