by Joy Johnson

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: July 05, 2009

Bedwetting and Hypnosis


Primary Nocturnal Enuresis (Bedwetting)
The use of hypnosis as a treatment option


The Cause

The majority of children who have the problem of wetting the bed have nothing medically wrong with them. Pediatricians typically don't diagnose primary nocturnal enuresis until age 6, which appears to be an arbitrary cutoff. About 13% of kids still wet the bed at the age of 6. There are many factors which may play a part in bedwetting, rather than from one single cause. Psychological stress, such as birth of a sibling, divorce, the start of school, or transitions of any kind that the child feels stressed about etc., is believed to be a more common cause. Some key causes of Enuresis are the following:

Sleep Arousal Disorder

These children are thought to be deep sleepers or kids who are not easily roused from sleep when their parents try to wake them. There are sleep studies that suggest the wetting appears to occur in all stages of the sleep cycle.


Reaction to certain substances

Sometimes children have food sensitivities that contribute to the problem. Foods that contain caffeine and other known substances the child may be sensitive to should be eliminated.


Bladder Capacity

Some kids have small functional bladder capacity. They don't have as much warning of the need to urinate and they have a greater urgency as a result once they realize they need to go.


Increase in Urine Production

Typically at night, most people have a release of a hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin reduces the amount of urine that is produced. These children produce more urine and less vasopressin than their peers.


Irregular Bowel Movements

If the child has constipation or irregular bowel movements it can contribute to the problem because if the rectum is full, the bladder's expansion may be restricted, decreasing sensitivity to fullness of the bladder.


Possible Seizure Activity

Seizure activity can cause loss of bladder control. Your doctor may need to rule that out as a possibility.


Medication Side Effects

Some medications contribute to this problem. Review any medications your child is taking with your doctor.


A Genetic Link

Children whose parents were bedwetters have a 77% greater chance of having the issue, than other kids. It appears that children who have just one parent who had the issue as a child, have about a 44% chance of having it and a 15% chance for those with neither parent who had the issue as a child. A gene marker has been

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