Diet modification , which is especially helpful after dinnertime, involves the elimination of bladder irritants such as foods and drinks that contain caffeine. Children should eat, drink and void regularly during the day, abstain from drinking too much in the afternoon and evening, and experience relaxed routines at bedtime. Parents should monitor the child's foods and evening snacks for items that contain bladder irritants. Some children with an allergy to milk, for example, will improve their bed-wetting problem by eliminating afternoon and evening milk from their diets. It is also important to regulate a child's bowel function as most children with bladder problems also experience bowel disorders, usually constipation.
Behavioral therapy is the most often recommended treatment for bed-wetting.
The first step is to teach the child about normal bladder function in order to generate interest in his or her problem. The next step is bladder rehabilitation, with a goal toward increasing the amount the bladder can hold. The child is taught how to void in a relaxed position in order to empty the bladder completely. This is especially important in children who have any of the bladder disorders described in the Table. As treatment for most of these disorders, the child is taught how to relax the pelvic floor muscle.