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Bedwetting (enuresis)
What is bedwetting?
Are the causes emotional?
Does bedwetting run in families?
Does bedwetting always need to be treated?
Do children outgrow bedwetting?
What else can I do?
What is bedwetting?

Bedwetting is when a child urinates (pees) during his sleep without knowing it, at an age when this would not usually happen. In most cases, bedwetting usually stops between the ages of 5 and 6 years. It’s also called nocturnal (during the night) enuresis.

Are the causes emotional?

No. If a child has always wet the bed and has never gone more than six months with dry sleep, the cause is most likely related to deep sleep. Other reasons may be that your child has a small bladder or produces more urine during the night.

Does bedwetting run in families?

Yes. If one parent wet the bed as a child, their child has a 25% chance of bedwetting. If both parents were bedwetters as children, their child’s chances increase to about 65%. Scientists have discovered a gene for enuresis.

Does bedwetting always need to be treated?

Not always. The most important question to ask is whether the bedwetting is a problem for the child. If bedwetting isn’t upsetting your child, then treatment probably isn’t necessary. Children will outgrow it.

One treatment available is an alarm that the child wears at night. The goal of the alarm, which goes off when the child starts to pee, is to teach him to wake up when he has a full bladder. Studies show that alarms work in only about 50% of children who use them, so it’s best to talk to your doctor before you decide to buy one. Alarms usually wake up everyone in the house, so they aren’t practical for sleepovers or camp.

Desmopressin acetate (or DDAVP) is a drug that has been used to treat bedwetting since the 1970s. It comes as a pill or as a nasal spray. Studies show that it works in some children but not all. It may be useful for special situations, such as sleepovers or camp. DDAVP can have mild side effects, such as headache or stomach pain.

Whether you and your doctor decide to treat the bedwetting or simply wait for your child to outgrow it, what’s important is to make sure your child knows that it is not his fault and that bedwetting is not bad behaviour.

Do children outgrow bedwetting?

Yes. At 5 years of age, 15% of all children wet the bed. Even without treatment, this number goes down to 2% by the time children are 15 years old.

How can I explain to my child why he wets the bed?

It’s important for children to know that bedwetting is not their fault, and that they are not behaving badly when they wet the bed.

Explain to your child that when she goes to bed at night, she falls into a deep sleep. She is so asleep that she doesn’t feel it when she needs to go pee, so she wets the bed. She may be frustrated or embarrassed when she wakes up and finds the bed wet, but let her know that it’s OK. Tell her that she’s a very good sleeper, and that she will grow out of bedwetting.

What else can I do?

Use a hospital-strength plastic mattress cover to avoid damage to the mattress.

Place a large towel underneath the sheet for extra absorption.

Don’t bother to change a sleeping child who is wet. It’s more important for everyone to get a good night’s sleep.

Help your child rinse well in the morning so that there is no smell.

Source: Developed by the Canadian Paediatric Society Community Paediatrics Committee.

For more information: Enuresis

Posted: December 2005

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This information should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be variations in treatment that your physician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Canadian Paediatric Society, 2305 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, Ont. K1G 4J8
Phone: 613-526-9397, fax: 613-526-3332