Bedwetting (Primary Nocturnal Enuresis)

What Happens

Bedwetting is common in young children. Children grow and develop at different rates, and bladder control is achieved at an individual pace. Usually, daytime bladder control occurs before nighttime control.

Children may wet the bed several times during the night, and they may not wake up after wetting.

Primary nocturnal enuresis—bedwetting that continues past the age that most children have nighttime bladder control—will usually stop over time without treatment.

• About 85% of children who wet the bed stop by age 5 or 6, and 15% of those still wetting at age 5 to 6 stop with each following year.¹
• Most children with primary nocturnal enuresis will stop wetting by the time they are 10 to 12 years old.

Sometimes bedwetting is related to emotional stress. Bedwetting usually stops when the stress is relieved or managed. bedwetting in older children, especially girls, is more likely to occur with signs of emotional stress and be more difficult to treat.

However, bedwetting can be upsetting. It is more often a cause of emotional stress than a result of it, especially in children older than 6. Explaining that gaining complete bladder control is a normal part of growing up may help reassure your child.

For some children and their parents, bedwetting is not a significant issue and is more of a minor annoyance than anything else.

However, the emotional responses to bedwetting can impact the relationship with your child. If you or your child is having difficulty with handling bedwetting, you may wish to investigate treatment options.

If a medical condition is causing the bedwetting, treating the condition may stop the wetting.

Treatment often does not completely stop bedwetting, but it may decrease how often it occurs. Although bedwetting may return when treatment is stopped, repeating or combining treatments may have longer-lasting results.

Some children who wet the bed also experience accidental daytime wetting. When wetting occurs during both the day and night, usually the factors related to the daytime wetting are explored first.