Bedwetting Teenagers

Teen Bedwetting

Bedwetting teenagers are not uncommon and there are reliable bedwetting solutions to help your teen sleep confidently.

Bedwetting solutions depend on an understanding of the underlying causes of teen bedwetting, also known as enuresis (the involuntary release of urine during sleep).

Causes

According to pediatricians, most bedwetting teenagers have inherited a small bladder, that is unable to hold all the urine the body produces overnight. To verify this, it is possible to measure bladder size, by weighing urine collected from a full bladder. The normal teenage bladder holds 12-16 ounces or urine. Also, teen sleep is deep and they don't easily awaken when the bladder is full. Physical causes are very unusual and your healthcare professional can easily identify them. Emotional problems do not cause bedwetting, but they can occur if teenagers are ridiculed or feel depressed or anxious as a result.

How long does it last?

Without treatment, all bedwetting teenagers ultimately improve, but it can take years. Getting treatment can help the problem to stop sooner. The following bedwetting solutions suggested by pediatricians, can help most bedwetting teenagers learn to use the toilet overnight.

How to stop teen bedwetting

1. The goal is to wake up each night and urinate in the toilet. Teenagers with small bladders need to get up to urinate at least once a night or they cannot stay dry. Using the toilet overnight can keep a person dry no matter how small the bladder is or how much evening fluid they drink.

2. Reduce evening fluids. Try not to drink excessive fluids during the two hours before bedtime, particularly anything containing caffeine. Caffeine increases the body's production of urine. Everything we drink eventually becomes urine. Drink how much you like during the day.

3. Empty the bladder at bedtime. If your teen has trouble remembering to do this, try putting up a sign or set an alarm if this is hard to remember.

4. The mind has a huge effect on our bodies. Studies have shown that there is little difference in performance between people who physically practice a task and those who imagine doing it. This routine will help to increase your awareness of a full bladder. Suggest that your teen practice this routine at bedtime:

• Lie on the bed with eyes closed.
• Imagine it's the middle of the night.
• Imagine your bladder is full.
• Imagine you feel the pressure.
• Imagine your bladder is trying to wake you up.
• Imagine your bladder is telling you to get up before it's too late.
• Then run to the bathroom and empty your bladder.
• Remind yourself to get up like this during the night.
• If you think of a better way to remind your brain to get you up every night, do it and you'll be dry.

5. Practice during the day. Whenever you are home and feel the need to urinate, go to your bedroom first. Lie on the bed and imagine you're sleeping. Tell yourself this is how your bladder feels during the night when it tries to wake you. After a few minutes, go to the bathroom and urinate.

Bed-wetting alarms

Alarms can be used to teach bedwetting teenagers to awaken when they need to urinate during the night. These send off an alarm when they get wet. Alarms cure about 70% of bedwetting older children when this is due to a small bladder. This is the highest cure rate of any bedwetting approach. See bedwetting alarms page for more details.

Alarm clock

If it is difficult to awaken at night and you don't want to buy a bed-wetting alarm, bedwetting teenagers can set an alarm clock for three or four hours after going to bed. Place it out of reach so that they have to get up to turn it off (and of course, to go to the bathroom). It is helpful to practice responding to the alarm during the day while lying on the bed with eyes closed. Ensure the alarm is set every night.

Parent-awakening

If self-awakening doesn't work initially, parents can help teenagers learn to awaken. Parents can awaken the teen at their bedtime and try a progression of prompts (the minimal one being the best), starting with switching on a light, saying the teen's name, touching them, shaking them, or turning on an alarm clock. If the teenager is confused and difficult to awaken, the parent can try again in 20 minutes. Once the teenager is awake, they need to find the bathroom without any prompts or guidance. If the teen awakens quickly to sound or touch for seven nights in a row, they are either cured or ready for an enuresis alarm.

Changing wet clothes

If your teen can do the following, they are close to being able to wake up to a full bladder. Keep dry pajamas and towels near the bed for this. If your teen becomes wet at night, encourage them to get up and change on their own. First, if they feel any urine leaking out, they should try to close the bladder's valve and stop further urine flow. Next they need to hurry to the toilet to empty any remaining urine. Thirdly, they should change pajamas and place a dry towel over the wet section of the bed.

Medication

Most bedwetting teenagers need extra help to stay dry during sleepovers, camping trips and vacations. Some use an alarm clock and stay dry by awakening once at night. Some are helped by temporarily taking a tablet at bedtime. One of the available drugs reduces urine production at night and is quite safe. Another temporarily increases bladder capacity. It is safe at the right dosage, but dangerous if too much is taken.

The disadvantage of these medications is that the problem returns once the tablets are no longer taken. They are not long-term bedwetting solutions. For this reason, teenagers using enuresis medications should also be using an alarm and training themselves to get up at night.

When to contact your doctor

See a doctor or health professional if:

• Teen bedwetting is painful.
• The urine stream is weak or trickles.
• Wetting occurs during the day.
• Bedwetting is a new problem - they used to be dry.
• This treatment program has not worked after three months.

Source: C.S. Mott Children's Hospital