Clincial hypnotherapist, Lynda Hudson is
inundated with requests for help by exhausted parents whose children have yet
to become dry at night. She talked to LIFE AS IT IS about her work…
As a parent you may well be aware that children
over the age of six-years-old commonly wet the bed at night. But did you know
that their bodies have to produce an anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) before the
bladder is able to hold nocturnal urine? For some children, this happens as
late as age 12.
Enuresis (bed wetting) is only acknowledged as a
medical problem after a child has turned six years of age. And even then, if
you visit the doctor thinking it’s a problem, they will generally take a
relaxed stance.
A relaxed view is also required by parents at
this stage - although of course that’s easier said than done when having to
change bed sheets night after night. It is difficult for the child in question
too, who can easily feel inadequate – something Lynda says parents ought to be
aware of.
“Feeling like a failure is something I hear from
children a lot. Night after night of wetting, the child can feel that they are
letting parents down, as well as themselves. It’s good to be able to alert them
to the fact that bedwetting occurs commonly. And that a large percent of those
it happens to, have yet to physiologically develop in order to stay dry.”
HOW TO HELP AT HOME
Before attempting any night time training,
parents ought to have encouraged their child to employ good drinking
habits – to not drink after the evening mealtime (around 5pm) - other than a
few sips if required. Children should also be nudged to use the toilet prior to
heading off to sleep.
MEDICALLY SPEAKING
If the bedwetting habit is ongoing, Lynda would
emphasize that children need to be medically checked to rule out any organic
problems. She’s very strict about the parents need to support the treatment,
and that the child’s environment is safe and secure – after all, wetting the
bed is a natural response to any kind of abuse.
If it is that the ADH is not present, then the
child will have to wait for time to pass and nature to right itself. Either
that or the doctor can prescribe a drug to mimic the natural hormone the child
is lacking, which has the effect of reducing the amount of urine
produced. Although this drug is usually well tolerated, headaches, stomach
upsets and nausea have all been reported on occasion. Further to this, rather
frustratingly, bedwetting generally reoccurs when the drugs are stopped.
ALARM DEVICE
Some parents try bedwetting alarms. There are
various types, but all involve a sensor that activates an alarm the moment it
gets wet as the child begins to urinate. The theory is that the alarm wakes the
child who, over time, should become ‘conditioned’ to urinating and waking, and
eventually becomes trained to wake before beginning to wet the bed at all. One
of the dangers is that the child sleeps through the whole procedure while the
rest of the family wake!
ALTERNATIVE HELP
The good news is there are other avenues to
explore. Lynda has been helping children by using the technique of
hypnotherapy. She said, “Although I have not conducted a clinical trial, the
children I have seen have nearly always had a positive outcome and their
parents are very pleased to have found an answer which is natural and
safe.”
HYPNOTHERAPY: HOW IT WORKS
It’s a simple enough concept: An age appropriate
audio recording is played to the child every night at bedtime. Lynda uses a
repetitive technique to train the listener into conditioning their body to wake
them up at night to use the toilet, or indeed to hold their bladder muscles
tightly shut all night long. Lynda’s voice is incredibly soothing, her natural
rhythm dictating a state of relaxation. She explains, “I believe that habit and
mindset play important parts in perpetuating bedwetting and this is where
treatment with hypnosis can be particularly focused. The body gets into the
habit of relaxing all the muscles in sleep and not noticing and not responding
to signals that the bladder is full; this is particularly so in the case of deep
sleepers and many mothers report that their bedwetting children are very deep
sleepers indeed. Children who have had the problem for many years go to sleep
with the mindset that this is a problem over which they have no control and
their expectation is that they will wet the bed. It is all about changing
that.”
PULL UPS
And what about the children who have been
wearing night time pull-ups constantly for years? “If they wear protective
pants the body is kept comfortably warm and dry and this reinforces the lack of
need to control their bladder. It is essential for the body to learn the
difference between wet and dry and, generally speaking, I will only agree to
treat children where their parents will agree to protect the bed rather than
the child.”
LYNDA’S GOAL
Lynda wants to help children stay dry at night.
Her hypnotherapy aims to increase a child’s positivity and optimism, therefore
building their self-esteem and confidence, in turn helping them to take control
and learn a new process. A new habit where children will eventually notice the
bladder feeling full, and sleeping less deeply, be able to wake when necessary
to empty it. Empowering children and helping parents everywhere.
For more information, visit Lynda’s
website firstwayforward.com
This post first appeared here