How To Cure Bedwetting in Kids Beyond 7 Years Of Age?

Are you worried because your 7 year old kid is still bedwetting at night? You are not alone, because this is a serious problem with many kids around the world. Many times parent of such kids are under constant stress because they can’t send their child to play with their friends house, overnight or school picnics and activity camps. They fear that their child will be abused or feel embarrassed if he urinates in bed at night in front of other kids.

If this problem is not treated, the child starts developing guilt and that leads to low-self esteem or inferiority complex. These psychological issues can be devastating when the kid becomes a teenager.

In this article we are going to study some causes and possible treatment for this serious issue from Ayurveda point of view.

What is the reason of bedwetting in kids beyond 7 years of age?

Bedwetting is also called nocturnal enuresis, this is involuntary urination while asleep.
As per Ayurveda “Shayyamutrata” is considered to be a vata diorder as elimination of urine happens to be the function of apanvayu.

There are various reasons which causes bedwetting in children:

• Small bladder – bladder is not fully developed to hold urine.
• Anxiety or stress related with the nervous system of the child.
• Indigestion – causes constipation at the same time started to form the toxins (ama) in the body
• Urinary tract infection – recurrent urine infection causes difficulty to control the urination
• Worms
• Hereditary
• Hormone imbalance -production of ADH anti-diuretic hormone is very slow in child
• Anemia
• Inability to recognize a full bladder due to nerve that controls bladder are slow to mature, and child can not wake up due to deep sleep.
• Long term constipation loses the muscle strength which contributes to the bladder too.
• Diabetes with fatigue, weight loss and thirst.
• Caffein causes person to urinate more
• Wrong diet intake like cold food, ice creams, frozen and fermented food, food which increases kapha.

Is bedwetting hereditary?

Teenagers with enuresis often have a parent who had the same problem at about the same age.
Recent studies identify specific genes that causes enuresis.

At what age is bedwetting a problem?

Children with age of 2 year don’t understand the urine sensation so bedwetting until this age is normal.

But after the age of 2.5 year without any feeling of full bladder bedwetting at night is the problem. This is disease is recognized by nocturnal enuresis and generally, parents ignore this.

Does bedwetting gets cured by itself or needs special medical treatment?

As we mention before until the age 2 this is natural and we don’t have to do any treatment for this, but after the age of 2.5 if child is bedwetting at night it needs treatment under medical supervision by knowing the exact cause of the disease.

Should I be worried if bedwetting in my child is not an everyday event?

Bedwetting can be one day event or regularly happen in some children. Even if bedwetting in a child is seen once in a while it is necessary that he must be treated under special medical attention.

Can bedwetting start suddenly after an unfortunate event such as loss of a family member or accident etc.

Yes, sudden trauma or events can trigger the hormones and central nervous activity which causes such types of problems to the children.

Is bedwetting a physical or behavioral/psychological issue?

Bedwetting is not a mental or behavioral problem. These is a structural or anatomical abnormality.
Some psychological factors contribute with enuresis such as , trauma, parental conflict, abuse, hospitalization or death of family member.

Is a small bladder or UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) responsible for bedwetting?

Small bladder isn’t actually small in size than another bladder. Instead, it feels fuller at lower volume.

Urinary infections can be happen due to improper hygiene, kidney or urine stone and this blockage can impair the flow of urine. During night hours this can cause unexpected urine leakage & bedwetting. For example, pressure from stone or tumor makes muscles in bladder contract unnecessarily, which can lead to frequent & uncontrolled urine.

Are there any pathological tests (urine test/blood test) if bedwetting is because of physical disorders?

• Physical examination
• Discussion of symptoms, fluid intake, family history, past medical history, bowel and bladder history is needful.
• X ray helps to know the structure of kidney, bladder and structure of the urinary tract.
• Urinalysis to check sign of any infection in the urine or diabetes.

What are psychological reasons for bedwetting?

Psychological issues like stress causes bedwetting in children such as abuse, hospitalization, trauma, parental conflict or fear.

Is bedwetting a sign of ADHD?

ADHD is most common neurodevelopmental disorder in children. Bedwetting can be found in ADHD children as both are related with delayed central nervous system disorder.

Is bedwetting in kids related to fear, stress, anxiety, abuse at school or home?

Yes, sometimes children are under stress and fear from parents or school teachers or friends in school. This type of fear causes much stress and anxiety in child ultimately causing bedwetting.

Can improper diet cause bedwetting?

Agni (digestive fire) is the main component in our digestive system. Improper diet like some foods and drinks can cause bedwetting. For example, caffeine and alcohol are bladder irritant and diuretics. They will cause more urination.

