Common Causes of Bedwetting Children

Bedwetting among children can be a frustrating time for the parent – soiled sheets, and all. This is especially true when the child does not seem to outgrow the stage. But lost in it all is the confusion and helplessness of your child regarding the matter. It will take patience to understand your child’s situation. But only then can you begin to help him when you do.

While bedwetting can be a sign of an underlying illness, most children who wet the bed have no underlying illness to explain their bedwetting. In fact, only about 1% of the children who bed-wet do so because of organic reasons.

It is not uncommon for the parent to chastise the child because of bedwetting. The parent is, after all, only trying to reinforce the fact that bed-wetting is undesirable and unacceptable as you grow older. However, the parent should also understand that

Children who wet are not lazy, willful, or disobedient. They often do not do it on purpose.

That being said, it becomes easier to understand your child’s situation, and to help him or her as well.

There are two types of bedwetting: primary and secondary. Primary bed-wetters have never been able to sleep without wetting their beds. They do not regularly experience what is called a dry night – a night where your child does not wet the bed. Secondary bedwetting is occasional bedwetting. Your child may have been on dry nights for a significant amount of time before bedwetting.

In primary bedwetting, your child probably has an immature nervous system. He or she does not recognize the sensation of a full bladder while sleeping and is unable to awaken to that stimulus to urinate into the toilet.

It is possible that your child cannot yet hold urine for the entire night. This will definitely result in bedwetting. You may want to lessen water intake before bedtime.

Also, it is possible that your child does not wake up when his or her bladder is full, or he or she produces much urine during the evening.

If your child has poor daytime toilet habits, this too will often translate to poor night-time toilet habits. Sometimes, they will ignore the urge to urinate, and try to hold it in. You will notice this when your child squirms, squats or holds his or her groin in an attempt to hold in their urine.

Secondary bedwetting might be a sign of some medical or emotional problem. Secondary bedwetting is often accompanied by other symptoms such as daytime wetting. In this case, your child might have a urinary tract infection. The results of this are pain or irritation with urination (dysuria), a stronger urge to urinate, and frequent urination.

Urinary tract infections in children are often symptoms of another problem such as an anatomical abnormality.

You may also want to check for diabetes. People suffering from diabetes have a higher level of sugar in their blood than other people. Their bodies have an increased urine output to try to get rid of that sugar. Having to urinate frequently is a common sign of this.

There might also be some structural or anatomical abnormality in your child. An abnormality of the organs, muscles, or nerves involved in urination can cause incontinence or other urinary problems that result in bed-wetting.

And as stated earlier bedwetting is sometimes a sign of an immature nervous system.

However, there may be abnormalities in the nervous system – an injury or disease that can upset the delicate balance of the neurological functions that control urination.

Lastly, your child might be going through emotional problems. A stressful home life, like one where parents are in conflict, sometimes causes children to bed-wet. Even major life changes, such as starting school, a new family member, or moving out to a new neighborhood, are other reasons that can cause bedwetting.

And before you get mad at your child for bedwetting you may want to consider this: bedwetting also runs in families. It can be genetic. It’s funny to think it, but they may be blaming you in the near future!

As your child passes from early childhood to early adolescence, it truly pays to understand the physical state he or she is in. Helping them pass through the bedwetting stage with patience and understanding is a wonderful way to show your support as they grow into independence.