Bedwetting - What is it?

Bedwetting is when your child passes urine at night while asleep.

Most children stop wetting the bed eventually without any treatment. Bedwetting is common in children aged 5 and older.[1]

There are two types of bedwetting.

When your child has never been dry at night. This is the most common type.
When your child starts wetting the bed after being dry for a time. This kind of bedwetting isn't so common. It might happen if your child is stressed or fearful. This may be because of bullying at school or problems at home. But often no one knows why it happens.

Most children wet the bed only at night and stay dry during the day. There isn't usually a serious medical reason. But some children have a problem or illness that makes them wet the bed. This might be an infection or an abnormality in their urinary tract (the part of your body that carries the urine from your kidneys through your bladder and out of your body). Or they might have diabetes.

Doctors don't know why children wet the bed at night. Bedwetting is probably linked to many things, such as:[2]

The genes passed down to a child from their parents (many children who wet the bed have a relative who did so too)
Stressful things happening when your child is very young
Your child's bladder being only able to hold a small amount of urine
Your child maybe not having enough of a hormone called antidiuretic hormone (you make more urine if you don't have enough of this hormone)
Your child maybe not recognising when their bladder is full.

Some things can increase the chances of your child wetting the bed.[3]

Feeling stressed. Your child might be feeling stressed due to bullying or other problems at home or at school.
Being constipated. If your child is constipated, the stools (faeces) in their rectum may press on their bladder so that your child needs to urinate more.
Having drinks and foods that contain caffeine. These include cola, chocolate, tea and coffee. Caffeine causes you to make more urine.

References

Forsythe WI, Butler R. 50 years of enuretic alarms; a review of the literature. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1991; 64: 879-885.
Evans J. Evidence based management of nocturnal enuresis. BMJ. 2001; 323: 1167-1169.
Glazener CM, Evans JH, Peto RE. Alarm interventions for nocturnal enuresis in children (Cochrane review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2007. Wiley, Chichester, UK.

Glossary

infection: You get an infection when an organism, such as a bacterium, a fungus or a virus gets into a part of your body where it shouldn't be. For example, an infection in your nose and airways causes the common cold. An infection in your skin can cause rashes such as athlete's foot. The organisms that cause infections are so tiny that you can't see them without a microscope.
kidney: Your kidneys are organs that filter your blood to make urine. You have two kidneys, on either side of your body. They are underneath your ribcage, near your back.
bladder: Your bladder is the hollow organ at the top of your pelvis that stores urine. It is similar to a balloon, only with stronger walls. It fills up with urine until you go to the toilet.
diabetes: Diabetes is a condition that causes too much sugar (glucose) to circulate in the blood. It happens when the body stops making a hormone called insulin (type 1 diabetes) or when insulin stops working (type 2 diabetes).
genes: Your genes are the parts of your cells that contain instructions for how your body works. Genes are found on chromosomes, structures that sit in the nucleus at the middle of each of your cells. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in your normal cells, each of which has thousands of genes. You get one set of chromosomes, and all of the genes that are on them, from each of your parents.
hormones: Hormones are chemicals that are made in certain parts of the body. They travel through the bloodstream and have an effect on other parts of the body. For example, the female sex hormone oestrogen is made in a woman's ovaries. Oestrogen has many different effects on a woman's body. It makes the breasts grow at puberty and helps control periods. It is also needed to get pregnant.
constipated: When you're constipated, you have difficulty passing stools (faeces). Your bowel movements may be dry and hard. You may have fewer bowel movements than usual, and it may be a strain when you try to go.
rectum: The rectum is the last 15 to 20 centimetres (six to eight inches) of the large intestine, ending with the anus (where you empty your bowels from).

This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.