Bedwetting

[JimomAambe]

I am wondering whether anyone has any experience with bladder control and diet? I have an acquaintance whose son is nearly five and seems to sleep so deeply that he wets his bed every night. He wears a pull up, but manages to fill it over full so he wakes every morning wet and smelly poor lad. He is not unduly concerned by it, nor are his parents, but they are beginning to wonder whether there is some physiological connection they are missing. I suggested they talk to a cranio-sacral osteopath, but I wonder if anyone else had any diet related information to impart! Cheers.

[Mini]

Avoiding caffeine, carbonated beverages, citrus products and foods containing high concentrations of vitamin C can help to improve bladder control.

EFT/'Taping' can also be very helpful for bed wetting:

http://www.eftuniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292:a-successful-bedwetting-case&catid=9:children-adolescents&Itemid=514

How to use EFT with children is explained, with many examples, at:

http://www.eftuniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=9&Itemid=3137

[Suzie]

Hi JimomAambe -

Only just noticed your post and wondering how you are getting on.

If this is of any help - my son continued to wet his bed until he was 11..... Absolutely no apparent cause. He had been sort of dairy (I think really lactose) sensitive when he was a baby but taking him off dairy products seemed to make no difference. However, although I cannot prove it I think that his problem was definitely food related.

He absolutely adored raw vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, carrots and cucumber - and and would hoover up three of four of each every afternoon when he came home from school. (As you may know, both carrots and peppers are part of the solanacae family which also includes potatoes, aubergines, chillis - and tobacco - and which is a quite common allergen.) Everyone knew that he loved them so when he want to stay with cousins/friends their parents always had lots ready for him - only too delighted as it encouraged their own children to eat more veg!!

However, light started to dawn when he went on a five day school trip - on which nothing fresher that a chip was on offer - and didn't wet the bed once. As soon as he got home he made up for lost time by consuming a fridge full and - hey presto - soaked bed that night!

He stopped eating all solanacae veg for about six months - the bedwetting ceased to be a problem. He then started eating them again - but in much more restrained quantities - and never had any further problems.

Your son is still quite young but if it does continue to be a problem, you might want to do a little bit of dietary experimentation. Taking him of any of his normal foods (even staples such a dairy or wheat) just for a couple of weeks is not going to do him any harm and you might find out something useful.