Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Symptoms
Causes
Medical
assistance
Complications
The guilt and embarrassment a child feels about wetting the bed
can lead to low self-esteem.
Rashes on the bottom and genital area may be an issue as well
especially if your child sleeps in wet underwear. To prevent a
rash, help your child rinse his or her bottom and genital area
every morning. It also may help to cover the affected area with
a petroleum ointment at bedtime.
Treatment
Most children outgrow bed-wetting on their own. If there's a
family history of bed-wetting, the child likely will stop at
the age the parent did.
If your child is still wetting the bed by age 7 and is
motivated to stop a doctor may recommend more aggressive
treatment.
Moisture alarms
These small, battery-operated devices available without a
prescription connect to a moisture-sensitive pad on your
child's pajamas. When the pad senses wetness, the alarm goes
off. Ideally, the moisture alarm sounds just as your child
begins to urinate in time to help your child wake, stop the
urine stream and get to the toilet. If your child is a heavy
sleeper, another person may need to listen for the alarm. It
often takes two weeks to see any type of response and up to 12
weeks to enjoy dry nights. Moisture alarms may provide a better
long-term solution than medication does.
Medication
Coping and
support
Reduce evening fluid intake. The child should try not to give
any fluids, chocolate, caffeine, or citrus after 3 p.m.
The child should urinate in the toilet before bedtime.
Help the child understand that it is more important to wake
up every night to use the toilet.
A system of sticker charts and rewards works for some
children. The child gets a sticker on the chart for every night
of remaining dry. Collecting a certain number of stickers earns
a reward.
Make sure the child has easy access to the toilet.
You should avoid using diapers or pull-ups at home because
they can interfere with the motivation to wake up and use the
toilet.
The parents' attitude toward the bedwetting is all-important
in motivating the child.
Avoid blaming or punishing the child. The child cannot control
the bedwetting, and blaming and punishing just make the problem
worse.
Be patient and supportive. Reassure and encourage the child.
Enforce a "no teasing" rule in the family. No one is allowed
to tease the child about the bedwetting. Do not discuss the
bedwetting in front of other family members.
Help the child understand that the responsibility for being
dry is his or hers and not that of the parents.
The child should be included in the clean-up process.
To increase comfort and reduce damage, use washable absorbent
sheets, waterproof bed covers, and room deodorizers.
One technique is to have the child rehearse the sequence of
events involved in getting up from bed to use the toilet during
the night prior to going to bed each night.
The parent should awaken the child, typically at the parents'
bedtime.
When this is done for seven nights in a row, the child is
either cured or ready for self-awakening programs or alarms.
Writing Task
Summarizing the above information regarding complicated and
uncomplicated bed-wetting, write a letter to the mothers at Mrs.
Gills daycare (24, Royal Passage Close, Epsom, Surrey 2363) to
provide them with information on bed-wetting.
Your letter should not exceed
200
words.