Myths and Facts

A child who doesn’t wet the bed will not suddenly start wetting the bed if they’ve had too much to drink – they’ll simply wake up and use the bathroom.

Limiting your child’s intake of sugary or caffeinated drinks a couple of hours before bed is recommended, as they certainly don’t help stop bedwetting. However, always allow water, as being dehydrated can actually make things worse.

While the vast majority of kids have stopped wetting the bed by the time they start school, it is by no means unusual. In fact, bedwetting is prevalent in up to 20% of five year olds and up to 10% of 7 year olds. By age 12 around 97% of children have stopped wetting the bed.

It’s true that your child will likely be one of the 97% who stops bedwetting by the age of 12. However, this is a time when your child needs your support and advice, so it’s important to help them understand that it’s not their fault and come up with a management plan together, rather than ignore the problem.

The other side to this is that your child’s bedwetting may be due to a medical condition (such as a urinary tract infection or diabetes) or an emotional issue, which is common in cases of secondary enuresis (where the child was dry at night for six months or more and has now started wetting the bed again).

Drug therapy for bedwetting can be a good stopgap for sleepovers and school camps, but is rarely a cure.

Studies comparing its effectiveness with bedwetting alarms show around 70% of children start wetting the bed again once they stop taking medication.

It is a common thought that using an absorbent product at night will hinder your child’s progress, as they will never recognise when they need to wake up if they always remain dry. This thought is entirely unproven. While these products are certainly not acure for bedwetting, they are useful tools for managing it.

Bedwetting products, such as DryNites Night Time Pants or bed mats, have been shown to to improve sleep quality, boost confidence and reduce stress (which can actually be a causational factor in bedwetting), as it makes wetting the bed less of a big deal. Absorbent pyjama pants will also give your child some control over the situation, especially if they have reached sleepover age.

There are some common causes of bedwetting, such as a delay in bladder development or under-production of anti-diuretic hormone, however, not all cases are the same and causes can vary.

In some children, stress, grief, or other emotional problems can play a role. Please view our page on bedwetting causes for more information.

Bladder control exercises, otherwise known as ‘holding it in’ can be a good way to increase bladder capacity and is a much cited tactic for bedwetting treatment. It usually works by asking your child to just hold on for ten or fifteen minutes after their first urge to urinate.

While these exercises do increase bladder capacity and are certainly not considered harmful, they have not been proven to stop bedwetting.

It is common practice for parents to wake their children in the middle of the night and encourage them to use the bathroom in an effort to prevent bedwetting. This is often referred to as ‘lifting’ and can seem like a good strategy if it helps keep the sheets dry.

The reality is that this will not improve your child’s bladder control and could frustrate them, especially if they don’t need to urinate when you wake them. If your child is over five years old it may also cause them to feel as though they have little control over the situation.

If your child wets the bed it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been properly toilet trained. Urine control during the day is completely different to what goes on when your child is sleeping. In most cases it will right itself in time and is nothing to worry about.

Never blame yourself or think that you didn’t finish the job properly when you were taking them through the toilet training phase. Your child could be a star bathroom-goer while they’re awake, but it is nobody’s fault if they wet the bed while they’re asleep.

This is completely untrue and, if believed, could lead parents to blame their child for wetting the bed, which will only exacerbate the problem. There are a number of reasons why your child may be wetting the bed. These are the most common: Delay in bladder reflex development, meaning your child’s bladder is not signalling the brain to wake up Their body may not be producing enough anti-diuretic hormone, which slows down urine production at night, so we don’t have to wake up as much A delay in bladder development can result in low bladder capacity

Remember that your child has no control over the situation and probably feels bad enough about it as it is. Being punished for something they can’t help will only cause self-esteem to decrease and stress to increase.

Many parents go the opposite way and try star charts or reward systems for dry nights, however, this can be equally harmful if they fail to achieve. Feel free to try it, but be ready to stop if you find that it’s not making a difference to their progress.

There is no evidence suggesting that primary bedwetting has anything to do with psychological issues.

It is true that if your child begins wetting the bed after a period of six months or more of being dry at night, it could be due to stress or an emotional issue, such as grief. You should talk to your child about what’s on their mind and flag the issue with your GP if this is the case.