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From birth, the child does not possess the skills and abilities, he has only reflexes. He cries and asks to eat when hungry, pees when he wants it. Over time, he begins to control his needs and restrain urination for a while. After a year, some parents begin to teach the baby to the pot. Closer to two years, most children consciously ask for a toilet, are able to restrain themselves and write where it is supposed to. For some time the baby urinates only at night in a dream, and then it passes. But sometimes some kind of failure in the body does not allow the baby to overcome this threshold. A child can write at night in bed and 4, and even 6 years old. How to handle it? What to do?
Enuresis
Incontinence of urine mainly at night is called enuresis.Up to 5-6 years, such incontinence is considered normal and often does not require the help of specialists. This is due to the immaturity of the nervous system. That is, when the child is sleeping and his bladder is full, his brain does not receive a special wake-up signal. In most cases, it passes after 6 years. As for the children of three years old - among them, enuresis is observed in 40% of children. This is not such a rarity, so do not dwell on it.
Causes of nocturnal enuresis
It is important to understand that bedwetting is a symptom, not a disease. To get rid of it, you need to understand the cause of enuresis.
- Nervous immaturity. This is the most common cause of bed-wetting, but it is not a pathology. The child begins to control the act of urination after six months, but may not be able to do this up to 4-5 years. This can be caused by some neurological diseases, birth injuries, problems in the prenatal period. Incontinence is more likely to occur in boys, in girls the ability to control the urethra develops faster.Enuresis can be a concomitant symptom in epilepsy, autism.
- Diseases of the genitourinary system. This is due to the fact that the child simply can not physically restrain urination. Often this is a consequence of infections, cystitis, pyelonephritis, the characteristics of the individual structure of the urethra.
- Mental and emotional factors. If the child has experienced severe fear, irritation, stress, incontinence may be the result of emotional distress. Such factors as a quarrel between parents, moving to a new place, the death of a loved one, the loss of a pet, and harsh punishments can play for it. Often, nocturnal enuresis occurs in emotional and sensitive children, who take all the surrounding events to heart.
- Endocrine diseases. With diabetes, the child drinks a lot and often. His bladder expands over time, and his nerves end up losing their sensitivity. Sometimes the child simply does not feel that the bladder is full and it’s time to go to the toilet.
- Sleep disturbance If the baby has too much sleep, which cannot be interrupted by weak neurological impulses, he, too, is written into the bed.
- Heredity. The likelihood of enuresis increases if the parents of the child had similar problems in childhood.
To identify the cause of the disease, you need to consult a doctor. When making a diagnosis, he will prescribe a drug treatment. If the cause of incontinence is cystitis, antibiotics will be used. If the baby is written from nervous experiences, most likely, he will be prescribed sedatives.
How to wean a child writing in bed
If your baby is written in bed, this is not a reason for ridicule, shame or punishment. Remember that the child is not to blame for the fact that he is written - he can not hold back this process! Between parents and baby should be a relationship of trust, do not put pressure on the child. Here are some guidelines to help you reduce the amount of nighttime urination.
- Do not give the child a lot of fluids at night. This, of course, leads to the fact that the baby is described in bed. It is best to give him a drink no later than an hour before bedtime. And before going to bed, be sure to plant on the pot.
- It is not necessary to feed the child for the night with cold or dairy products, it also provokes urinary incontinence. No salty, greasy or fried food that causes thirst.
- Before bedtime - no cartoons, active games, gadgets. Nervous experiences and bright emotions lead to over-stimulation of the child, which is the cause of the failure of the nervous system.
- Various types of physical activity strengthen the walls of the bladder. Let the child move more, go in for sports. Movement also contributes to the speedy maturation of the nervous system.
- Kegel exercises are very effective. Of course, it will be difficult to explain to the babies the principle of their implementation, but older children may well do them. The principle is as follows. During urination, you need to force the muscles to stop the flow of urine for 10 seconds, and then resume it again. So you need to do several times, the more often the better. This is how a muscle that is responsible for holding urine is trained.
- Perhaps the child is just afraid to sleep alone in his room. Consider moving his bed to your bedroom for a while. If this is not possible, be sure to leave the nightlight on at night. Do not close the door so that the baby is not afraid, ask him to sleep with your favorite toy so that he is not afraid.
- Some foods can stimulate the nervous system and cause incontinence. Eliminate caffeinated foods before bedtime. No chocolate, cocoa, Coca-Cola.
- Perhaps the child is written at night in bed, because he is cold? Try to raise the air temperature in the room. Wear long sweaters and sweaters at bedtime so that the child does not open the loin at night.
- Sometimes it happens that an older child of 4-5 years old begins to write after a baby appears in the family in order to compensate for the lack of parental attention. It is very important to show the kid that he is still loved and appreciated.
By following these simple guidelines, you will notice that incontinence incidents will occur less frequently. And soon your baby will be able to sleep all night dry.
Wake or not wake
There is a lot of debate about whether to wake up the baby at night, so that he would go to the pot. The fact is that by waking up a child several times a night, we are even more traumatic for his psyche. In addition, the baby will not learn to feel this moment when you need to wake up and go to the pot.It is better to leave the child to sleep, and when he describes, just change his bed and clothes.
Another thing is when a child starts to toss and worry before urination, but does not wake up completely and is written into the bed. In this case, you just need to help the nervous system of the child and wake the baby at this moment. Raise the child and certainly put him on the pot.
What to do if the child is written at night in bed
First you need to understand that only 1% of children who write are suffering from some serious illness that requires treatment. In other cases, nocturnal enuresis is not a pathology. This time you just need to go through, waiting for the baby to wake up on the pot himself.
At bedtime, prepare all the necessary things that you may need - clean bedding, removable pajamas. The mattress should have a waterproof cover. If the baby is described, you just need to remove wet clothes, wipe the mattress and lay a dry sheet. The child should be rinsed or wiped with a wet towel, dressed in dry clothes and put to bed again.
No one in the family should mock the nocturnal enuresis of a child.Ask older brothers and sisters not to emphasize this. You can ask your child to change their own bed after a night of the incident. So the baby will be able to hide the embarrassment in front of parents. However, if the baby does not want to do this and takes it as a punishment - do not insist.
Bedwetting is temporary and does not require any special treatment. In most cases, enuresis passes without a trace before the onset of adolescence. Help your child survive this moment and everything will be fine.
Video: how to teach a child to the pot
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