CBT for Bedwetting?

pigpen

I was just wondering if anyone had tried CBT for bedwetting teens and what the success rate was like?

I just had a revelation about trying it possibly for my daughter, but I don't want it to be another waste of time like the 4 years we spent going to enuretic clinic (we were discharged when the nurse decided it was a waste of everyones time because we were making no progress at all). I intend speaking to the school nurse next week regardless and see what she suggests.

She also has other behaviours we need to change, stealing for a start (money to a lesser degree, sweets and sweet food items mainly)

Tinks32

I can completely relate to what you are going through as my son who is 14 has had a significant bet wetting problem. It has got a lot better in the last year, but since he was a baby he only had 1 dry night every 6 months. Now it is only occasionally that he wets the bed. We found its better to keep him hydrated throughout the day and maybe stop drinking around 3 hours before bedtime.Stay away from fizzy drinks, blackcurrant and artificially sweetened drinks. I do think there is a link to emotions and bed wetting and I think CBT will make a difference, but your daughter will have to be a willing participant, and if she is anything like my son who is very embarrassed about it, and thinks he is tempting fate even thinking or speaking about it then you might have a difficult time on your hands!
Another thing we tried with huge amounts of success was reflexology, we were recommended a very old Chinese lady, who was fab but in the end my son said he didn't want to carry on with the treatment.
Good luck

Alikay

Has your DD been assessed for any learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder or anything else which might cause developmental delays in certain specific areas? I wouldn't think CBT would be worth trying until they'd been discounted.

Firefly

It would be interesting to ask why she was dropped from the enuresis clinic rather than being referred up the ladder to a different part of the service that cold help. A year without progress means that something different should be tried rather than leaving the problem to persist.

I would be asking for a full assessment on her needs and behaviours - start with the GP but please don't take no for an answer. There are systems in place that support young people in this situation and they need to kick in to place for your daughter.

Good luck.

pigpen

We went to clinic for 4 years with a years break in the middle. There isn't a 'next step' apparently, though they claimed to have referred her to urology but it later transpired they didn't because they reckoned it is a 'behavioural' issue rather than a physical issue. 3 referrals have been sent to CAMHS with no response.. which is quite usual here. This is as far as I have got with the GP.. I take her they say 'we'll send another referral'..

re the drinks.. we got her juice just for her, mixed up a bottle of the required daily amount and said she could help herself/filled her a sports bottle which was kept full all day so she could just keep drinking.. yet she rarely drank more than 3 beakers.. yet I am sure she wee'd out at least 20 beakers!! She had medication, which helped stop the day time wetting, and an alarm which woke everyone in the street but her. We had charts and rewards and she was more demoralised by those than anything else, in the end I refused to use them.. the nurse was saying she had no control over her bladder when asleep so it was like she was being punished for having no control when she woke up wet. We've not had a dry night yet this year.. she is 12.5 and will be having periods soon and I don't know how to handle that .. st's in the pullup??

She has been assessed for allsorts with nothing coming up other than she has behavioural issues.. not very helpful.

The problem is.. she doesn't care, she seems to enjoy being wet (has wet as she got into bed rather than go to the loo, is happy to leave wet pullup on in a morning! :eek:) When we got the alarm she said 'that won't work I like being wet'

She will go to bed in wet sheets from the night before.. I NEVER tell her off for wetting but this is 1 thing I do tell her off for.. and for leaving wet pullups on the bedroom floor.. She is asked to remove a wet sheet and bring it to be washed and has a bin designated for her wet pullup.. it is not too much to expect at her age.

I am just at a loss now but was reading CBT works on teens with behavioural issues and if this is a behaviour thing then is it worth the time out of school?

At the moment we have had no input for over 2 years and there hasn't been any change at all. She is costing me a fortune in pullups .. she often wears 2 a night! and the washing and new duvets and pillows.

