Bedwetting - it needn't be a Nightmare!

Bed wetting is the involuntary release of urine during the night when the child is asleep which can occur until age eight, can be sporadic or persistent and follows no obvious pattern.  Most doctors will not get concerned about it after the age of eight.  They may check to see if there is any infection but won't do anything further until over this age.

• PNE or Primary Nocturnal Enuresis refers to children who have never been able to stay dry over night.
• SNE or Secondary Enuresis refers to children who seem to have dry spells and wet spells.

There can be many reasons why children wet the bed:-

• Anxiety - a stressful situation or worries can cause bed-wetting; significant changes to routine, such as starting a new play setting or school, or perhaps family tensions can lead to stress
• Hormones - new research has found that children who wet the bed are more inclined to have a lack of the anti-diuretic hormone; they produces an excess of urine
• Bladder control not being fully developed
• Predisposition - children of parents who wet the bed are more likely to wet the bed themselves
• Drinking too much - some children simply drink too much before bed and the bladder gets too full to hold

What Can You Do?

• Reassure as often as you can
• You could ask them to help change the bedding to give them the feeling that they are helping and in control of the situation
• Reduce the amount they drink late in the evening and drink more during the day
• Don't make a fuss if they do wet the bed when clearing up
• Don't punish them if they wet the bed or embarrass them
• Try to get to the bottom on any worries or concerns

Don't worry too much!

• 15% of children wet the bed
• 45% of children with a parent who has also had the condition wets the bed, rising to 75% of if both parents also wet the bed.

There's nothing to be too concerned about!  Just make sure you have a supply of clean sheets at the ready and protect the mattress with a waterproof sheet so the bed is not ruined.