Where to Get Information & Resources to Help Children from Bedwetting?

Look for resources that can help you and your child understand what is going on.

There have been a number of resources that are useful for parents:

• Pamphlets

Doctors offices, clinics, hospitals, and even pharmacies have pamphlets about various conditions - including bedwetting. These pamphlets can give you a general introduction to bedwetting, outline some commonly-used treatment options, and generally help you understand bedwetting.

Since you will already have lots of information from this website, keep your eyes open for pamphlets about bedwetting that are designed for children. Written for children, these pamphlets tend to explain that problem in simple terms.

• Videos

Pharmacies and some doctors or specialists have videos available that clearly discuss bedwetting. These videos use understandable language and plenty of visual information to inform parents and children alike about how the body works. It is sometimes useful to see pictures of the urinary system and to see the actual bedwetting treatments - seeing something visually can help with understanding.

• Clinics or Specialists

Health care professionals can answer your specific questions about bedwetting and your child, and so should not be overlooked as possible sources of information. Medical professionals also often have access to all sorts of information and resources. Asking your medical professional where can I get more information about this? will generally give a treasure trove of reliable and accessible resources.

• Articles

The media writes about health issues all the time, and there is plenty of reason to pay attention. First, the media will often report on new treatments and products that may help your child. It may also help your child to see that a subject is written about and that others suffer from the same problem.

• Online sites and groups

Online resources are not always reliable, and so should be treated with some caution. Although some online resources about bedwetting are written by professionals, some are written about ordinary people who may know less about bedwetting than you do. Trust online information only from sources that you have confidence in.

On the other hand, online resources are very plentiful and are easy to look up. One type of online resource that many parents have found helpful is the online forum or chat. In this online area, parents can discuss health problems and health solutions.

Although, again, you have no way of knowing who you are speaking with and so need to exercise caution, many parents find that the sympathy and support they get from online groups helps them deal with a child who is wetting the bed.

Online speakers can also have some ideas about bedwetting and suggestions for specific problems (such as the best cleaners to use to eliminate odor or thrifty ways to save on sheets). As long as you use your common sense and some caution for online chat, you can find online forums informative and supportive.

• Other parents or relatives

Many families have at least a few people in the family who wet the bed. Talking to other parents about bedwetting often brings plenty of support and even some useful advice.

You should never discuss your child's bedwetting with another person without your child's knowledge. However, if your family is already aware of the problem you can often get useful information about what methods worked for children and what doctors or professionals in your area seem to have a high success rate in treating Enuresis.

Often, other parents and relatives will tell you information that others cannot know - the fact that a certain alarm is too high-pitched to work or that a certain brand of absorbent underpants has a special feature that make them useful. Those in the know often have great insights.

• Pharmacists

Pharmacists have plenty of information about all sorts of ailments and treatments. If your child is taking any medications for bedwetting at all (including herbal or all-natural medicine) then you need to talk to a pharmacist to see whether the medication will interfere with any other medication (including over the counter drugs). Your pharmacist can help keep your child safe while he or she learns to control bedwetting.

49. Be cautious when evaluating bedwetting resources

There are many sources out there about bedwetting. Unfortunately, there is also plenty of myths and misinformation about the subject, too.

Make sure that you consider the following about any bedwetting resource you look at:

• Who wrote it?

Was the author someone who knows about bedwetting?

• Why was it written?

If something is written to convince you to buy something (an ad) you need to consider the claims more critically than if you were reading an article meant to inform rather than influence.

• Can the facts be verified?

You should be able to look up the facts in the resource and find that other reputable bedwetting resources offer the same facts.

• What is the publication date?

Older material may no longer be valid. New information is emerging all the time, so if you are using an old source, you are looking at information that may no longer be true.

• Is there anything suspicious about this information?

If someone has basic facts wrong or seem to be offering a miracle cure that cures twenty illnesses, proceed with caution. Double-check the information the resource contains, at the very least.

Know what to expect.

Knowing what to expect when you take your child to the doctor with a bedwetting problem can make the trip less stressful for both you and your child. The first thing that the doctor will likely ask is about the bedwetting itself.

You may also be asked whether the child can control the bladder during the day (an answer of no means that the problem is not bedwetting per se but a problem controlling the bladder). Parents will also be asked whether the child has experienced any stress or changes lately and what the bedwetting is like (whether it is constant, when the child wakes up, etc.).

Finally, parent history and medical history will be taken, as some medical problems cause bedwetting, as do genetics (children with two parents who were bed welters as children have a more than 76% chance of having a problem with wetting the bed themselves). Your doctor will likely check to see whether any medication or medical treatment your child is getting may contribute to the problem.

Once your doctor has evaluated the problem through questions and answers, he or she may decide that your child's age and medical history indicate no cause for concern and that waiting is the best solution. He or she may also order further testing.

One very common test is to determine whether the body can hold 200cc's of fluid. To determine this, the child is asked to hold urine for as long as possible and then have whatever urine is produced measured (often this is done by having the child urinate into a container so that the urine can be measured).

If the child cannot produce 200ccs then that is an indication that the bladder simply may not have developed enough. Doctors may also order urine or blood tests to see whether any underlying cause may be the problem.