Tinks32

Sounds exactly like us!
I think your daughter and my son put a front on, they are so disappointed in themselves they sort of expect to do nothing else. Just like an alcoholic thinks they don't have a choice in stopping drinking. They are lacking confidence in their bodies.
I personally think my son has a sleeping disorder, He just cannot be woken, (when I manage to he becomes extremely violent and aggressive and acts really out of character) that affects his ability to wake up when he needs to go. We do as a family have a history of sleep-walking and sleep eating, and weeing in strange places whilst we are asleep his dads family do too! He never wakes up when he vomits either, which is really worrying, it use to petrify me when he was smaller.. I did mention this to all the health professionals but they never really listened. Just ride with it and try not to let her attitude get to you, i will find the link to some great sheets that I recently bought, we gave up on pull-ups along time ago as they didn't help that much because they as soon as he wet in then he would take them off, then wet again on the bed sheets! I also noticed that my son doesn't just wet once, it will often be a couple of times a night and I really think that when he goes to sleep he sort of falls into a really deep sleep , which is coma like, so loses the ability to control any bodily function accept breathing!

suki1001

I started to wet the bed when I was 11, I hated it - it was so embarrassing. Especially at sleepovers. As far as I can remember it stemmed from a fear of being told off at waking everyone up at night. Specifically one night when i stayed in my aunts house, woke up one night and couldn't find the bathroom and ran around in the dark trying to find the bathroom. By the time I found it, I realised to my horror that the lid was down and I'd wee'ed on the fluffy toliet seat cover. My aunt knew someone had done it, but I was too scared to admit it because I was the oldest and felt so stupid and she was cross.
Once I got into the habit it was very difficult to break, because you have to retrain your bladder. I think I'd have been an ideal candidate for cbt, they just didn't do it back then. I can't remember how it stopped.

However, everyone has different reasons, so I'm sorry I can't offer you any advice.
The best way for me was people making as little fuss as possible. A plastic sheet was okay, but if I'd have had to have worn pullups, it would have just made me feel really bad I think, when your're at that age you're trying to grow up. My mum and dr were very good at reassuring me it was like a bladder infection and I think that helped.

Tinks32

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Terry-Towel-Waterproof-Fitted-Sheet-Mattress-Protector-Luxury-Bed-Pillow-Cover-/130705314784?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Duvets_Pillows_Toppers&var=&hash=item1e6ea4d3e0
I bought 2, one for off and one for on, they dry really quickly too.

pigpen

She wets through them all and the plastic dissolves and welds to the mattress.. we have one for people with disabilities which we just wipe over with a flash wipe and redress the bed.. it doesn't crinkle or anything which is nice.

She is quite happy wearing a pullup to bed at sleepovers .. which is a good thing or she wouldn't be able to go. She puts them in a bag and outside in their bin. Her friends mums are made aware this is what she does and they don't usually mention anything to her.

Alikay

pigpen wrote: »

The problem is.. she doesn't care, she seems to enjoy being wet (has wet as she got into bed rather than go to the loo, is happy to leave wet pullup on in a morning! :eek:) When we got the alarm she said 'that won't work I like being wet'

As CBT needs the subject to be fully engaged for it to work, I'd say it doesn't look too hopeful as your DD isn't too fussed by the wetting. Could you try incentivising keeping dry - say putting her in charge of her pull-up budget, or do you think she'd see this as a punishment for possible failure rather than a reward for success?

One of my foster children used to do the sitting around in wet pull-ups thing each morning and I found it infuriating:(. She would respond to star chart if it ended in a cash or sweets reward after a given number of stars: If there was no direct treat, praise wasn't enough and she'd instantly revert to the undesirable behaviour. However, she had real issues with control and I'm sure that's not the case with your DD pigpen

z.n

Just in case, I knew of a boy about this age who would regularly wet the bed. It transpired that he had a form of epilepsy that could be triggered by a flash of light or sudden drop into dark. The only external signs were an apparent refusal to turn off tv and come for dinner/do a chore etc. No dramatic fits or anything- he just seemed a bit dreamy sometimes. It was only diagnosed when he was into his teens.