How Food Can Cause Bed Wetting

Bedwetting is an occurrence that is embarrassing, awkward, and disturbing for both parents and children. This is a condition that mostly affects kids in the five-years-old range, but can also strike children as old as fifteen. When properly handled, bedwetting can be treated without future incident. There is no single cause leading to bedwetting, but there are many different factors that contribute to the act, including excessive drinking right before bedtime or a bladder infection.

Caffeine in Chocolate

Excessive urination can be caused by food high with caffeine, and in the case of most of the children, that is found in chocolate. Whether through hot cocoa or a bedtime treat, the caffeine found in chocolate stimulates the child's body, especially if the child already suffers from a sensitive bladder.

Soda & Other Drinks

There's just something about those bubbles that gets the body going and if you don't have a fully developed bladder to handle the carbonation, your child may be in for unpleasant results. This is also true with other drinks, such as Gatorade, which literally seems to run right through drinkers of all ages. Sometimes, doctors will suggest that you even cut down the amount of water that a child drinks throughout the day. While adults are encouraged to consume 64 ounces on a daily basis, your child really only needs about 50% of that.

Citrus Fruits

The water content within citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruits is quite high. Not only that, but the substantial levels of acid have been known to disrupt a sensitive bladder, causing the need to urinate in the middle of the night. When a bladder is not trained to respond to these urges, bedwetting occurs.

Spices

It is known that spicy foods increase the speed of the elimination process inside the body. Therefore, if your child insists on extra salsa on his taco, remember that the ingredients of that salsa contain spices, which usually contribute to bedwetting.

Food Allergens

There are a few common food items that have been known to create spasms within the bladder, which can lead to bedwetting. You're child may be having an allergic reaction to something they have eaten when a bedwetting occurrence like this arises. Food products that often trigger these nighttime events include corn, eggs, peanuts, wheat, dairy, and soy. Other types of foods to avoid just before bedtime are those that feature high doses of artificial colors, preservatives, and sweeteners.

What to Do

When it becomes hard to keep your child away from certain foods that may trigger their bedwetting, you might want to consider using a variety of behavioral techniques to encourage a better response. For children over the age of seven, a bedwetting alarm may be used. It has been known to produce positive results in a relatively high percentage of children. In younger kids, a reward system for keeping the bed dry may work, which encourages your child to avoid the foods that may trigger bedwetting. As the child gets older, when they are told to change their own wet bed sheets, they might try extra hard to avoid this chore by any means necessary.