Phone Numbers
Directory assistance
(203) 688-4242
Patient information
(203) 688-4177
Adult emergency
(203) 688-2222
Children's emergency
(203) 688-3333
Admitting
(203) 688-2221
Children's admitting
(203) 688-3331
Psychiatric admitting
(203) 688-9907
Bedwetting
Bedwetting or enuresis, as doctors call it, is common among young children.
As many as 15 to 20 percent of 5- and 6-year-olds and about 1
percent of adolescents experience bedwetting. It usually disappears between
the ages of six and eight as children's bladders grow larger and bladder
control improves. It becomes a concern when the bedwetting continues in
spite of efforts of the child to control it in girls over five or boys
over six. It occurs slightly more frequently in boys than girls.
What causes bedwetting?
In most cases, the cause of bedwetting is unknown. Some doctors attribute
it to small bladder size, which makes it difficult for a child to hold
a night's urine production. Some children are very deep sleepers. While
other children wake up when their bladders are full, deep-sleeping children
sleep through the impulse to get up and go to the bathroom.
In rare cases, there is an underlying illness such as a urinary
tract infection or diabetes. Bedwetting has nothing to do with how
a child was taught to use the toilet, so you should not feel guilty or
think you did something wrong during toilet-training.
What you can do
- Limit what the child drinks during two hours before bedtime.
- Have your child urinate just before sleep and remind him or her to get up in the night to urinate. Keeping a night light on or providing a bedside potty chair may help.
- Protect your child's mattress with a heavy plastic cover and dress your child in extra-thick underwear and pajamas. Discontinue diapers or plastic pants by age four since they may interfere with the motivation to improve.
- Don't punish or embarrass your child if he or she has an "accident." Instead praise dry nights.
- Try an alarm device if you suspect your child is an exceptionally heavy sleeper. These devices have a sensor that detects moisture; an alarm is triggered by the first drop of wetness. In many cases, the child begins to associate the need to urinate with the sound of the alarm and will wake up to avoid setting it off.
- Ask your doctor about bladder-stretching exercises.
- Remember, bedwetting almost always goes away by itself.
Call the doctor when:
- Your child has pain or burning when urinating or must strain to produce urine.
- Bedwetting becomes more frequent and severe even after home treatments are tried.
- Your child soils his underwear or if bedwetting occurs with bowel movements after age three.
- Your child begins bedwetting after age six after a long period of being dry.
Learn more
• YNHH Health Library: Bedwetting (enuresis)
Reviewed: Robert LaCamera, MD
Last revised: Jan. 8, 2008 (dh)
