If you are wondering how do I stop my child from wetting the bed at night and need tips, we’ve got you covered in this article. Additionally, as you read through the tips to help stop wetting the bed, if you are overwhelmed or have no idea how to help the things we talk about, have you considered physical therapy with a pediatric bladder and bowel specialist? We can help you! Read on for specific tips to help stop wetting the bed at night.
We’ve got you covered, parents, in this article with tips to help your child stop wetting the bed at night. When exploring solutions to help your child stop wetting the bed at night, we recommend you consider physical therapy with a pediatric bladder and bowel specialist. Here at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we specialize in helping kids who have bladder or bowel problems, including helping children to stop wetting the bed at night. Read on for some tips to help your child’s bedwetting and reach out to us here to ask us questions about our natural and effective treatments with our licensed physical therapists or call us at (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
Our pediatric bladder and bowel licensed physical therapists help children (ages 4-18+) stop wetting the bed at night by using natural and safe approaches that improve their bladder and bowel control, strengthen their core muscles, retrain their pelvic floor muscles, teach optimal bladder and bowel habits and address constipation.
To stop bedwetting, one tip is that a comprehensive approach that addresses posture, core, daytime bladder habits, eating and drinking habits, breathing, toileting behaviors, sleep routines and bowel habits is needed. Rarely is there one simple thing to implement to resolve bedwetting. There are many things that physical therapy can offer your child to provide a real solution that is safe, natural and optimizes your child’s bladder and bowel control. And one bonus is physical therapy uses the power of your child’s own body and habits to resolve their bedwetting, therefore, there are no harmful side effects like you may experience with pharmaceuticals. We love talking to parents and learning about your needs to help your child’s bedwetting; feel free to contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
Tips for parents who want to help their child stop bedwetting!
Our physical therapy to help kids who bed wet offers you and your child a safe, comprehensive and holistic approach to improve bladder control. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
Why is my child wetting the bed? Parents, monitor your child’s:
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Tip 1 to help stop wetting the bed at night: Monitor your child’s bowel movements
Look for signs or constipation. Do they have large stools? Do they have stomach aches? Do they have bloating? Are bowel movements painful? Do they avoid defecating? Any constipation needs to be addressed to resolve wetting the bed. Our physical therapist is able to help you and your child improve constipation using physical therapy therapeutic methods that include diet, clean-out protocols, exercise, teaching your child effective toileting routines and strategies, pelvic floor muscle training and more. If your child has constipation, the bladder can be challenged to hold urine at night. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to improve your child’s constipation or bowel movement regularity and to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 2: Sleep habits. Are there any irregularities?
Track your child’s sleep habits and look for trends in their schedule that link to wetting the bed. Monitor their snoring, look for signs of sleep apnea, watch for them being restless in bed. Consider having your child checked for a tongue tie by a qualified dentist, as this can impair breathing and influence bedwetting. Children’s bodies, including bladder control at night, respond well to consistency in routines, including bedtime routines and eating and drinking hours. Research supports that kids who wet the bed often have sleep disturbances.
“Sleep questionnaires showed that children with enuresis had more sleep problems than controls, especially parasomnias, breathing disorders, and daytime sleepiness.”
-Fernandes AER, Roveda JRC, Fernandes CR, Silva DF, de Oliveira Guimarães IC, Lima EM, de Carvalho Mrad FC, de Almeida Vasconcelos MM. Relationship between nocturnal enuresis and sleep in children and adolescents. Pediatr Nephrol. 2022 Nov 24.
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Tip 3 to help stop wetting the bed at night: Does your child have core weakness?
Some children who wet the bed lack strength and coordination in their core muscles, which has a link to bladder and bowel control challenges. We’ve worked with children who are strong in their limbs, but lack core control. One thing we notice is that kids with core weakness have non-optimal posture, which changes the angle of their pelvis and pelvic floor muscles. Because these muscles are important to bladder and bowel control, lack of core strength and altered posture are key components of our physical therapy for kids who wet the bed. Our physical therapists evaluate every child’s core strength, coordination, posture and breathing and creates a rehabilitation plan of care that will improve this for your child. To inquire about our physical therapy program that includes a full evaluation of your child’s core strength, posture and neuromotor control to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 4: Could pelvic floor muscle dysfunction be contributing to your child’s bedwetting?
