One of the most prevalent problems during the potty training process is bed wetting at night.
While it happens to almost every child in the beginning of the potty training process, it should not keep happening after the two week mark. If your child is still wetting the bed at night it may be due to a more serious underlying problem. It should be an immediate cause of concern for you, because it could lead to other serious health problems later on.
There are many reasons why your child may still be wetting his bed at night. Let's discuss the two most common reasons for bed wetting, their causes and how to stop it from happening again.
Reason 1 - Constipation
When children control their bladder for too long, this can lead to constipation. The stool hardens which makes it difficult for your child to pass. Although most constipation problems are temporary, it can be quite a painful experience for your child to go through.
Listed below are some of the causes and solutions for constipation:
1. One reason is fever.
Your child might be suffering dehydration and as a result, constipation occurs. Consult your physician immediately if you know this may be the problem. They will know how to treat it most effectively.
2. Another factor you should consider is diet.
His diet should consist of high fiber food, because fiber is essential to keep the colon healthy and helps bowel movements. Make sure to include foods that are high in fiber in your child's daily meals. Foods that are high in fiber are most vegetables, fruits and whole grain foods.
3. Your child is controlling his bladder movement due to forced potty training.
When your child becomes resistant to potty training it's because he feels he's being pushed into doing something he does not want to do.
The solution to this problem is obvious - do not enforce potty training on your child when you can see that he's not ready to be potty trained. Explain to him its importance and add new techniques and strategies, or simply postpone the training for later - when you can see that he is more ready.
Reason 2 - Deep Sleeping
A part of the human brain which has a huge part in our physical activity, is functionally disconnected when one is in deep sleep. As a result, your child involuntarily empties his bladder, and this leads to nighttime bed wetting.
If your child is a heavy sleeper, one solution to this is to limit water intake hours before his nap time. Accompany him to the potty right before he goes to sleep, so his bladder would not be full while he's sleeping.
Another innovative solution that was recently introduced is a bed wetting alarm. This alarm has a clip-on sensor which is triggered to wake your child up as it starts wetting his bed. Consequently he can get up and go to the toilet to empty his bladder. A bed wetting alarm may be a very effective solution - just make sure to explain the process and reason for using it to your child.
Reason 3 - Bladder Disorders
Food problems are usually the main reason for bladder disorders. However, other serious bladder problems must be considered. One specific bladder disorder is urinary tract infection. A more severe bladder disorder is a kidney problem.
Diagnosing these yourself may be tricky, so the best thing to do is to discount all other reasons first, then contact your physician to do further tests and check for bladder disorders.
Reason 4 - Hormone Levels
Antidiuretic hormone is secreted at night to control the flow of urine. If your child produces low levels of antidiuretic hormone he may naturally wet his bed.
Again this maybe hard to diagnose, so make sure to discount all of the above mentioned causes first - then if bed wetting persists, consult your physician asking to test your child for this specific hormone. Depending on the results your physician should be able to easily treat your child by topping up his hormones.
NOTE: If you discover that you need to go down this route - make sure to consider all your options. Don't opt for synthetic hormones unless you have no other option. Instead ask your doctor to prescribe Bioidentical Hormones to your child - these are identical to what the human body produces and will not harm him.
Knowing the problem is only half the battle. Then you need to treat it effectively and most importantly with compassion and love.
Bed wetting can gravely affect your child's self-esteem. He might feel insecure and withdrawn if he's consistently wetting his bed - especially if the problem persists into later years. The most important thing is to show your child love and support to allow him to easily deal with this stage in his life.
Zoe Beerstow is the blog editor of GetPottyTrained.com - a comprehensive resource guide for the different how-tos on potty training Learn more about the different tips on how to stop bed wetting
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