Urination, bed wetting

Alternative names:

enuresis

Definition:

Nighttime urinary incontinence in children over age 5 or 6 (see also Enuresis).

Considerations:

Most children who wet the bed have at least one parent who also had a problem with bed wetting. Knowing this often helps the child feel less stress about the situation.

Roughly twenty percent of children wet their beds at age 5, only 5% do so at age 10, and 2% at age 15. Only 1 out of 100 childhood bed wetters continues to have a problem in adulthood.

Common causes:

Bed wetting is usually due to a delayed nervous system naturation that controls the bladder function. It may also be due to either psychological problems or physical disorders such as a urinary tract infection or irritation, urinary tract abnormalities, or diabetes (diabetes mellitus or diabetes insipidus).

Update Date: 02/09/00
Updated by: J. Gordon Lambert, MD, Associate Medical Director, Utah Health Informatics and adam.com editorial