While bedwetting is common among 5 to 15 year olds and affects more than 150,000 Australians help is at hand for Tasmanians who deal with the problem daily.
It is estimated that 15-20 percent of 5-year-olds, 7 percent of 7-year-olds, and 5 percent of 10-year-olds wet the bed.
This demonstrates that for some children bedwetting resolves without treatment.
However, for others it can persist into adulthood with an estimated 1-2 percent of adults wetting their bed.
In the past, children who wet the bed have been labelled lazy, naughty or emotionally disturbed and adults have been careful to hide their own bedwetting problems away from family members and friends.
Scientists have recently discovered some genetic markers associated with bedwetting and it is clear that low functional bladder capacity is a contributing factor.
Hormones can play a role in some cases and research has also demonstrated a link between sleep apnoea and bedwetting.
In families where one parent has a history of bedwetting, there is a 30-40 percent chance their children will be affected.
If both parents were affected the incidence jumps to 75-80 percent.
Unfortunately, bedwetting can make children and families feel distressed and embarrassed and research clearly shows that it adversely affects self-esteem in children.
Parents are often told that their kids will “grow out of it” but the reality is that some children never do.
The sooner assistance is sought the better.
It also prevents the development of poor self-esteem which increases as the child becomes more socially aware.
The Child Health and Parenting Service’s community program Wetaway provides services to families of children 5 - 18 years with a bedwetting problem.
The nurses who run the program assess their clients before helping them develop a management plan that aims to resolve bedwetting problems.
Wetaway focuses on the behaviours that are likely to delay normal night-time bladder control and addresses problems with fluid intake and toileting which may be adversely affecting the child’s bladder capacity.
Bed alarms are used with support from the nurse once all other contributing factors have been addressed.
Importantly, children and their parents are urged to take a supervised self-managed approach to bedwetting which in most cases helps them resolve their problems.
After children successfully complete the program, nurses follow up at regular intervals to establish whether the results are permanent.
Two years ago Wetaway was formally evaluated and 86% of parents surveyed indicated that it was responsible for significant changes to their child’s bedwetting patterns.
One mother said she had had a 100 percent success rate with her two children and their increased social interaction and confidence was “staggering”.
For more information and support about Wetaway contact your Child Health and Parenting Service offices in the following locations:
South 6230 7899
North 6336 2130
North West 6421 7800 or 6434 6451