Kids can have pelvic floor muscle problems causing them to not empty their bladder or bowel completely during the day. We often find that kids who wet the bed hold in their bowel movements, which can cause tension in the pelvic floor and difficulty emptying the bowels. We also find that kids incorrectly tighten up their pelvic floor muscles when they should be relaxing them to allow for urinating and defecating. Our gentle (external) biofeedback and corrective exercise based approach will help your child learn where their pelvic floor muscles are located and learn how to better control them. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 5: Does your child experience daytime urinary issues, such as urgency, frequency or not urinating often enough?
Research has found that kids who experience urinary incontinence (enuresis) often also have daytime urinary urgency and urinary retention, reflecting that their bladder is struggling with daytime control; these kids tend to have challenges with nighttime bladder control. When working with kids who are wetting the bed, we must address any daytime bladder symptoms. Often these children are experiencing challenges with their bladder during the day. We recommend you pay attention to your child’s daytime bladder habits in terms of how often they urinate, whether they have urgency and frequency, experience any pain or ignore the urge to urinate. Our physical therapists will design an effective treatment program to help your child’s daytime and nighttime bladder control. Parents often have questions about what is involved with this physical therapy, feel free to contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members. One study into bladder control of children 7 years of age found:
“The prevalence of enuresis (involuntary loss of urine) was 10.6%;11.7% in males and 9.3% in females…. The most common urinary symptoms were urinary urgency (22.7%) and urinary retention maneuvers (38.2%). ”
-Denise M. Mota, Aluisio J.D. Barros, Alicia Matijasevich, Iná S. Santos, Prevalence of enuresis and urinary symptoms at age 7 years in the 2004 birth cohort from Pelotas, Brazil, Jornal de Pediatria, Volume 91, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 52-58.
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Tip 6 to help stop wetting the bed at night: Does your child fully empty their bladder during the day?
Kids who wet the bed often do not fully empty their bladder during the day, therefore, to achieve dry nights we need to improve daytime bladder function. Our patients often lack the ability to fully empty their bladder. We find some young children are rushing and have learned to not sit and relax on the toilet to facilitate complete emptying. In physical therapy, we foster complete emptying of the bladder, so we practice with your child how to let go of the pelvic floor muscles and patiently allow the bladder to fully empty. If you suspect your child may not be emptying their bladder fully during the day, working with our licensed physical therapist can help your child learn effective bladder and bowel control. Contact us here to inquire about cost and availability of our PT or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 7: Is your child’s daily water intake sufficient?
We like to see a consistent intake of water throughout the day to help your child to experience multiple complete bladder filling, holding & emptying stages. At night your bladder needs to be able to fill up and hold urine without emptying. If they have constipation or poor daytime bladder habits, then stopping wetting the bed at night becomes a challenge. Often the children we treat are not drinking enough water throughout the day. Some kids also drink fluids, such as Gatorade, that have additives like artificial colors that bother bladders. Our physical therapists serve as a helpful sounding board and provide guidance to parents and kids to reenforce optimal water intake. Parents often tell us that their child will not drink water; we find that having our PT work with your child to facilitate improved water intake can be a useful means of improving this habit. To inquire about our physical therapy program that includes a full evaluation of your child’s core strength, posture and neuromotor control to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 8: Watch your child’s dietary habits, including chewing, fiber and timing of meals
Because children who wet the bed at night often have constipation, it is important to look at their dietary habits to promote effective, daily bowel movements. To help your child stop wetting the bed, we recommend eating a complete breakfast each day, toileting after breakfast, intake of adequate fiber, drinking enough water and getting sufficient exercise. Chewing food to the consistency of applesauce can ease the process of breaking down food in your intestines. Chewing is a surprising sleeper of a habit to improve to help your child to stop wetting the bed at night. If you would like to work with our licensed PT to learn a comprehensive method of addressing bedwetting, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 9: Does your child hold in bowel movements (withholding) or not perceive the need to defecate?
