The situation is normal - everyone has heard, but very few people know. The word "enuresis" is Greek and literally means "urinating, pissing." As a symptom, urinary incontinence can occur in a variety of pathologies. But, "night enuresis" is an independent disease characterized by spontaneous urination in children aged 4 years and older. The fact is that the urinary retention skill when filling the bladder is established precisely by 3-4 years.
The most vulnerable are the enuresis of preschool children (10%). Boys are more likely than girls (12% and 7%). In primary school, an average incidence of urinary incontinence is 4.5% of children, and after 15 years only 0.5%.
So, already from the definition itself it is clear that children's enuresis is inextricably linked with the process of sleep. In the people it is believed that if you are too much asleep you can simply not "hear" the urge to urinate. The so-called simple form of enuresis, indeed, is accompanied by deep sleep. Avicenna also pointed to this. But please! If the signals from the bladder do not reach the sleepy consciousness, why do not we normally jump up in the middle of the night every time and rush to the toilet? It turns out that a wet bed is not only a "shame on the whole village", but also an ancient way of self-regulation, worked out by evolution. According to modern data, enuresis is intended by nature to switch the stages of sleep.
Many mothers repeatedly noticed that their babies urinate either just before waking up or immediately after. That is, for a child, bedwetting is a natural signal for awakening, without which he probably would not have woken up! As the brain matures and the physiology improves, the need for such stimulation disappears. According to statistics, at the age of half a year 87% of healthy children stop urinating in bed during the day. In a year more than 2/3 of the children sleep dry all night or are slovenly episodically, no more than once a week.
Thus, nocturnal enuresis exists until it is necessary for the child's body to compensate for the immaturity of the nervous system. It looks ridiculous when the popes and mothers begin to boast before relatives, friends and acquaintances that due to proper education their one-year-old nesmyshlynysh is no longer "pissed" into the crib. In fact, to thank for the relief of one's life, one must not be self, but nature. Perhaps biology, that is, congenital factors, also affects the sex differences in the prevalence of urinary incontinence. In my opinion, the lower incidence of enuresis in girls compared to boys is due to the fact that the female body grows and matures somewhat faster than the male body. Not going deeply into the subject, one can assume the presence of a deep meaning embedded in such a biological device of man.
Each child urinates in a crib in own way.
Simple form. It is characterized by constant, but relatively rare (2-5 times a week) incidents of bedwetting in a child whose frequency does not depend on the amount of liquid drunk. Sleep is often very deep - after wetting, the child continues to sleep. Involuntary urination often occurs in the first 2-3 hours of sleep. In most cases, hereditary complications are revealed.
Neuropathic enuresis develops against a background of congenital childish nervousness with increased excitability and exhaustion of the nervous system. The frequency of incontinence episodes depends on the amount of fluid drunk. Neurological "microsymptomatics" is characteristic. Often these children confuse the day with the night. Children-neuropaths often suffer from colds at an early age. Against the background of any debilitating accompanying diseases, irresistible urges and frequent urination occur not only at night, but also during the day.
The neurotic form is infrequent and occurs in one of the critical age periods (3, 5, 7 years) as a reaction to acute and / or severe emotional stress. As a rule, children have unmotivated irritability, capriciousness, tearfulness, sleep disorders, night terrors, tics, etc. With the aggravation of the psychotrauma, the risk of suicidal behavior increases. When the intensity of "passions" in the child's soul subsides, the frequency of "wet" nights decreases.
We will treat or let live?
In medical practice, night and day incontinence in children is considered a side effect of immaturity of the nervous system. Therefore, doctors are often recommended to wait until the child himself "outgrows" this problem. But if the enuresis happens too often, or the child and his parents react to the fact of incontinence excessively violently, they start treatment, aimed mainly at normalizing the function of the nervous system and metabolism.
First of all, you need to adjust your diet and lifestyle. Milk and vegetable nutrition is preferred, with an abundance of fruits and a limited amount of liquid and salt. After 18-19 pm, drinks are completely excluded, especially tea and coffee. Good regular exercise classes, evening walks before bedtime are good for general health. If the child has less time to spend in front of the TV and computer, it will also benefit him.
Of great importance is also the improvement of the psychological microclimate in the family. The child does not have to be a witness of "fights" between the parents. The father and mother should serve as a positive role model, show their love, devote precious time and be patient.
From drugs for the treatment of a child with bedwetting the most widely used herbal remedies. With "nervousness", grasses with antidepressant (St. John's wort) and calming action (valerian, motherwort, cudweed) will work. A good general health effect has modern dietary supplements: finely dispersed wheat germ, malt and vegetable vitamin complexes with rosehip, red and black chokeberry. Of plants, the effect of which has not been confirmed by science, but has been used for centuries in the people for the treatment of enuresis, mention should be made of blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, blueberries, dill, croquets, and gold.
Sometimes pharmacological drugs are used: antidepressants amitriptyline and imipramine. In the case of psychological problems, family psychotherapy is shown, which is conducted not only with the child, but also with significant adults.