Bedwetting & Bladder Control and Primitive Reflexes

It’s rare that people come to me solely with bladder issues for their children (or themselves) but it’s an important subject that can make life unnecessarily difficult. People usually come to me with issues around focus, attention, behavioural problems, sensory processing difficulties or anxiety. However, the number of problems that retained primitive reflexes can cause is very long! And one of these is problems around bedwetting, bladder control generally and in some cases bowel problems.

The culprit is a primitive reflex called the Spinal Galant Reflex. It runs either side of the lower spine and when it’s retained it creates all sorts of problems. If you’re new to the concept of primitive reflexes, let me explain. Primitive reflexes are automatic movement patterns that all babies make, or should make, as part of their development. The majority of reflexes start in the womb to aid development, and finish their journey after the baby is born. Many are associated with the birthing process, and after birth their job is to help the baby move, find food and eventually stand up and walk. If they aren’t able to complete the movements successfully, or enough to create the next stage, these reflex movements remain active, unintegrated or are retained in the system (all of these terms mean the same thing). Ideally they should integrate into the central nervous system by age 2 and then lie dormant. The reasons that they don’t integrate can be many, previous reflexes not integrating properly, lack of movement in the womb, interference during birth, lack of movement after birth and a genetic predisposition are probably the most common..

So let’s get back to our Spinal Galant. When in the womb this reflex helps the baby develop side to side movement and it also helps conduct sound to the brain while the ears are full of fluid. During birth, as the baby descends the birth canal, pressure on the lower spine will cause the baby’s hip and shoulder to twist towards each other, one side, then the other. This allows the baby to wriggle down the birth canal to be born. If this process doesn’t happen, or baby is born too fast, or previous reflexes are still active, then this reflex remains active. You can check to see if the reflex is active by running the back of your thumb nail either side of the spine, about 3 cms away from the spine itself. You may see a big twist of the shoulder and hip moving together or you may just see a little twitch or your subject may collapse on the floor in fits of laughter or they may need to run to the loo in a panic!

Triggering the Spinal Galant reflex can cause the bladder to release and this is what happens with late bedwetters. While the child is sleeping, if the bedcovers or bedclothes brush against the Spinal Galant area of the spine, the bladder will release. This is incredibly frustrating for everyone involved, parents obtain expensive alarms or give their child medication to prevent it from happening when all they need to do is to work on encouraging the reflex to integrate. The Spinal Galant can also cause problems during the day with control of the bladder and sometimes control of the bowels as well. I was once running a training and we did some movement work on the Spinal Galant. The next day one of my lady students came in and proudly announced that she had sneezed the previous evening, and not wet herself - for the first time in 30 years!

As well as affecting bladder and sometimes bowels, the Spinal Galant can interfere with the ability to listen - the spine tries to continue sending sound to the brain in competition with the ears, causing overload. This can create auditory processing problems. It will also interfere with the ability to be still, causing a person to be constantly fidgeting, problems with sitting in their chair and being overly chatty, giggly and very ticklish.

If this affects someone you know, then get in touch for a

or if you’re not local to me here in Berkshire, ask around for recommendations for a reflex integration therapist or neurodevelopment therapist.

If you would like to come along and learn more about the fascinating world of primitive reflexes, I run a two day course An Introduction to Primitive Reflexes. Details are via this link https://www.organisedmind.co.uk/primitive-reflex-integration-training-uk