The start of a new school year can inspire different emotions for children and their parents. If your child is particularly anxious or nervous about school, those worried feelings can often manifest into something more serious: bedwetting.
In a highly-controlled environment such as school, it’s hard for children to be able to follow a strict bathroom schedule. Pair that with the emotional and physical stress of schoolwork, night-time accidents aren’t so strange. With this in mind, here are several tips to help avoid and alleviate this issue as your young ones get back into the school routine.
Tips for Decreasing Back-to-School Bedwetting
A regular bathroom schedule is essential in helping your child avoid bedwetting. Send a note to your child’s teacher to let them know that a bedwetting issue is taking place and that you would like your child to be allowed to use the bathroom at least once every one to two hours. Instill in your child to that it’s okay for them use the bathroom when they feel they have to and that they don’t have to feel embarrassed about it.
Studies have shown that both physical and emotional stressors can increase bedwetting, so take extra steps to provide your children with a comfortable and supportive environment at home. Always take the time to ask about their day, and learn to recognize the signs that something is causing them stress and discomfort. Also, bedwetting itself can bring on a lot of emotional issues and embarrassment for your kids. So it’s a great idea to be alert to the feelings your child must be having in this time of shared frustration.
Encourage your children to stay hydrated with the right fluids. Avoid giving your child beverages with high sugar content, and make sure your child’s diet is filled with fruits, veggies, and whole grains. An appropriate diet can be of immense benefit in facing these issues. Changes in lifestyle can resolve up to 80% of bedwetting issues.
Seek Professional Help If Needed
If you’ve followed the tips listed above and you’re not noticing an improvement in your child’s bedwetting, there could be an underlying medical issue. Common health conditions that can lead to bedwetting include diabetes, kidney disease, and certain types of urinary tract infections. Many of these conditions can easily be diagnosed and treated with a visit to your physician.
The HAWK (Help Awaiting Wet Kids) Clinic at Georgia Urology specializes in treating children with urinary incontinence issues and voiding dysfunction (abnormal urination). These issues can happen in 20-30% of kids and can happen for a variety of reasons including (and most often) voiding behaviors, anatomy, or abnormal function. Wetting and other symptoms of voiding […]
By Andrew J. Kirsch, MD, FAAP, FACS Physicians and parents alike are challenged by the management of varicoceles in children. This blog is meant to frame the controversy and educate our patients and families on the current state of the art. As will soon become obvious, shared decision-making is particularly important when considering the many […]
Georgia Urology is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew Kirsch, a nationally recognized pediatric urologist at Georgia Urology and CEO of Global Continence, Inc., has released his new book aimed at helping families and pediatricians better understand and treat bedwetting, or nocturnal enuresis—a condition affecting millions of children worldwide. The book, The Ultimate Bedwetting Survival […]
