Bedwetting in Kids: Why It Happens and When It Stops

What's normal

• Staying dry at night is a separate skill from daytime potty training, and it can't be taught. It depends on the bladder and brain maturing.
• Wetting at night is common through the preschool years. Doctors don't usually call it a problem before about age 5 to 6. Around 15 out of 100 five-year-olds still wet the bed sometimes, and most outgrow it a little more each year.
• It tends to run in families. If a parent wet the bed past early school age, a child is much more likely to as well.
• It isn't laziness or bad behavior, and children can't stop it by trying harder.

Common reasons

• A bladder that holds less at night, or a body that makes more urine overnight.
• Deep sleep, where the full-bladder signal doesn't wake the child.
• Constipation, which presses on the bladder. Treating it often helps.
• Stress or big changes, like a new sibling, a move or starting school, especially if a child who was dry starts wetting again.

What helps now

• Use pull-ups or absorbent night pants if your child wants them. This is fine at any age.
• Protect the bed with a waterproof cover and layer a sheet, cover, sheet for quick changes.
• Encourage drinking earlier in the day and less in the last hour or two before bed. Don't withhold water if they're thirsty.
• Skip caffeine (tea, cola, chocolate drinks) in the evening.
• Pee twice at bedtime: once at the start of the routine and once right before lights out.
• Treat constipation. Fiber, fluids and active play; see the toddler meals guide.
• Keep a night light on the way to the bathroom.

How to talk about it

• Stay matter-of-fact: "Lots of kids' bodies take longer to stay dry at night. It will happen."
• Never punish, shame or tease, and don't let siblings tease either. It doesn't help and it hurts.
• Let your child help with clean-up in a neutral way (putting the sheet in the hamper) if they want.
• For sleepovers, quietly plan ahead with absorbent pants and a sleeping bag.

What doesn't help

• Waking a preschooler at night to pee usually doesn't speed up dryness.
• Reward charts for dry nights. Your child isn't in control of this, so they can feel like failure.
• Pushing for dry nights before the body is ready.

Older children

• After about 6 or 7, if wetting bothers your child, a pediatrician may suggest a bedwetting alarm or, sometimes, medicine. These work best when the child is motivated.

When to check in

• Mention it at the next checkup if your child is still wetting regularly at 6 or 7, or it worries them.
• Check in sooner if a child who was dry for six months or more starts wetting again, has daytime accidents, pain or burning when peeing, or snores heavily.
• See the pediatrician soon if wetting comes with strong thirst, peeing a lot, weight loss or unusual tiredness, which can be signs of diabetes.