BEDWETTING

. Bedwetting, also called nocturnal enuresis, is a common childhood condition. Bedwetting means that a child is not able to stay dry as they sleep. We generally refer to it as bedwetting when the child is 6 years of age and older. Chances are that most people with a child who wets the bed are not talking about it with their friends and family. Although we know that so many children that wet the bed are not doing it on purpose, for attention, or are being lazy, people still rarely talk about it. That means that you might not hear about other children having this problem. But 1 out of 7 children wet the bed at 5 years of age. By 10 years of age, only one out of 20 children still wet the bed. That means that every year about 15% of those kids that are bedwetting will become dry. Only 1 in 250 adults still have bedwetting issues. Bedwetting is felt to be related to a number of things. Some of these children have a small bladder (where you hold your urine) size compared to other kids their age. Some of these children have such a deep sleep that they could sleep through practically anything, including their bladder telling them it is time to use the bathroom. Also, a number of these children make more urine over night than others. All of these issues get better with time. Bedwetting often runs in families. A child has a 1 in 2 chance of bedwetting if one parent wet the bed. About 7 out of 10 children who wet the bed have a family member who wet the bed. How long (to what age) a parent or family member wet the bed seems to effect how long the child wets the bed. About 3 out of 4 times when someone becomes dry, they are dry because they simply hold their urine over night. Only about 1 out of 4 times does someone only stay dry overnight by getting up to go to the bathroom. Once a child goes from never being dry to having a few dry nights a month you are heading in the right direction. Be patient!