Bed-wetting is the involuntary passage of urine during the night or day. Enuresis, the medical term for it, is fairly normal among preschoolers up to school-aged children. At this age, a child’s physical and emotional preparedness to maintain complete bladder control differs, especially at night while at sleep. In most cases, they have had this condition since birth and often have at least one close relative; it may either be a parent, uncle or aunt, who has had the same problem at about the same age as theirs. As a fact, about 5 to 7 million children wet their beds at night and it is more common among boys than girls. Many researchers consider Enuresis normal until the age of 6.

Enuresis has two classes; it can either be primary or secondary. A child having primary enuresis never established bladder control while with secondary enuresis, a child begins to wet after a prolonged dry period. Some children have both nocturnal (nighttime) and diurnal (daytime) enuresis.

Some of the causes of bed-wetting are as follows:

  • Genetic factors (the condition tends to run in families)
  • Having difficulties waking up from sleep
  • The development of the central nervous system is slower than normal which lessens the child’s ability to stop the bladder from emptying at night
  • Hormonal factors such as having not enough anti-diuretic hormone (hormones that lessens the amount of urine made by the kidneys)
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Abnormalities in the urethral valves (boys) or in the ureter (girls or boys)
  • Spinal cord abnormalities
  • Not being able to hold urine for a long time due to having a small bladder

If a child’s bed-wetting persists after the age of six, parents should seek evaluation and diagnosis from their family doctor or pediatrician. Naturally, a thorough medical history is established before diagnosis can be made by the doctor; followed by physical examination, laboratory tests (including urinalysis), and if needed, radiological studies as well (x-rays). When no medical and or physical problem is found, the parents together with the child may be given reassurance, more information and advices by the doctor; who may no longer recommend treatment. But when the problem is serious enough to require treatment, the doctor may recommend either standard or alternative treatments. Standard treatment include bladder training exercises, motivational therapy, drug therapy, psychotherapy, and diet therapy; while alternative treatments include massage, herbal and homeopathic remedies, and hypnosis.

To correct misconceptions, bed-wetting is not a mental or behavioral problem nor is it an abnormality in a child’s early stages of life. It does not occur because the child is too tired or slothful to get out of bed just to go to the bathroom. And definitely, children do not wet the bed intentionally nor to annoy their parents. Although preventing a child from wetting the bed may not always be possible, parents can observe certain procedures to help alleviate the situation. These steps include:

    reassuring your child that this condition will pass as he/she gets older.
  • let other family members know that this is not a matter to be ridiculed, no teasing should be allowed.
  • focusing more on encouraging and praising of the child’s staying dry.
  • reminding the child to urinate before going to bed.
  • limiting the child’s liquid intake before bedtime.

So if a child has enuresis, talking about it with the pediatrician or family doctor will help a lot in understanding it better. They can also give reassurances that the child is normal and that eventually children outgrow bed-wetting.

The issue of bedwetting causes problems for many families. There are a few good home remedies such as the Malem bedwetting alarm which can help your child get over bedwetting sooner than later.

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