Improper diet as per Ayurveda if not digested by body well, starts to accumulate in gut flora to form Ama (toxins). This “Ama” tends to form lots of diseases in the body.

Improper diet cannot digest food items nicely and its extract which is urine and stool, forms toxins which creates constipation and more or less urination.

So proper diet plays vital role in our body system to make away from all disease.

Can changing certain habits before bedtime reduce the bedwetting frequency?

Sure. Your lifestyle is very important to make your body disease free. Certain changes can help to end up your bedwetting issue.

Setting limits of fluid intake take a large part in controlling bedwetting. Try not to drink water and other fluids within few hours before bedtime. Drink and eat majority liquid intake before dinnertime this will ensure that your bladder is relatively empty before bedtime.  Avoid caffein or alcohol intake in evening.

Can bedwetting accidents happen even if the child is trained to follow toilet manners during day hours?

Yes, bedwetting occurs due to various reasons which can include bladder muscle issue, kidney problems, urinary tract infection, worms infection along with psychological issue.  Bedwetting generally occurs at night time that’s why known as enuresis.

Does bedwetting cause due to kidney dysfunction?

Delay in development of kidney or any other part of body causes kidney dysfunction. Kidney makes more urine at night and because of kidney dysfunction bladder control problems causes more urine at night time and bladder muscle can not hold the urine.

What alternative method does Ayurveda recommend for using a bed-wetting alarm?

Instead of using a bedwetting alarm parents should tie one thread with small stone around the child’s waist so, whenever the bladder gets full, immediately with that stone child can feel the sensation and wake up for urination.

So this is the best trick which parents can use for bedwetting in children.

Do Yoga Poses related to pelvic area in kids help improve this condition?

Yoga poses play important role in bedwetting issue of children with the development of kidney and bladder muscle.

Regular practice of yoga stimulates the nervous system and thereby influences the micturition system in the spinal cord leading to better control and coordination of process. Yoga also helps to reduce the stress level.

It improves pelvic region health with asana poses & gaining control over urine leakage or output. It also controls the laxity of bladder muscle.

These yoga poses help to improve the bedwetting issue in children:

• Utkatasana (chair pose)
• Trikonasana (triangle pose)
• Ustrasana (camel pose)
• Balasana (child pose)
• Baddhapadmasana (lotus pose)

Is bedwetting a sign of diabetes in my child?

Diabetes is one of the causes of bedwetting. In diabetes body doesn’t process glucose properly and can produce large amount of urine. This increases production of urine causing bedwetting at night in children and adult.

In Ayurveda, night time urination (Nakta-mutrata) is main sign of diabetes. So either diabetes can cause bedwetting of bedwetting can be a symptom of diabetes in your child.

What are some Ayurvedic or Panchakarma treatments for this issue?

Ayurveda and panchakarma treatments play major role in bedwetting issue.
After finding the exact cause of bedwetting , Ayurveda recommends various treatments according to the child age, cause of disease.

Some Ayurveda herbal medications with home remedies are always helpful. For e.g.

• Raisins with walnut halves are helpful for bedwetting issue.
• Calmus powder (vacha)1/4 tsp along with 01 cardamom and 20 ml milk is also helpful remedy.
• Eating jaggery 1tsp with ½ tsp ajawain (carom seeds) along with ½ tsp turmeric helps in this issue.
• Chandraprabha vati
• Vidangarishtam
• Arvindasava or sarswatarishtam
• Jatamansi along with ajwain and water is also helpful.

Note: Above mention medicines and treatment should be taken under medical supervision only

Panchakarma treatment:

• Massage the pelvic and belly region with warm mustard or sesame oil is always helpful.
• After oil massage, fomentation with hot water bag or ajwain pottali (bag of ajwain) is needful to relax and make bladder muscle strong.
• Shirodhara with vacha or bramhi tailam
• Nasya with vacha tail or siddha ghrita
• Sitz bath with dash Moola decoction or just warm water.
• Basti treatment suggested as per Ayurveda physician.

Which food should my child avoid if he is bedwetting even after age 7?

Diet plays important part in bedwetting issue.

• Limiting the use of liquids in evening.
• Food that can encourage the growth of worms should be avoided, e.g., chocolate, biscuits, cakes, pastries, bread, ice creams.
• Avoid fermented food.
• Avoid tin or packed food, always give fresh food only \Lots of vegetables and fruit intake is important.
• Avoid lots of dairy products
• Avoid meat products.
• Avoid fruits after 5 pm
• Avoid left over food from night
• Avoid eating food while watching TV or mobile phones or while talking.
• No cold drinks or caffeine drinks.
• No milkshakes except mango.
• No fruit salad.

Written By…