A health expert has advised parents to desist from punishing bedwetting children.
Dr Abdurrazzaq Alege, a Consultant Paediatrician, at the Nephrology Division of the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina said bedwetting is neither the fault of the child nor the parent.
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He said the aftermath of punishing children may persist after the bedwetting stops.
According to the health expert, the child might develop:
i. Low self-esteem.
ii. Poor Academic Performance.
iii. Depression.
Alege said, “A very important thing for parents to know is that bedwetting is neither the fault of the child nor that of the parents.
“The aftermath of the abuse may persist even after the bedwetting resolves. The child may develop low self-esteem, depression and develop poor academic performance.
“Parents are strongly advised to desist from punishing or abusing children who bed wet but rather, they should provide all the necessary support to help them overcome the problem.”
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Alege also stressed the need to be concerned if a child who has attained bladder control for six months, starts bedwetting. He urged parents to be worried in the absence of the following reasons:
1. Obvious sickness.
2. Stress.
3. Physical abuse.
4. Sexual abuse.
5. Emotional abuse.
6. Neglect.
In a Chat with PUNCH HealthWise, Alege urged parents to support their children’s bedwetting by all means.
The health expert said that it behoves the parents of children to solve their bedwetting problem.
He advised them to look for the environmental causes rather than using lethal to correct the child.
Alege also revealed that bedwetting in children can be linked with emotional imbalance.
His words, “It majorly has to do with emotional imbalance. This could follow a traumatic experience as seen in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder such as sudden deprivation of loved ones, witnessing a devastating event e.g fire or road traffic accident.
“Others could be in form of abuse which could be physical, emotional, sexual abuse, or even neglect. This is more common in children with secondary forms of bedwetting.
“A parent should worry when a child who has previously attained bladder control for more than half a year suddenly starts bed-wetting without any obvious sickness.
“One should look around the home environment, playgroup as well as the school. Tell-tale signs could include withdrawal from activities, moody appearance, loss of appetite, or poor school performance.
“Where the abuse is perpetrated by the parents, it may be difficult to make a diagnosis on time. Therefore, the teacher also has a big role to play to unravel the problems.”
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Alege confirmed that bedwetting is a disease. He also affirmed that the disease is curable. The paediatrician pointed out that most bedwetting cases are resolved without any intervention.
“Lifestyle modification is usually tailored to advise on fluid intake and voiding (urinating) pattern.
“Fluid intake at night should be reduced generally. It is usually prudent to ask the child to urinate in the morning, at least twice during the school day, after school, at dinner time and just before turning out the lights and going to sleep,” the paediatrician said.
He, however, advised that psychological complications during bedwetting should be addressed.
Source: PUNCH HealthWise
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