Bed-wetting can be frustrating and embarrassing for both adolescents and their parents. A Cleveland Clinic pediatric nurse offers advice for helping patients cope with — and conquer — nocturnal enuresis. Involuntary urination at night — known as nocturnal enuresis or bed-wetting — is a common problem among young children, especially those six and under. Bed-wetting can continue into adolescence. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission.
While many parents understand when their child wets the bed at age 4, bed-wetting at age 14 can come as a surprise. Referred to as nocturnal enuresis, bedwetting is actually more common in teenagers than you might think. Studies estimate that about 4 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls wet the bed during adolescence. Many teens outgrow bed-wetting before they become adults. By age 18, only about 1.
Bedwetting in Children & Teens: Nocturnal Enuresis
View image. Enuresis bed-wetting is the term used for the involuntary passage of urine during sleep. Most teens with enuresis have inherited a small bladder, which cannot hold all the urine produced during a night.
My worry aside, the worst part about this is seeing just how ashamed and embarrassed my son is. The last thing he wants is for anyone to find out about this, including a doctor. Like if a kid is embarrassed to go or he goes to a school that might have weird restrictions on using the bathroom. See, holding their poop causes a stretching of the colon that can cause residual backup, which can cause bladder overactivity. The reason why this happens is because the nerves that go from the brain to the bladder come out of the bottom of the spinal cord.