COPING WITH
BED WETTING
IN OLDER
CHILDREN
Besides being inconvenient and somewhat
embarrassing, bedwetting in an older child can also
affect self-esteem as HEALTH takes a closer look.
DEFINED
Otherwise known as nocturnal
enuresis, this is defined as
bedwetting over age five.
Dr. Ravinder Kumar Bhatt,
Specialist Internal Medicine
explains that this is uncommon
because by age seven,
children are able to control
their micturition reflex and
their nervous system is well
developed.
TYPES
There are two types of nocturnal
enuresis. Primary nocturnal
enuresis is when a child has
never developed complete nighttime bladder control. Secondary
nocturnal enuresis is when a child
Mar/Apr 2016
62
has accidental wetting after having
had bladder control for six or
more months. It is more common
in boys and in families in which
one or both parents wet the bed as
a child. “In fact, 15 percent of fiveyear-old children are bed wetters
and 15 percent of those will be
spontaneously cured each year
without any treatment,” explains
Dr. Bhatt. “A bedwetting child fails
to recognize the sensation of a full
bladder during sleep and thus fail
to awaken during sleep to urinate.”
Most people, around 80 percent,
who wet their beds, wet only at
night.
CAUSES
Dr. Bhatt says that a few common
causes of bedwetting in an older
child may include high urine
production during night, small
functional bladder capacities,
poor arousability from sleep, and
a family history of bedwetting
and/or chronic constipation
putting pressure on the bladder. “A
worsening of bedwetting can take
place if there are renal or nervous