Bed Wetting Concerns

Bed wetting is simply wetting the bed while you are asleep in your bed. The scientific name for bed wetting is nocturnal enuresis or sometimes it is simply called enuresis. Some people also refer to it as sleep wetting. Bed wetting is very common among children, boys more so than girls. It is believed that approximately five to seven million children experience this problem. Doctors classify bed wetters as girls who are older than four years and boys who are over five years who chronically wet their beds during sleep. The tendency to wet the bed however does decrease as a child gets older.

Studies have shown that approximately ten percent of six-year-old youngsters wet their beds routinely while this number decreases to three percent for fourteen year olds. It is rare but it does happen that bed wetting contuse to plague both older teenagers and even adults. This problem can be very minor to serious and cause a great deal of distress and embarrassment for the person involved.

There are believed to be a number of causes for primary nocturnal enuresis. There appears to be a genetic link when it comes to bed wetting. If a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle had the same problem as a child then you are more likely to develop the problem. Many children have very deep sleeping patterns and don’t awaken when their bladder relays the message to the brain that it needs to be emptied. Some children have a central nervous system that develops slower than normal and therefore interferes with bladder functions. Some children simply have a smaller than average bladder that requires that it be emptied more often than most people’s. A bladder infection that has gone undiagnosed and untreated can also be the cause of primary nocturnal bed wetting, as can abnormalities that exist in the urethra in males and females and for boys it can sometimes be problems with their urethral valves. Children who suffer from chronic allergies, attention deficit disorder (ADD) or a variety of learning disabilities appear to have a higher incidence of bed wetting problems than do other children.

Secondary nocturnal enuresis is most often related to a build up of stress that is occurring in a child’s life at any given time. Most often once the source of stress has passed in the child’s life, the bed-wetting then becomes a thing of the past. The three most common stress triggers for secondary bed wetting in children include starting school for the first time, being hospitalized or seeing a parent who must stay in the hospital for a few days and the birth of a new brother or sister. Although these events can be exciting many children are also frightened and therefore develop secondary problems as a result, thus the name, secondary nocturnal bed wetting. Problems that exist in a family can also trigger bed wetting. These problems might include abuse, neglect, and constant fighting between parents, divorce, alcoholism and financial worries.

Secondary Enuresis

Secondary enuresis or secondary nocturnal enuresis (SNE) is when an individual has maintained proper control over their bladder during the night time hours for a consecutive period of six months and then the bed wetting problem starts again. Secondary enuresis is very common in young children but can affect teenagers and adults as well. Very rarely is the cause of secondary enuresis (or secondary bed wetting) a physical problem, more often then not it is related to a psychological stressor. Once the period of stress or the stressful situation or event has come and gone usually the bed wetting disappears as well.

The three most common psychological stress triggers for children include beginning school, the birth of a new baby in the family and needing to spend a few days in the hospital without mommy and daddy in the next room. While the first two events can also be exciting to the child, many find them frightening prospects and worry about how their life will change as a result. Many other types of circumstances in a child’s life can also bring on secondary enuresis. These include problems with schoolwork, problems with a teacher or a bullying situation, abuse or neglect at home (or seeing the abuse of another family member or a pet), divorce, financial pressures, alcoholism, constant fighting between spouses or between a parent and a child, fear over an upcoming test, school project, field trip, etc.

Regardless of whether this happens to a child or an adult if there is complete nighttime bladder control for a six-month period and then bed wetting begins, whether it be every night or even once or twice a week, it should not be ignored or brushed aside. If left unchecked and if it becomes ongoing, bed wetting can lead to sleep patterns that are disrupted which can then lead to serious sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation in turn ushers in a host of both physical and psychological concerns for an individual. Not to mention the fact that bed wetting can become a social oriented problem if you live with other people. As well bed wetting on a fairly regular basis necessitates the washing machine being used a great deal to keep up with the soiled bedding and pijamas.

It is a good idea to schedule a visit to the doctor and have a thorough medical exam to rule out any physical problems for the cause of secondary enuresis such as a urinary tract infection. If that is not the problem then ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep every night. If you go to sleep at approximately the same hour every night and you always get seven to eight hours sleep a night then it is much easier to keep your bladder in check at night. When it comes to adults in particular, altering sleep patterns can bring on secondary enuresis.

Stress is a very common trigger as well. If you have recently suffered the death of a loved one, lost a job or are experiencing financial worries this could cause unwanted stress and your body chooses to express the anxiety by a lack of bladder control at night. For children the stress could result from worries about schoolwork, an argument with a friend and family problems such as divorce, alcoholism or abuse.