Bedwetting, also known as nocturnal enuresis, is an uncontrollable leakage of urine while asleep. Boys are more late in becoming dry at night than girls.

Most children have what is known as ‘Primary bedwetting’ – this means that they have never had a period when they have been dry. Contrary to popular belief, primary bedwetting is not a psychological issue.

In most cases, however, there is an underlying medical reason for bedwetting, it is not normal for a child over 5 years old to be wetting the bed on a regular basis this is why you should ask your parents to take you to a urologist or a pediatrician to discuss your condition.

It is important to know that you are not alone with this problem. Bedwetting is not often discussed freely among parents, but it is a common problem and you will certainly not be the only one who is experiencing difficulties.

Bedwetting is more common than you think. For example, in Europe, over 5 million children wet the bed. In a school class of 30 children aged 7 years old, there could be 3 children who wet the bed. Although it can be very upsetting or embarrassing to wet the bed, you should talk to your parents about it and they will be able to help you.

There are several reasons why you might wet the bed. Maybe it runs in your family – for example, your parents may have wet the bed when they were young. You might be producing too much pee at night. Or maybe you need to go to the toilet a lot because your bladder (the stretchy bag that stores pee) sends a signal that it is full when it is not. It may be that you have had too much to drink before you went to bed or it might be because you are worrying about something. Lastly, it could be that your bladder doesn’t tell you brain to wake up when you need to pee, and you don’t get up in time to go to the toilet. Whatever the cause is, you can talk to your parents about it and they can help you.

Bedwetting can be caused by several different reasons. If you do visit a doctor to talk about your bedwetting, there are different things your doctor can do to make it better. The treatment of bedwetting is dependent on its cause. Your doctor has probably seen lots of children who wet the bed so there is no need to be embarrassed or shy – He will want to help you too!

If you do visit your doctor to talk about your bedwetting, he will want to know a few things about you:
– How old are you?

– How many nights a week do you wet the bed?

– When did the bedwetting start?

– How much do you drink liquids during the day?

– How many times do you go to the toilet?

– Do you find it difficult to hold your pee at daytime?

Your doctor will help you find the underlying causes of your bedwetting and will discuss the best treatment options with you and your parents.

Here are some advices that you should follow with your doctor’s suggested treatment plan to optimize the management of bedwetting.

Drinks: Try to drink a good amount of liquids throughout the day but reduce drinks like water, hot chocolate, milk, fizzy drinks and Juices , in the evening particularly before you sleep at night.

Food: Do not eat certain foods at night like asparagus, celery, watery foods such as cucumber watermelons and grapes, and stay away from spicy or sour foods as well.

Make sure to visit the toilet to empty your bladder completely just before going to bed at night.

Have a night lamp on in your bedroom to allow you to find the way to the toilet in case you feel like peeing at night.

Try a reward system: (download the reward chart)
Most children can be motivated by star charts or similar reward systems. For example, you get a star sticker if you drink the right number of drinks that day or go to the toilet before bed without being asked.

Things you can do at home to help with your bedwetting problem. Download