Bedwetting Cures

Bedwetting is a problem in which a person urinates in his bed overnight rather than waking up and going to the bathroom. It is also known as nocturnal enuresis. Bedwetting usually resolves itself by the time a child is six or seven years old. If it does not, there are several treatment options that can often cure the problem. They range from behavior changes to medication that helps the child stay dry overnight.

Double Voiding

• Urinating at the beginning of the bedtime routine and again just before getting into bed can prevent bedwetting. Combined with limited fluid intake in the last hours before bedtime, it can often stop overnight problems. The National Institutes of Health says that colas and other caffeinated beverages are especially problematic because they speed up urine production.

Moisture Alarms

• Moisture alarms can be purchased over-the-counter at many pharmacies. They are battery-operated devices that work by detecting urine on a child's bedding or pajamas. When they detect moisture, an alarm goes off to wake him up. If it happens quickly enough, it will catch him just as he is starting to urinate. He can stop the flow and go into the bathroom to finish.

  Alarms cure bedwetting by teaching the youngster to wake up on his own before he urinates. The Mayo Clinic says it can take at least two weeks to see positive results and up to 12 weeks for a complete cure. This method may not work with especially heavy sleepers who don't wake up when the alarm goes off.

Changing Sleep Patterns

• Medication is sometimes used to alter a child's sleep pattern. According to the Mayo Clinic, an antidepressant called imipramine is commonly used for this purpose. Besides changing the sleeping and waking cycle, it often increases the length of time that the child can hold in her urine. It may also slow down her body's urine production.When these three effects are combined, it can cure bedwetting. The drug's side effects tend to be mild, although overdoses can be fatal.

Calming the Bladder

• Many children who wet the bed do so because they have a small bladder with limited capacity. Anticholinergic drugs like oxybutynin (or hyoscyamine) may cure the problem by suppressing bladder contractions and increasing the capacity. They can cause facial flushing and dry mouth in some individuals. It may also help to hold back urination during the day to help increase bladder capacity.

Slowing Urine Production

• The Mayo Clinic says that chronic bedwetting is often treated with a drug called desmopressin acetate. It slows down a child's nighttime urine production by boosting levels of an anti-diuretic hormone that supresses the bodies ability to make urine. This can cure bedwetting because the youngster will not need to expel urine as frequently. Caution must be used, as the drug can cause seizures if a person drinks too much fluid while taking it.

Warning

• When you use medication to cure bedwetting, the problem often returns when the affected child stops taking the drugs. The Mayo Clinic also warns that a single medication may not be effective. Many children need to take a combination of drugs, and it can take some experimentation to find the right ones.