Solutions to stop bedwetting
Over the years, many methods have been developed to help cure people of bedwetting. Most methods involve a training. The body is trained to recognise when the bladder is full during the night.
On the left side of the menu you will find information about the most commonly used methods in the Netherlands, such as the bedwetting alarm, medication, dry bed training, etc.
After reading about the various methods, you will probably agree with the science and our belief that the bedwetting alarm training is the best and fastest method for curing bedwetting.
BEDWETTING ALARM
The bedwetting alarm is by far the most effective and quickest method for curing bedwetting. The bedwetting alarm method is a method in which the child learns to wake up when the bladder signals that it's full.
Simple and effective
Using the bedwetting alarm is very simple and very effective. To be able to use the bedwetting alarm, you need special briefs that contain a moisture sensor. The connection between the briefs and the bedwetting alarm is wireless.
When your child gets ready for bed, it puts on the sensor briefs. When it wets the bed during the night, the alarm will go off as soon as the first drops of urine reach the sensor briefs. Your child will be woken up and, in a reflex, the sphincter of the bladder will close.
Next, the alarm is switched off and your child goes to the bathroom to empty its bladder. It is important that your child is really awake and completely aware of going to the bathroom. After going the bathroom, your child can put on some clean sensor briefs and go back to sleep.
The average training takes about 2 to 3 months. The duration partly depends on the motivation and the consistency with which the training is carried out.
MEDICATION
Ending bedwetting is a learning process. After all, your child doesn't have an issue with going to the bathroom itself, but a problem with the timing of it. That is, if no physical problems have been identified as a cause for the bedwetting. For this reason, medication alone is often not the solution.
Less urine
Sometimes, doctors prescribe medication to aid the process of potty-training, such as Minrin (desmopressin). Minrin reduces the amount of urine that is produced during the night, so that the bladder doesn't fill up as quickly and the chances of wetting the bed are reduced. Your child won't be allowed to drink a lot in the evening, because the medication causes the skin to retain fluid.
Minrin will help your child sleep dry through the night. But it is a treatment for the symptoms of bedwetting, and does not help the learning process of recognising a full bladder. That is why Minrin is mostly suitable for using temporarily, for instance when your child goes to a sleepover or on camp with school.
Increasing bladder size
If it has been determined that the bladder of your child is too small, Dridase (oxybutynin) or Vesicare (solifenacin) are prescribed. These drugs will make the bladder more flexible, allowing it to store more urine and reducing the chances of bedwetting.
PREVENTATIVE WAKE-UPS
Waking the child up preventatively is a much-used method.
Awake bathroom break
You agree with your child in advance that you will wake him or her up on a set time during the night. On that set time, you wake your child up carefully and remind it that you agreed to this. Call your child's name out loud if you think that it's not fully awake yet, and turn on the lights. It is very important that your child is completely awake! If not, you are maintaining the habit of urinating while asleep.
After having gone to the bathroom, your son or daughter can go back to sleep again.
CALENDAR OR MOTIVATION METHOD
This is a method of giving positive rewards.
Together with your child, create a calendar with a box per day. Based on its "nightly performances", your child can colour in a box, draw a little sun or apply a sticker in the morning. If it has wet the bed, the box will remain open.
After every 10 completed boxes, you give your child a reward that you discussed and agreed to beforehand. Rewards could include getting to decide what's for dinner that night, staying up past bedtime, or getting to play outside after dinner, for instance.
In a playful way, your child will be motivated to stay dry during the night.
BLADDER TRAINING
Have your child drink 2 glasses of water shortly after each other in the morning. When it feels the urge to go to the bathroom, you postpone this. For instance, by slowly counting to 10 first. Repeat this over the next couple of days and try to postpone the bathroom moment a little longer each time.
Another method is to have your child urinate in a measuring cup. Each day, it must try to produce a little bit more urine than the day before.
The idea behind this method is that your child has a better chance of staying dry through the night when it has a larger bladder.