Why Do People Bed Wet?

Bed wetting can be very stressful, and parents dealing with a child who is wetting the bed often want a quick fix. But before we get started on remedies, it’s important to understand some of the causes of bed-wetting and why do people often find themselves in the situation.

The habit of bed wetting usually goes back to events at age two, three or four, when the child needs to go to bed happy in mind and happy in body in order to sleep comfortably enough to be totally relaxed and therefore forget to get up and go to the toilet (bed wetting). Therefore, we’ll look at some of the causes of bed wetting and how to fix them. There are often two or three causes present, so we use a shotgun approach with several remedies at the same time to be more certain of a quick and happy fix.

First of all, it’s important to check for any medical problems. Bed-wetting can be the byproduct of a more serious complication, although quite rare, from diabetes and infection. However, generally, if a child wets at night but not during the day, physical issues are quite unlikely.

Some good questions to ask to find out if this might be a possible cause would be the following:

• Has there been a recent loss of weight?
• Is the child frequently thirsty especially at night?                       
• Is there any pain in the tummy or during urination?
• Does he have an elevated temperature?

If the answer to any of these is “yes”, you should probably see a doctor in order to be safe, and try and rule this out as a cause. Doctors will often say he has a small bladder and they might suggest ultrasound or measuring urine output to determine the bladder size. It’s more common, however, that the bladder is just too thick and this can be fixed with proper hydration and toileting. When a child wets the bed at night but not during the day, we know that either the bladder signal isn’t strong enough or the quality of the sleep is too deep to feel it.

Here’s a normal bladder compared to a small bladder. The bladder is a round muscle ,and when urine is held in, the sphincter or holding muscle is fighting the bladder muscle, and this exercise causes both muscles to get too strong and thick. Indeed, the bladder is less elastic, it holds less and it sends a weaker signal.The treatment is to use it properly: “fill it up”, and “empty it out”.

Everyone says that having too much fluids in the evening is a bad idea in terms of its potential negative effects on getting enough sleep, but in the case of bed wetting it might be that the opposite is true. If you don’t have enough water in your system during the night you may become constipated, have a headache, and feel tired during the day. That’s because your kidneys have an important job to do. They look after your blood to take care of your heart and brain, and they need water. If you don’t have water in your tummy at night, they seem to suck it from your bowels, and so you end up constipated.

If you’re properly hydrated, then your stool will be mushy, and you’ll be having a bowel movement at least once a day, commonly in the morning. If your child doesn’t have a daily bowel movement or has any unusual movement: watery, hard, or pebbly stool, then constipation is present. See more about this on the Bristol stool chart. Holding the bladder can be the result of holding the bowel or a distended bowel due to constipation.

In addition, Dr. Shawna Reagan discovered many years ago that a majority of bed wetters have undiagnosed constipation. They may have normal bowel movements, their family doctor sees no evidence of constipation and no signs of it are apparent, but when x-rayed, he found that 25 of 30 bed wetters had a buildup of stool enough to push on the bladder, causing day and night wetting and troubled sleep. Fortunately, the cure is simple and harmless; a daily dose of restoralax and regular water gulping. It is not a laxative, it’s not a chemical: it’s just tiny plastic sponge-like powder that absorbs water and carries it to the bowels to soften your stool. Check this link for more information on the treatment of constipation.

Certain foods cause problems with sleep. Milk (dairy) is a common issue. Some children are allergic to milk while others are just sensitive to it, and it has a role in constipation. So it’s recommended that milk and milk products, especially ice cream, be avoided in the two hours before going to bed. You’ll also want to avoid grapes, citrus melons, and strawberries two hours before bed.

In addition, go to the bathroom every two or three hours, then gulp water and have that last water an hour before bed, with one exception: when you’re using a bed-wetting alarm, that last water should be just before going to sleep for the first two or three weeks and then revert to an hour earlier. In conclusion, firstly look for medical complications including diabetes and infection. Once that’s checked out as okay, cut out extra sugar, milk, and citrus in the evening, gulp water, use the toilet often, and bed-wetting problems should begin to resolve themselves.I hope you enjoyed this post, if you’re curious about what’s behind people’s behaviour, check out why do people work.