Bedwetting and Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by Smart

As a parent with a bedwetting child, you must have heard of many reasons, why your child is wetting at the bed. Most of these bedwetting causes will resolve on their own with time and patience. Everyone produces a hormone known as the antidiuretic hormone or ADH, which is responsible for telling the body when to slow down the production of urine at night. The antidiuretic hormone is made by nerves in the hypothalamus part of the brain. Although rare, but lack of antiduretic or vasopressin hormone can cause bedwetting in children.  The hormone is produced when the body tries to conserve water, and is released by pituitary gland at the base of the brain.

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

ADH is basically responsible for slowing down the urine production overnight. Human body is naturally has raised level of vasopressin and that’s why most people can sleep through the night without having to wake up to urinate at night. The reduced level of urine allows a normal bladder to hold urine at night.

However, when a child lacks ADH, the body doesn’t slow down urine production, which results in child what is known as bedwetting or nocturnal enuresis. when they go to sleep, since the levels of the hormone drop, and the brain does not inform the bladder that it is full the bladder overflows without waking your child. According to Urology Care Foundation, in these cases, “children may produce huge amounts of urine each day (often 6 liters or more). As a result, they need to drink often during the day and night.

DDAVP

DDAVP is a synthetic copy of this hormone. It doesn’t cure bedwetting, but it does treat the symptoms. DDAVP basically works to reduce the production of urine at night. According to National Kidney Foundation, children with normal bladder capacity respond better than those with small bladders.

The medicine is available as a tablet and nasal spray, and can be handy for special occasion such as sleepovers or camps. Drug therapy does not work for everyone, and these medications can have significant side effects. Talk to your child’s doctor to determine if drug therapy is right for your child.

It may take some more time for your child’s brain to mature and begin producing an appropriate level of antidiuretic hormone. You have another best option that make your child  recognize their own body’s signals and not get up in wet bed. Use a bedwetting alarm to stop nighttime bedwetting in your child permanently in few weeks. The alarm senses the first drop of urine and alerts your child with loud noise so he/she wakes up and use the bathroom to empty his/her bladder. Slowly it develops the brain and bladder connection and your child gets up before the alarm alerts. You can choose from a wearable bedwetting alarm or bedside bedwetting alarm according to your child’s preference.