Many children wet the bed until they are 5 or even older. A child's bladder might be too small. Or the amount of urine produced overnight can be more than the bladder can hold. Some children sleep too deeply or take longer to learn bladder control.  Children should not be punished for wetting the bed. They don't do it on purpose, and most outgrow it. Until then, bed-wetting alarms, bladder training and medicines might help.

1. Fitango Education
Health Topics
Bedwetting
http://www.fitango.com/categories.php?id=447

2. Overview
Many children wet the bed until they are 5 or even
older. A child's bladder might be too small. Or the
amount of urine produced overnight can be more
than the bladder can hold. Some children sleep too
deeply or take longer to learn bladder control.
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3. Overview
Children should not be punished for wetting the
bed. They don't do it on purpose, and most
outgrow it. Until then, bed-wetting alarms, bladder
training and medicines might help.
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4. Causes
When children wet the bed more than two times
per month after age 5 or 6, it is called bedwetting
or nocturnal enuresis.
More than 5 million children in the United States
wet the bed at night.
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5. Causes
Although the problem goes away over time, many
children continue to have bedwetting episodes.
There are two types of bedwetting
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6. Causes
-- Primary enuresis: Children who are never
consistently dry at night. This usually occurs when
the body makes more urine overnight than the
bladder can hold and the child does not wake up
when the bladder is full. The child's brain has not
learned to respond to the signal that the bladder is
full. It is not the child's or the parent's
fault.Secondary enuresis: Children who were dry
for at least 6 months start bedwetting again. There
are many reasons that children wet the bed after
being fully t
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7. Treatment
Most children grow out of bedwetting. If you
choose to get professional help for your child's
bedwetting problem, consider the following
medications:
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8. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
DDAVP does not cure bedwetting, but it does help
to treat the symptoms the child is exhibiting.
Numerous studies report reduction in the number
of wet nights. DDAVP should be given at bedtime.
Because it works immedietly, it does not need to
be given every day to work.
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9. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
DDAVP is a man-made copy of a normal chemical
found in the body that controls urine production.
The benefit of DDAVP might be due to a reduction
in the overnight production of urine.
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10. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
The drug can be taken as a nasal spray or tablet. If
your child is capable of swallowing pills, the tablet
is more discreet for sleepovers and other
occasions. Additionally, the tablet has reported a
better response rate. The nasal spray can be
affected by a stuffy nose from colds or allergy.
**Imipramine**
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11. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
How this drug works is not completely understood,
but the main purposes are to:
-- change the child's sleep and wakening pattern
-- affect the time a child can hold urine in the
bladder
-- reduce the amount of urine produced
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12. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
Success rates for imipramine have been found to
be higher in older children, and so the drug is
generally not given to children younger than 7.
**Anticholinergic**
Anticholinergic drugs, like oxybutynin (Ditropan) or
hyosyamine (Levsinex), reduce or stop bladder
contractions and increase the bladder's capacity.
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13. Treatment
**Desmopressin Acetate (DDAVP)**
DDAVP and Anticholinergic drugs are often used
together because DDAVP reduces night time urine
output while the anticholinergic increases
nighttime bladder volume. Together, these drugs
work to prevent bed-wetting by keeping the
bladder from becoming full during the nighttime.
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