By the time your child is 2 or 3, you may be done changing daytime diapers, but making it through the night is often still a problem. This is because staying dry through the night is the very last toilet-training skill that children learn. While wet sheets are often a source of frustration and embarrassment for parents and children, understanding the causes of this often helps families arrive at solutions.
Definitions
Enuresis is the medical name for bed-wetting. It is called primary enuresis in children who have never learned to make it through the night and secondary enuresis if it occurs in a child or adult who has routinely made it through the night in the past.
Time Frame
The causes of enuresis vary. Infants wet because they lack the motor and communication skills needed to use a toilet. Between ages 2 and 5, it may be caused by a small bladder or an inability to recognize a full bladder. The Mayo Clinic says some kids do not produce enough anti-diuretic hormone, so they keep making lots of urine at night. If enuresis occurs in late childhood or adulthood, it is usually secondary to another disease.
Psychological Causes
Anxiety or stress often causes enuresis in children. A new sibling, parental discord, sleeping in a strange place or anxiety about starting school are often triggers for bed-wetting. Children should never be shamed, because this is uncontrollable. Up to Date, a website resource for clinicians and patients, reminds parents that a child should not be punished and that spanking and scolding are inappropriate and counterproductive responses.
Statistics
Family Practice Notebook, a website for primary-care physicians, provides statistics on the prevalence of enuresis. It says that 82 percent of 2-year-olds, 49 percent of 3-year-olds and 25 percent of 4-year-olds have enuresis. Eight percent of 12-year-old boys and 4 percent of 12-year-old girls have this condition. By age 18, only 1 percent of boys still have enuresis. It is very rare in girls at this age.
Other Causes
Eneursis in adults is very rare. It can be associated with bladder cancer, prostate disorders, urinary-tract disorders and even sleep apnea, according to the Mayo Clinic. To diagnosis the underlying cause of the enuresis, doctors may order urinalysis and blood work, as well as various urological and neurological exams.
