What is nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting)?
It refers to bed-wetting at night in children (or adults) at a time when control of urine could be reasonably expected. What is normal? Bed-wetting at night is common in children up to the age of 5. About 50 per cent of 3-year-olds wet their beds, as do 20 per cent of 4-year-olds and 10 per cent of 5-year-olds. It is considered a problem if regular bed-wetting occurs in children 6 years and older, although many boys do not become dry until 8 years. Bed-wetting after a long period of good toilet training with dryness is called secondary enuresis. What causes it? There is usually no obvious cause, and most of the children are normal in every respect but seem to have a delay in development of bladder control. Others may have a small bladder capacity or a sensitive bladder. It tends to be more common in boys and seems to run in families. Most bed-wetting episodes occur during a deep sleep, and so the child cannot help it. The cause of secondary enuresis can be psychological; it commonly oc
