Urine My Thoughts!
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Bedwetting can happen in younger and older children alike. I haven’t personally dealt with it chronically in my children, but the times it has happened I can 100 percent say it was during a season of stress. This can be a sensitive subject, but I’m covering it now because I’ve seen an increase in cases since the ‘stay at home’ order. Yes, children experience anxiety even if they don’t know how to identify the feeling or put words to it. Sometimes it comes out through things like bedwetting.
The majority of times, bedwetting is a symptom of something else and isn’t the root problem, though it still feels like a huge problem to those experiencing it. So what can be the underlying causes?
Urinary tract infections can be a culprit. The child does not have to have a fever or burning with urination for it to be a UTI. If a child is frequently wetting the bed, this needs to be checked periodically.
Constipation is a big problem. Sometimes kids’ bowels are so backed up that it dulls the sensation to their bladder that it’s full. One of the most common approaches I see in reports from urologists is to clear the bowel. Even if there is a genetic issue in play, I see this at least help it not be so severe. There are many ways to go about clearing the bowel. Work with your provider to achieve this.
Retained reflexes can be an issue, specifically a reflex called the Spinal Galant. This reflex is found when touching the lower back of your child’s spine, and it’s the reflex that hinders bladder and bowel movement control. However, if a child had a traumatic birth experience or has missed some key developmental milestones, you may find that these reflexes are still present. The good news is that physical therapists and even some chiropractors can work to help these primitive reflexes disappear.
Subluxations of the spine can also cause issues. The brain and bladder need to be able to communicate, but they have a hard time if the spine has any abnormal rotations. These impede communication of the massive bundle of nerves that run up and down its structure. As a metaphor, if there is static between two cell phones, the message won’t be received. Subluxations act like this static. I recommend working with a chiropractor closely because they can really help with constipation, retained reflexes, and subluxations.
Anxiety is a big deal right now. Make sure you are checking in with your child and seeing how they feel. My older child had a big breakdown the other day and even though she didn’t know quite what she was afraid of, it needed to be released. It was also my check to make sure I’m adequately filtering everything she sees and hears these days. We took a lot of time to ground outside and feel the grass, dirt, stones, and water. I felt better too! My mom always used to ask me, “Have you had your 10 meaningful touches today?” Cue the hug that always came after. :)
Bedwetting can also be caused by sleep apnea. Since breathing during sleep can be difficult, the brain works harder to take in oxygen than it does to control other bodily functions, like bladder control. Sleep apnea in children can be related to enlarged tonsils, tongue tie, food allergies, environmental allergies and/or gut dysbiosis. If your child snores and wets the bed, consider working with a provider to reduce inflammation.
Of course, your child could have a combination of one or more of these issues. There’s no rule that says they’ll only have one root cause, which can sometimes make having a successful outcome more challenging. While this is not a comprehensive list of root causes, I’ve found this information to be very life-changing for parents and their children. Feel free to reach out in the comments. And also, hang in there!
Jaimee´ Arroyo, FNP