Children who hold in their bowel movements or avoid the bathroom are developing constipation. This constipation will bother their bladder and cause it to empty when they sleep and may also contribute to daytime frequency, wetting the bed at night or during the day or a constant sense of needing to pee. If you are aware that your child is not going to the bathroom when they need to, work diligently to stop this problem. Withholding stool is a big contributor to wetting the bed at night. Quite often the child simply does not feel the urge to defecate. Our biofeedback, exercises and methods to help your child tend to the signal to empty their bowels can greatly improve bedwetting. To speak with one of our team members about our physical therapy program that includes a full evaluation of your child’s bowel habits, straining, withholding, pain, core strength, posture and neuromotor control to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 10 to help stop wetting the bed: Empty your bladder fully before going to bed
This may seem obvious that to help your child stop wetting the bed at night, they should empty their bladder before bed. However, it isn’t that easy to monitor as they grow up. When your child who wets the bed is young you can monitor this well by encouraging them to relax and empty their bladder before bed. But, once you have an adolescent or teenager who wets the bed, this is more difficult to monitor. Establishing a routine of emptying the bladder before bed is a helpful measure towards stopping wetting the bed. You would be surprised by how many of our patients do not empty their bladder before going to bed, so please look at your child’s habits. When you work with our PT you and your child will be fully supported to begin to develop better habits that help stop wetting the bed. Contact us here to inquire about cost or availability of our PT or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
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Tip 11: Getting treatment started when they are younger can alleviate a lot of the stress and shame around bedwetting
There’s no reason to wait, when there is physical therapy to help your child. Most of the time parents tell us that they never heard of this PT for bedwetting. While it is not commonly known about, our licensed PTs have advanced training specific to helping promote appropriate developmental control of the bladder and bowel. And everything we offer is natural and safe, without relying on pharmaceuticals. While most of us adults take bladder and bowel control for granted, it turns out that it is actually a very complicated neuromotor control system and physical therapy can help your child. To work with our physical therapists, we begin care with an evaluation to determine what is going on with your child and how we can best help you and your child. Call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.
If my child wets the bed, when should I begin treatment?
If you or your child are perceiving bedwetting to be a problem or bothersome, it is a good time to begin treatment. We recommend that any child ages 5 or older who wets the bed, come see our physical therapist for treatment. For children who have developmental challenges or if parents perceive some motor control or coordination challenges, it can be beneficial to begin physical therapy younger than five years old. Our pediatric bladder & bowel licensed physical therapists offer comprehensive, natural treatments that include exercise, developmentally appropriate games that facilitate bladder and bowel control as well as motor coordination, pelvic floor muscle training, biofeedback, instructions for parents, constipation mitigation, dietary recommendations, and more. By beginning treatment at a younger age you can spare your child and household from dealing with wetting the bed. Parents have told us that our treatments for bedwetting, enuresis and encopresis give peace of mind, direction and helpful insights into their child’s pelvic floor control, posture, strength, bowel and bladder habits, chewing, diet and bedwetting. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members. When the parent and child come for a physical therapy evaluation, each child’s care is individualized to their needs and history and we include considerations such as the following:
“The most important comorbid conditions to take into account are psychiatric disorders, constipation, urinary tract infections and snoring or sleep apneas. Constipation and daytime incontinence, if present, should be treated.”
-Nevéus T, Fonseca E, Franco I, Kawauchi A, Kovacevic L, Nieuwhof-Leppink A, Raes A, Tekgül S, Yang SS, Rittig S. Management and treatment of nocturnal enuresis-an updated standardization document from the International Children’s Continence Society. J Pediatr Urol. 2020 Feb;16(1):10-19.
If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
When asking yourself how do I stop my child from wetting the bed at night and looking for tips such as these, we know many parents are also quietly worried about the psychological impact that the shame of bedwetting can cause their child.
Research into the mental health impact of wetting the bed (nocturnal enuresis) has found that is causes distress and low self-esteem for the child. We find that kids who improve their bedwetting come back to their follow up physical therapy appointments with big smiles and proud of their accomplishment. The older kids we have worked with confide it is a huge relief to finally get this problem resolved. Parents tell our physical therapists that they worry about their child’s bedwetting causing them to be ridiculed, if it were known by peers. We have worked with parents for whom the bedwetting has caused problems within the adult relationship, possibly from one parent perceiving they handle all of the laundry and monitoring of the child’s bladder issues, while the other parent is perceived to not be equally participating in resolving this problem. If you or your child are experiencing some of these issues, please understand that you are not alone; wetting the bed is a common problem and our specialist physical therapist can help you and your child gain control over their bladder. For more information about our physical therapy treatment to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
The kids who come to us for physical therapy to help their bedwetting experience a positive and uplifting environment that makes them feel good about themselves.
