Common Concerns

Do you have concerns about bed-wetting, bullying, or newborn screening? We have compiled some information on this page to answer your questions.

Hot Topics

Bed-Wetting

It is not uncommon for a child to wet at night after they are potty-trained, but he or she does need to see the pediatrician to make sure it is just normal bed-wetting.  There are some important facts that your physician will need to know: Is it every night?  Is there any discomfort or burning?  Is there a history of urinary tract infections? Is there a family history of bed-wetting?  We should always get a urine specimen to rule out infection.  Then, we can determine whether it is “run-of-the-mill” bed-wetting.

Bed-wetting usually runs in families and your child will stop sometime around the same time as others who wet in the family stopped.  Meanwhile, there are a few things you can do to make life easier for the bed-wetter and the parents.  There is a pill that your pediatrician can prescribe that is a replacement for the hormone the child is not quite making yet but will.  Your pediatrician will determine if this is a good step for your child, as not every child is a good candidate for this medication. Also, there are alarms to train the bladder and brain to work together to wake the child up when the bladder feels full.  These are best implemented after age 6 because most children are starting to have dry nights by 6 years of age.

For bed-wetting, alarms, sheets, and other resources, try these web sites...

Bullying

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me... But they do. Bullying is a problem that goes under the radar because kids do not talk about it or may be afraid, and they don't want to get in trouble by telling anyone. Generally, children will have some outward signs of trouble, such as: their grades fall; they don't like going to school suddenly; they are sad, quiet, have stomach aches that keep them from wanting to go to school; they can't sleep; they have nightmares; the school nurse is calling because of daily headaches. If you suspect some trouble and cannot get the information from your child, bring them to see us to rule out a physical problem, and then we can all discuss ways to handle the bullying.

A top-notch web site with a plan to empower the kids to stop being bullied is Bullies to Buddies, written by a school psychologist from New York. He tells why bullies pick on some kids and how to handle it. It is great!!!! Don't leave it up to your school to teach your child how to deal with it because they usually advocate telling someone which backfires because it is “tattle-telling.” Other websites for more information are Bully Busters (for parents) and Stop Bullying Now (for parents and children).

Newborn Screening

Newborn screening is a nationwide procedure in which each state has a panel of blood tests that it does after the baby is born to diagnose problems like sickle cell disease, inborn errors of metabolism—things that can be fixed now with dietary restrictions or medications. Georgia has several that we test for, including hypothyroidism and PKU (phenylketonuria). All of these can cause devastating problems. Most of them cause mental retardation, liver problems, or eye problems.

For more information, visit these web sites: