Bed Wetting and Its Causes

Nocturnal Enuresis or bedwetting refers to the passage of urine during sleep. Wetting of the clothing during the night or day is called Enuresis which is otherwise called as incontinence.

In the case of children and infants, urination is involuntary as they have no control over their bladder. It is normal for them to wet their clothes or bed during sleep. By the time a child reaches the age of 4, he/she would have gained some amount of bladder control. There are several factors which can determine bed wetting namely the child’s maturity or development, the child’s sex, over all emotional and physical growth, attitude of the child, his caregiver etc.

It is natural phenomenon for young children to wet their bed. Hence the term “bedwetting” is generally reserved for those who have crossed the childhood stage but still experience this problem. Bedwetting can also take place owing to an underlying disease. However a true underlying cause is observed in only 1% of children who have this habit.

Bedwetting is of two types namely primary and secondary bed wetting. Primary bedwetting is that condition which has happened since early childhood continuously. In this case the child has never been dry for a significant period of time. Secondary bedwetting is that which starts after the child has been dry during the night for at least six months or longer. Primary bedwetting can occur owing to an immaturity of the nervous system. During sleep a child may not realize that his/her bladder is full as a result of which he/she ends up wetting the bed.

Treatment can be behavioral based such as suggesting the use of bedwetting alarms, to brug based therapy such as hormone replacement. By protecting or improving self esteem bed wetting problem can be solved as it mostly is only a developmental delay. Bedwetting children must not be made to feel ashamed as it can cause emotional stress and affect them further. Doctors warn parents against punishing children suffering from this problem because of the serious psychological damage it can cause to them further.