Children and Bedwetting

If your little one starts to wet the bed, it can be distressing both for them and for you. The good news is that the condition is treatable and with a little patience and perseverance, the problem can be overcome.

The first thing to say is that bedwetting isn’t due to laziness or naughtiness by a child and it should never be punished.

Causes

It is actually a complex medical condition that can have a number of possible causes.
Children might wet the bed because they don’t wake up when their bladder is full or
because they produce too much urine at night or because their bladder can’t stretch enough to hold the urine that’s produced at night.

There might also be underlying health conditions like urinary tract infections, constipation or type 2 diabetes. If you or your partner wet the bed as a child, your child has a 40% chance of developing the same problem. If you both wet the bed as children, it rises to 70%.

Seek advice

While some children naturally grow out of bedwetting, others don’t so it’s important to seek medical advice above age five. Research shows the sooner you get help the sooner your child is likely to break the habit. You’ll be asked to keep a diary of when it happens to try and establish a cause.

Manage the problem

In the meantime, try products like mattress protectors, duvet protectors and bedwetting alarms to manage the problem. And remain reassuring and encouraging to your child that you will resolve the problem together.

For more great tips on getting a good night’s sleep browse our Blog categories: Live – for general lifestyle advice; Sleep – for specific information about sleeping and the conditions needed for good quality sleep; and Relax – for information to help you unwind and quieten your busy mind. Also check out our Product pages for tried and trusted products to help you sleep.