Many children need to empty their bladders using a catheter. Some have had accidents, but the vast majority of them were born with spina bifida. For them, CIC is the simplest and most gentle way to empty their bladders.
Gunilla Tibbelin has worked at the Child and Adolescent Habilitation Services centre in Lund, Sweden for many years. Here she shares her experience of children and CIC.
Make the CIC occasions fun
How do you teach your child to empty his/her bladder using CIC? Well, this is a lengthy process, which requires both time and patience. Of course, it also requires the ability to learn new things and a certain nimbleness of the hands and fingers.
It all starts when your child is a baby lying on the changing mat for catheterisation. At that moment, you should try to arouse your child's interest in its own body and especially for those parts of the body with reduced feeling. This way, you increase your child's body awareness and teach them to like their body.
Name the body parts, invent word games, kiss the small feet, allow the child to feel their own body with their own hands. This also makes the CIC occasion more fun.