My nine-year-old wets the bed

Is there a medication that can be taken short term to prevent bedwetting?

Treatment for bedwetting child

Question

Our nine-year-old son occasionally wets his bed. This happens approximately once every three months, and probably on and off since being a toddler.

Should we see our doctor about this?

Our 'cure' is no more than to monitor how much liquid he drinks before bed, with a firm (not harsh) reminder to check for a wee before sleeping.

This appears to fix things for the short term. He is healthy, and plays a variety of sports.

His reaction to bedwetting is he wishes it kept to himself and his mum and definitely not tell dad or others.

He appears very happy at school and is very good in all subjects. He gets on very well with his younger sister and he is a kind and generous boy. He is sensitive to criticism and does not like being found wrong.

Answer

Bedwetting due to an involuntary emptying of the bladder during sleep, is a common problem.

In round terms, the majority of children will be dry at night by three years of age, some 10 per cent wet their bed regularly at the age of five years, and somewhat less than 5 per cent do so at 10 years of age.

Therefore your son is at the end of the normal range for being dry at night but is nowhere being abnormal in his behaviour.

One or two children in a hundred with nocturnal enuresis with have a physical problem such as a poorly functioning bladder or a congenital abnormality of the bladder and kidney system.

A GP or specialist can exclude these by taking the history of the problem, an examination and testing of a sample of urine for infection, sugar (to exclude diabetes) and protein (kidney problems).

In another small percentage of children, emotional upset can cause nocturnal enuresis.

Neither of these two causes would seem to be indicated in your son, from the detailed information that you have given me and it is probable, therefore, that he falls in to the majority of children with this problem in having no direct reason for their behaviour.

My seven-year-old son is also prone to bedwetting unless taken to the toilet last thing at night whilst his sister, a year and a half older, has never had any problems in this direction.

It would be worth taking advice from your GP about the availability of an enuresis clinic in your area, provided by your local paediatric consultant (specialist in children's illnesses).

Usually, such clinics are run along the lines of a multi-disciplinary team, with nurses experienced in this field and also health visitors, working alongside doctors, to offer support and advice both to the child and the rest of the family.

Some enuresis clinics do not accept children until they have reached a certain age, because of the likelihood of the problem resolving spontaneously.

Your son is obviously already feeling a little sensitive about his occasional problems, in that he does not want anybody other than mum to know about his problems so dealing with the problem in a matter-of-fact, blame-free way (as you are already doing) is a very sensitive approach.

It may be that in another year or two, his problem has resolved completely.

In the meantime, if he is worried about going on holiday or staying over with friends, in case he has an accident in bed, there is a nose spray desmopressin - 'Desmospray' that can be used at night to prevent nocturnal enuresis. It contains a hormone, 'anti-diuretic hormone', which basically stops water loss from the body.

However, it may be necessary for a hospital assessment before your GP is happy to prescribe it, as it is more often a specialist medication.

I should mention that homeopathy may also be able to help - contact the Faculty of Homeopathy to find out the nearest medically qualified homeopath in your area. I hope that this information helps you.

Yours sincerely

The Medical Team

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