My son,9, was toilet trained early but keeps regessing over the last two years. I have read that certain foods interfere with the hormone vasopressin but can,t find any information on what types other than caffeine. I didn't realize milo was caffeine so have stopped that but is there any others.I was told preservatives as well but what ones. He wakes up as soon as he wets so we thought he would be easy to treat but it is getting worse. His behaviour is also getting worse and you wonder if something is contributing.
Hi Jacinta – it is true that some children who wet the bed benefit from restricting certain foods from their diet. It is important to keep in mind however that bedwetting can be caused from a number of factors – diet is only one of them. There are a number of ways you can try and determine whether food intolerances are contributing to his bedwetting. The easiest (and safest) approach would be to visit your GP or a Naturopath. They may recommend you begin an elimination diet, removing all foods from his diet that could be affecting his bedwetting, then carefully reintroducing the foods, one at a time. Foods that have been linked with increased urine production include products that contain caffeine such as chocolate and fizzy drinks, as well as fruit juices containing citrus. Dairy foods can also irritate the lining of the bladder, causing bedwetting. Some artificial colours or preservatives can also contribute to children’s bedwetting – there was a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health back in 2002 which pointed to Calcium Propionate an additive commonly found in bread as causing bedwetting in a subset of children. It is certainly worth having his diet investigated as food intolerances have also been found to contribute to behavioural problems and attentional difficulties.
Regards,
Dr Cathrine
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