We use developmentally appropriate games, movements, and fun exercises, for example, that allow your child to develop the needed body control to improve bedwetting. You and your child will work privately with your licensed physical therapist for the entire appointment; we never leave you or your child to work with another patient and we don’t expect you to work with lesser trained staff. Your child’s success is our focus for the entire appointment. We are physical therapists who specialize in adult and children’s bladder, bowel and pelvic conditions. The treatment we use for kids are different than adults, because their needs and developmental stages are quite different than adults. To learn more about our physical therapy treatment to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
The impact of successful treatment for nocturnal enuresis has been analyzed and children who are able to improve bedwetting and gain control over when they empty their bladder showed both improved behavior and personality scores.
These tips give you an idea of things to address when asking yourself how do I stop my child from wetting the bed at night. Initiating treatment sooner for kids who wet the bed has been found to prevent the negative effects on self-esteem and mental health, it also helps favor normal development of the child, including social development and brings relief to the entire household. Current recommendations are to begin treatment sooner, rather than waiting because the psychologic impacts are so detrimental. If you would like to take the first step to helping your child stop wetting the bed, contact us here to see if we may be able to help or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
Because bedwetting is not openly discussed among friends and family, sometimes the child and parent may feel frustrated when bedwetting continues into the school age years. We know it is difficult to figure out how to help your child stop wetting the bed at night.
Our pediatric bladder and bowel PT has taken years of post-doctoral training to help you and your child. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy to help stop your child from wetting the bed, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
We hope this information helps you have an idea of how to stop your child from wetting the bed at night and the tips are a helpful place to begin.
We know it can be a lonely road for children and frustrating for parents to figure out tip for how to stop your child from wetting the bed at night. Our pediatric bladder and bowel physical therapists are here to help you. We have worked with children of all ages, including adolescents who want to go to sleep-overs, high schoolers who wet the bed who are anxious about getting a college roommate, and kids under ten years of age who wet the bed. We’ve also worked with young, married men who wet the bed. Because we specialize in pelvic health and bladder and bowel control for adults and children, you can expect specialized care that is designed to help you achieve your goals. Bedwetting can benefit from the natural and safe methods our physical therapists use. We partner with parents to help resolve wetting the bed for kids who struggle with this issue. You can expect private appointments with your doctor of physical therapy and a one-on-one setting, with both parent and child present for all treatment. We teach both the parent and child numerous strategies, techniques, habits, dietary changes and exercises to perform to help stop wetting the bed. If you would like to learn more about our PT to help bedwetting, you can contact us here with your questions or call 616-516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable team members.
Peace,
Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy. Specialist in pelvic health, TMJ disorders, neck and back pain. All of our physical therapists specialize in pelvic health, bladder and bowel control.
To inquire about our physical therapy program to stop wetting the bed, including our comprehensive evaluation of your child’s core strength, toileting habits, constipation, posture and neuromotor control to help your child, contact us here to ask us a question or call (616) 516-4334 to talk with one of our knowledgeable staff members.
Because you are wondering how do I stop my child from wetting the bed at night and are looking for tips, you may be interested in these other articles we’ve written:
Why is My Child’s Poop So Big?
Why Does My Ten Year Old Wet The Bed?
Tips to Fix Incontinence Naturally
9 Tips That You Need Pelvic Floor Therapy
Why Does My Child Keep Wetting Their Pants?
What Does TMJ Physical Therapy Help?
Physical Therapy for Neck Pain and Headaches
Does Chewing Help Constipation?
References for how to stop your child from wetting the bed at night and tips for parents:
Fernandes AER, Roveda JRC, Fernandes CR, Silva DF, de Oliveira Guimarães IC, Lima EM, de Carvalho Mrad FC, de Almeida Vasconcelos MM. Relationship between nocturnal enuresis and sleep in children and adolescents. Pediatr Nephrol. 2022 Nov 24.
Hodges, S.J. Modified O’Regan Protocol for Overactive Bladder. Curr Bladder Dysfunct Rep 11, 201–204 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11884-016-0379-y
Denise M. Mota, Aluisio J.D. Barros, Alicia Matijasevich, Iná S. Santos, Prevalence of enuresis and urinary symptoms at age 7 years in the 2004 birth cohort from Pelotas, Brazil, Jornal de Pediatria, Volume 91, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 52-58.
Nevéus T, Fonseca E, Franco I, Kawauchi A, Kovacevic L, Nieuwhof-Leppink A, Raes A, Tekgül S, Yang SS, Rittig S. Management and treatment of nocturnal enuresis-an updated standardization document from the International Children’s Continence Society. J Pediatr Urol. 2020 Feb;16(1):10-19.
