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Why does bedwetting happen?

Copywrite from Parenting SA

Bedwetting is sometimes called enuresis. Childhood bedwetting happens in many families. While a lot of children grow out of wetting the bed by the time they start school, many children of primary school age still wet the bed. Most children stop daytime wetting by about three years of age and wetting at night by the time they are five, although most preschoolers have ‘accidents’ from time to time. Until the age of ten, about one in every ten children wet the bed. That means that if your child wets the bed she is probably not the only one in her class at school or amongst her friends who is wetting.

Why does bedwetting happen?

Bedwetting is nobody’s fault. It is not caused by laziness or seeking attention. It is something which
the child has no control over.

• Bedwetting is sometimes to do with delayed control of the bladder muscle.
• Just as some children do their growing later than others, some get control over their bladder later than others.
• Some children produce more urine (wee) at night than others, due to hormones.
• Children who wet the bed may have bladders which cannot hold a large amount of urine.
• Occasionally bedwetting can be due to a medical problem and it is wise to have this checked out with the doctor.
• Children who wet the bed sometimes seem to sleep more heavily and be harder to wake than other children.
• Often bedwetting runs in the family and you may find that dad, mum, uncle or aunt used to wet the bed and may still have to get up at night to go to the toilet.
• Sometimes children who wet the bed are dry when sleeping in a strange place. This may be because when they are a bit worried about sleeping in a strange place, they sleep more lightly for the first few nights. When they are at home again and relaxed they often wet the bed again.

Some children who have been dry might start wetting the bed again if something happens to make them very stressed, for example, family break-up or starting school, or if they are not well. In this case the bedwetting will usually stop when the child begins to feel more secure. If a child who has been dry starts to wet the bed again it is important to have a medical check-up if there is any infection or other health problem.

What parents can do

• Children need to have five or six drinks every day. Soft drinks that contain caffeine are not a good idea because they increase the amount of urine produced and children need to go to the toilet more often.
• Reassure children that bedwetting is normal, there is nothing to be ashamed about, and they will grow out of it in time. It can be very helpful for them to know if someone else in the family used to wet the bed.
• Explain to your child simply some of the reasons for bedwetting. For example ‘While you are asleep your brain isn’t getting the message that you need to go to the toilet and so you don’t wake up’. Or you could say ‘Your bladder, where your wee is stored, hasn’t grown enough yet to hold all the wee through the night, but this will change as your body grows’.
• If the bedwetting seems to be because of stress or worries, do what you can to make your child feel better. Let her know that the bedwetting will stop in time so that this doesn’t become an added worry.
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