An article in on the UK website Mail Online recently posted an article about bedwetting, saying something parents may dread to hear:
Bedwetting isn’t always something your child will grow out of.
The article goes on to explain new guidelines from the National Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) saying no child should be excluded from treatment for enuresis because of their age. Many parents believe bedwetting is just something all kids go through, so they let the child go through the emotionally devastating routine of waking up in wet sheets.
The guidelines from NICE are not exactly rocket science. They mention children should be examined by a pediatrician upon the onset of bedwetting to help determine if it is a physical problem, an emotional issue, or a dietary one. According to Jenny Perez, director of Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence (ERIC) says “some children wait months to be referred to a paediatric urinary specialist or to even get a bedwetting alarm.”
The new guidelines also warns that punishing the child does not work, and not drinking fluids is not necessarily the best policy. The bladder adjusts to the amount of fluids and the child may still wet. If physical defects are ruled out, alarms and urine production-reducing drugs are encouraged.
Perez hopes that these new guidelines will help parents realize bedwetting is a significant issue that affects a child’s emotional and psychological health.