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Good Mornings
Bedwetting and Your Child
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
"The most common causes of bedwetting continue to be issues involving bladder control, infection, fluid intake, stress and trauma," says Dr. Stephen Sheldon, director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Ill., noting that more serious causes include diabetes.
In addition to these factors, the role of family inheritance also can play a part in the presence of bedwetting. According to Dr. Sheldon, the reason for the family trait of bedwetting is not clear, although the passing of the condition from parent to child is. "If one or both parents wet the bed when they were younger, than it is more then likely that their child will wet the bed as well," he says. There are lots of conditions or diseases that also run in families that could be a contributing factor of bedwetting, which is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to say why it runs in families but we know that it does."
"My son is 10 and he has always wet the bed," says Denise, a mom from Mays Landing, N.J. "His father and several of his aunts wet the bed until they were in their teens. We feel it's hereditary. We've always treated it as no big deal and we've let him know that it's quite common. If he starts to become really bothered by it and asks for help, we'll tell him about alternatives ... and see if he wants to try any of it. It'll be his choice."
Children who wet the bed are often overcome by feelings of embarrassment and humiliation. These children know that they are old enough that they should be able to sleep through the night without wetting the bed and may feel out of control when an "accident" occurs. In addition, a child may feel ashamed as a result of the bedwetting episode. Any or all of the feelings related to bedwetting can cause a child to see himself as a failure, affecting his self-esteem and self-image.