Really, is there something I can do to help my child not have accidents or wet the bed?
YES!! Pelvic floor physical therapy can help your child if they accidentally pee their pants during the day or wake up wet in the morning.
First, it is important that we take out the word accident. Accident adds shame and blame to the child. Correct me where I am wrong, but I don’t think anyone would actively decide to pee their pants to be made fun of. Children are able to LEARN how to control their bladders, but sometimes they need help. IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT!
It is not normal for children to pee in their pants after the age of 4 or to wet the bed after the age of 8. Some children need help knowing what it feels like to need to use the toilet. Some children need help knowing when to wake up to go to the bathroom.
Yes, it is true that by the time your child is 18 they will not be peeing in their pants (most of the time) and they will wake up dry (most nights). However, kids who are in school deal with a lot of shame and embarrassment if they wet their pants in front of their peers or they cannot participate in sleepovers because they are afraid they might pee the bed. The embarrassment and shame they experience can affect the way they interact with their world. Which is why it is important that you help them by getting them to a pelvic floor physical therapist.
Pelvic floor physical therapy looks VERY different for children than adults. We DO NOT do any internal work on children, unless their complaint is not being able to insert a tampon. And even then, we need both parents to sign off on it as well as the child.
Pelvic floor physical therapy for wetting their pants during the day and wetting the bed at night consists of a lot of education to both the child and the parents. It also consists of looking at daily routines and habits such as what food and liquid does the child take in during the day and what time.
Most of the time, the first pelvic floor PT session with a child consists of teaching the child where their bladder is and how it works. Then, we look at their posture and how they breathe. If the child is comfortable with us looking at their core strength and the way the pelvic floor muscles work, we will do that too. Then we go over how to fill out a bladder diary so we can get a better idea of what the child is eating, drinking and when the child is going to the bathroom during the day.
CONSENT is our number 1 priority. if we do not have the child’s consent, we will not be doing anything they do not want us to do. It is also important that the child understands why they are coming to PT. If they don’t understand or they don’t want to be there, it is hard to get them to do their PT homework. If the child is able to do their homework, they will have success with our program and they will have less incidents of peeing their pants and wetting the bed.
Our job is to make PT fun and enjoyable for both the child and the parents.
We work with children 4 and older if they are wetting their pants during the day and children older than 5 if they are waking up wet after sleeping.
Pelvic floor PT can also help children if they have difficulty pooping (PTs can work with babies on this), teenagers who have a difficult time using a tampon or painful periods, kids with unknown abdominal pain or poor pelvic control.
