In children, don’t start worrying until after your child reaches the age of five, the age when most children have adequate control of urination. By the teenage years, most children will spontaneously outgrow the problem.
Royal Recommendations for Prevention and Treatment
1. Avoid drinking liquids near bedtime, especially if a small or weak bladder is suspected.
2. You may want to give extra fluids during the day and encourage your child to hold off urinating as long as possible. These tactics may help to “stretch” the bladder and improve its urine holding capacity.
3. If you have a child who is bedwetting, avoid punishing or praising them. This is a problem over which they have very little control. It’s not done on purpose and no one wants to be reminded about it. It is already unpleasant, uncomfortable, and embarrassing. Being patient and supportive is the best approach. Still, it might not hurt to be prepared by supplying an extra pair of pajamas and a second set of bed sheets or sleeping bag nearby that the child can change into and sleep on in the event of an accident.
4. Get your food allergies checked. (See “Allergy—Foods.”) Begin by eliminating cow’s milk, which is generally considered to be the most common allergenic food in our diet. Eliminate sodas, chocolate, junk food, and products containing food coloring and dyes as well.
5. Get to bed earlier. A child with allergies often has difficulty sleeping and fewer deep-sleep periods. It is during the period of light slight when the sphincter around the urethra relaxes and bed-wetting occurs. Not getting enough sleep or going to bed too late make can made bed-wetting worse.
6. A moisture sensitive alarm can be obtained from your doctor. It is attached to the underwear with a buzzer or alarm near the child’s ear. When urine is released, the alarm sounds and the child awakens to use the toilet. Eventually, the child should awaken on his own to the sensation of a full bladder. Such a device may require at least two months to achieve the desired results. Bed-wetting is considered cured when the child remains dry for 21 consecutive nights.
7. Heart rate variability testing, an assessment of heart rate variations, can reveal if an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system exists. The autonomic nervous system regulates subconscious bodily functions such as urination. An imbalance in the ANS can now be treated with non-cognitive biofeedback (i.e., recycling of heart rate variations).
8. Supplement with antioxidant vitamins A, and E, which can aid in normalizing bladder muscle function. A protein supplement, which can be obtained from a vegetable source, can provide amino acids needed to strengthen the bladder muscle. B-complex can aid in relieving stress. (See “Stress.”) The inability to control urination may be due to a deficiency of the mineral magnesium. The mineral potassium can aid in balancing the Sodium/Potassium ratio critical for proper kidney function.
9. Herbs known to be helpful in strengthening the bladder are buchu, corn silk, oat straw, parsley, and plantain.
10. Homeopathic remedies to consider include: Calcarea Phosphoricum (if the patient also has a weak constitution), Causticum (to strengthen the bladder sphincter), Pulsatilla (particularly in overly sensitive girls), Ferrum Phosphoricum (if loss of urine also occurs during the day), Kali Phosphoricum (if accompanied by nervousness), and Sepia (if bed-wetting occurs during the early part of sleep).
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