When a child isn't aware that they wet the bed at night while sleeping, it's known as nocturnal enuresis. It may occur every night or just one or two nights a week.

In all children, the development of bladder function control and night-time urine production is a slow process. Few children are dry at night before the age of three, and bed-wetting is quite common up to the age of eight. In most cases there's a delay in the development of the normal pathways of bladder function control within the brain and nervous system, which eventually mature.

Bed-wetting runs strongly in families

There's a large genetic influence, and bed-wetting runs strongly in families. Other contributory factors include anxiety, stress, constipation, urinary tract infection and, occasionally, diabetes or kidney failure.

Daytime enuresis, or loss of bladder control during the day, is less common and when this occurs there's more likely to be a serious underlying problem.

It's more common than people think. One in seven seven-year-olds, one in five ten-year-olds, and between one in 50 and one in 100 people over the age of 15 (including adults) wet the bed at night.

The person wakes to find the bed is wet - some children find this quite distressing. They may wake as they pass urine or be aware of the sensation of needing to urinate. Any other symptoms, such as pain on passing urine, indicate a possible underlying cause, such as infection.

It may be worth visiting your doctor to rule out any treatable causes

Medical treatment is rarely started before the age of seven, but there's plenty the family can try at home. In addition, it may be worth visiting your doctor to rule out any treatable causes. Steps you can take include reassuring the child and explaining it's a common problem, not done consciously and certainly not naughty.

Referral to a continence adviser who can advise on ways to overcome the problem is often recommended.

Don't blame the child or punish them, but take practical steps, such as putting a waterproof sheet on the bed. Star charts can help the child see progress but don't speed up bladder control. An enuresis alarm can help condition the child into getting up at night to pass urine, but one in three children relapse after a few months.

The most common medical treatment is the drug desmopressin, which concentrates the urine so less is produced at night. It provides temporary relief and so is best used on a temporary basis for holidays or sleepovers.

Tagged in