We have restricted his water intake within reason a night, we make sure that he goes before he gets into bed and then we are getting him up approx every 4 hrs, taking him to the loo, he is weeing & unfortunately sometimes he is wet before we get up to him. We have tried the reward system...."if you stay dry for a week you will get something special" but this does not seem to give him any incentive.
We were just wondering if there was perhaps a link between the HFA and the bed wetting.
We both feel as tho he is just in a bad habit of relying on the night time pants.
And at this point int time we are both exhausted ( its been about 3 or 4 weeks) but do not want to go back to putting him into the night pants.
Hi T.D. – A number of studies have shown an increased risk of enuresis among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD – which includes HFA and Asperger Syndrome) with approximately 11% of children aged between 10 and 14 years experiencing the condition. Many of these children will outgrow bedwetting on their own however some will benefit from a more structured behavioural training program as is achieved through bedwetting conditioning alarms. Nighttime wetting typically happens when children are asleep and are not in conscious control over their bladder, which is why you are seeing different wetting patterns at night compared to day. While incentives work well during the day, they are largely ineffective at night due to the lack of conscious control. I often say to parents that it is a little like being offered $1000 to stop snoring – now no matter how much you want the money, you will continue to snore at night, the only way to stop yourself would be to stay awake, which is not particularly helpful to anyone. Given he is high functioning I would certainly look into introducing a conditioning alarm. Conditioning alarms work by helping your son learn to recognise the need to pass urine and either wake-up and go to the toilet or learn to hold on until morning. They come in two main forms. One is a body alarm with a small sensor that can be worn inside his DryNites. The second type of alarm is a bell and pad alarm that is placed like a mat over the bottom bed sheet of his bed. It may take a few weeks until he begins to respond to the alarm and can take up to 3 months to achieve continence. Ideally you should speak with your doctor before introducing this treatment as the more support and guidance you receive from a medical professional the better the outcome.
Regards,
Dr Cathrine
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