Some information about bedwetting

Bedwetting is when a child continuously wets his bed during the night. It is only considered a problem if your child wets his bed after being dry or (generally) if a child is not dry by the age of 5 years.

Night-time toilet training usually begins about six months after your child has been dry during the day i.e. is confident about using a potty.

At the age of 5 about 15% of children still wet their bed; by the age of 10 this drops to about 5% of boys and 2-3% of girls. Bedwetting tends to run in families.

Causes of bedwetting are: sleeping too deeply to be woken by a full bladder feeling too tired or frightened to get up, not being able to cope with going to the toilet alone.

As an adult you should not punish your child for bedwetting but explain the problem. Punishment will only make the child more self conscious and will worsen the problem. Instead make sure your child goes to the toilet before going to sleep and is warm in bed. Older children respond well to being given a reward for a dry night – perhaps a star chart on the wall. Use a plastic sheet to prevent soiling the mattress. If you use an additional sheet placed across the bed, then it can be pulled forward to remove the wet patch from the bed and you won't need to change the bed in the middle of the night.
If the bedwetting is consistent you should talk to your General Practitioner.