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Bedwetting and Developmental Delays
How the Urinary System Works in Kids
By Beth Skarupa
When you're ready to go to the bathroom, the brain sends a message to the bladder muscles to tighten and the sphincter muscles to relax. This allows urine to flow out of the bladder and through the urethra to the outside of the body.
When we're babies, our bladders automatically empty once they become full. "Normal babies start out voiding essentially by reflex, regulated at the spinal level," says Dr. Lars Cisek, a pediatric urologist at Texas Children's Hospital. "Much like the reflex hammer tapping the knee, the bladder fills – that's the tap – and once perceived, the bladder contracts – that's the knee jerk."
As a child gets older and the nervous system develops, the reflex to empty the bladder is inhibited by input from the brain. This delays the knee jerk response and allows the bladder to fill and store more urine. The development of the nervous system also allows the child's brain to receive messages from the bladder wall tension via the spine so the child senses that his bladder is becoming full. The child then learns how to relax the inhibition and allow himself to urinate at the right time and place.
Normal maturation of all the parts of the nervous system is required for a child to be able to control urination. The ability to control the bladder at night is usually achieved after the child learns to stay dry during the day. Incontinence happens when the control mechanism of the urinary system fails for some reason. These reasons range from the simple to the complex.
Want to see more?
- Getting the Facts Straight About Bedwetting in Special Needs Kids
- Bedwetting and Special Needs Kids
- Dry Days Ahead Helping Special Needs Children Learn to Use the Toilet
- Absorbent Undergarments and Special Needs Children
- Words That Heal: Incontinence Solutions for Special Needs Kids
- Bedwetting and Summer Camp: Does Your Special Needs Child Have to Miss Out on All the Fun?
- Under Special Circumstances: Sleep Disorders and Bedwetting in Special Needs Children