74 | JULY & AUGUST 2019
Image: Gallo Images/Getty ImagesFOR A FIVE-YEAR-OLD WHO might
want to start sleeping over at friends’
homes, bedwetting is more than just
a little inconvenience – it’s quite the
social embarrassment.
For parents, it’s frustrating if they
expect their child to be old enough to
stay dry for the night, only to wake up
to a wet bed and an unhappy child the
next morning.
Bedwetting – the medical term is
enuresis – is a symptom and not an
illness, says Dr Werner Botha,
a urologist based in Cape Town.
“Nightly enuresis is defined as the
persistence of enuresis after the age
where control would normally be
expected, around five years old,” he
says. “Yet, most children with enuresis
don’t have any physical or mental
abnormality, and only 15 percent have
symptoms during the day, such as not
being able to hold until they can get
to a loo.”
Experts talk about primary and
secondary enuresis.
Primary enuresis is when a child has
not been dry during the night before,
and secondary enuresis is when she’s
been dry for six months and suddenly
starts wetting her bed again.
It’s usually considered a problem
when a child wets her bed for three or
more nights of the week. The problem is
more common than we think –
a whopping 15 percent of five-year-
olds still wet their beds.
“Parents seldom talk about it, but
enuresis is nothing to be ashamed of –
you’ll be surprised to know how many
of your child’s friends also battle with
it,” Dr Botha says.WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?
Sleeping disorders Children sometimes
sleep so deeply that their brains aren’t
awake enough to alert their bladders
that they need to get up and go to
the loo.
Nocturnal polyuria It’s a normal
condition where a large quantity of
urine is produced at night – up to
50 percent of the amount produced
during the day. Especially boys suffer
from this condition.
Lowered bladder capacity The bladder
can hold a limited amount of fluid
before “overflowing”.
Mom and Dad were bed wetters Many
of Dr Botha’s patients have a parent
who wet their bed or an older brother or
sister battling with this.
Delayed development Some children’s
central nervous system needs
more time than others’ to reach
functional maturity.
Psychological factors These are rare for
enuresis, says Dr Botha.
Things like a divorce, a best friend
moving away or a bully at school can
badly upset children but seldom lead
to bedwetting.
If it is a cause, it is usually in the case
of secondary enuresis.HOW COMMON IS IT?
The good news is that the occurrence of
enuresis naturally decreases as
your child grows older. Generally,
enuresis affects:- 15 percent of five-year-olds,
- 5 percent of 10-year-olds,
- 1 percent of 15-year-olds and older,
including adults.
❯ For every three boys with enuresis,
there are two girls with the condition.
❯ If one parent struggled with enuresis,
there’s a 45 percent chance that their
child will also struggle with it. If both
parents were bedwetters, the risk shoots
up to 80 percent.
ACTION PLAN FOR STAYING DRY
✓ Never threaten and beat. Your child is
not doing this on purpose, she just can’t
hold it in the whole night. Don’t take
your frustration out on your child, no
matter how sleepy you are.
✓ Limit fluid intake for an hour or two
before bedtime. But not during the day,
especially not in warm weather.
✓ Have your child sit on the toilet before
she goes to bed. Do it after story time,
just before lights out. You can also try
and wake her up and take her to the
loo when you go to bed a couple of
hours later.
✓ Use a pull-up nappy at night (one that
looks like panties) and put a mattress
protector on the bed.
✓ Urine will make her itch, so wipe her
down well with a lukewarm faceclothA surprisingly high number of children still wet their beds long after they’re out of
nappies. And there’s no denying that this little issue can create huge tension for parents
and the littlies. A urologist gives advice on how to treat and prevent these nightly
mishaps, writes Nicola Davies-LaubscherA WEE
problem