Question
How should I handle the issue of my five-year-old girl wetting the bed at night? What medications or health supplements should I use? I’ve heard that strengthening the spleen is important; is this correct? If so, what herbal remedies can you recommend?
Answer
Hello, bedwetting in children is known as enuresis. Children over three years old who cannot control their urination while sleeping and consequently wet the bed are suffering from habitual enuresis. This habit can weaken children, affecting their physical health and intellectual development. Frequent bedwetting can also bring inconvenience to the family. Bedwetting in children usually falls into two categories: functional and organic. Most cases of bedwetting are functional, caused by a dysfunction of the high-level centers in the cerebral cortex. Common reasons include psychological factors such as overexertion, stress, sudden shocks, fear and shyness, and not adapting to new environments, as well as not developing the habit of nighttime urination from a young age. A few cases of enuresis are caused by organic diseases such as spina bifida, myelitis, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, incomplete brain development, small bladder capacity, urinary tract infections, bladder stones, phimosis, anal fissure, and pinworm infection. For organic diseases, it is important to seek medical treatment promptly; once the disease is cured, enuresis will also heal accordingly. Functional enuresis can be cured; attention should be paid to the following points: first, parents should treat their child’s bedwetting issue correctly. Bedwetting is involuntary; parents should show sympathy, empathy, and support and never scold or punish their child.