Let’s face it, bedwetting is not something we openly talk about amongst our friends or family. It’s one of those topics that we like to keep quiet and don’t tend to openly discuss in conversations, is it?

This may be largely due to the perception that we have, that it is shameful or embarrassing. Not particularly for us, but especially for our child.

Yet, listen to this. After allergic disorders, bedwetting is the most common chronic condition of childhood! It can seriously decrease the quality of life of a child and their families. It impacts on day to day activities, family holidays, and the child’s freedom to stay away from home with friends. And also affects their ability to enjoy going away on school camps. 

Now, despite it rarely coming up in normal conversations, bedwetting is very common, especially in school aged children. I’ve got some interesting figures for you. 

Bedwetting can affect up to 10% of children under the age of 18.

Broken down even further, bedwetting can affect 1 in 5 children at 5 years, 1 in 10 children at 10 years and 1 in 30 to 100 teenagers at 15 to 17 years. Wow! Have a look at those figures again. 

And did you know that boys are affected more than girls? 

Population studies also indicate that around a quarter of children with nocturnal enuresis also suffer from daytime wetting or other lower urinary tract symptoms, or both. So those children who have lower urinary tract symptoms as well as frequent bedwetting, tend to be more difficult to treat, and their condition is more likely to continue into their teenage years. 

Did you know that chronic constipation is also common in children with bedwetting? Sometimes all it takes for their bedwetting to stop is to treat the constipation! I

You may have even heard this one before - that bedwetting runs in families? A large UK study conducted by a gentleman by the name of Alexander von Gontard in 2011 found that there were significant associations between parental and child nocturnal enuresis. 

To be more specific, if one parent was a bed-wetter as a child, then there is a 4 out of 10 chance that their child will wet the bed. But if both parents were bed-wetters as children, then there is a 7 out of 10 chance! What’s your family’s situation? 

Bedwetting is also common in children with sleep disordered breathing, obesity, ADHD, ASD or even developmental delay, and physical or intellectual disability. 

So as you’ve just learned, bedwetting is very common in children and can impact on the child’s health and quality of life. In some cases, bedwetting can progress into adulthood.

A bedwetting alarm is an effective solution to help children overcome their bedwetting. The Parenting Garden has put together a Bedwetting Alarm Success Package which is designed for children and is available from The Parenting Garden online store.