Bedwetting is embarrassing but it can be treated

By Maria Endah Hulupi

JAKARTA (JP): Four-year-old Tonny sat sadly next to his bed. His mind was filled with turbulent thoughts when he woke up in the morning and learned that he had wet the bed. Again.

This was the second time this week... What would mother say about this... ? And he could not stand his sister teasing him.

The boy starred desperately at the soaked part of the bed but could do nothing. He recalled the last time he wet the bed - a few days ago - mother had warned him that if he did that again, he might not join a planned family trip to Puncak resort this weekend. There was already so much embarrassment and he could not imagine missing the good time at the weekend.

Bedwetting, or enuresis, is a common thing. It is described as involuntary discharge of urine, which is commonly suffered by children under the age of five years, nephrologist Taralan Tambunan of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital said over the weekend.

Despite its commonness, many people still have little understanding about the fact and thus have no adequate information about how to deal with the situation and treat their children, especially if the kids are over five years old.

Many parents often worry and they tend to express their disappointment and distress by making strong remarks, which only add to the children's suffering and embarrassment.

"In most cases, bedwetting is about 'delayed maturity' of the child's voiding organs and 90 percent of the children with the problem naturally recover," Taralan said.

Delayed maturity means that children acquire control of their voiding organs later than other children. These children can urinate in their pants at any time and anywhere, which creates frustration and embarrassment.

"Parents also need to trace their family history because the children of people who had similar problems during their childhood are more susceptible," he added.

Taralan advised parents to turn to doctors for professional opinions if at the age of six years their children still have the problem.

Doctors can treat the child's problems with medication, such as Inipramin, Oksbutinin or Desmopressin spray or they can provide counseling for distressed children.

However, he pointed out that good communication and warm relationships will help parents better understand the children's condition and about what makes them worry or become sad.

"Bedwetting might also reflect the children's unhappiness at home. That is why children coming from broken families and those having bad relationships with their mothers, might have a greater risk of suffering from enuresis," he said.

Taralan said parents must be sensible when facing the issue and need to maintain calmness to comfort their distressed children while still observing their growth.

"The children have already suffered enough embarrassment, that's why the parents role to help the children go through this problem is important," he added.

Taralan said the children could be trained to wake up and go to the toilet by using a bedwetting-alarm-system. It is a mattress which rings when the urine dampens its surface.

In Australia, the bedwetting-alarm-system is considered effective in helping children overcome the problem. "But at the cost of Rp 1 million, it is too expensive and is unaffordable for most parents here in Indonesia," he said.

He added that parents could help train their children to develop a simple but positive habit, by telling their children to go to the toilet before they go to bed.

"Parents could start doing this once the children reach the age of two years old. Such training is simple and cheap and it helps," Taralan said.

"However, if the problem persists, parents have to see a doctor."