One in 50 teenagers still wet the bed and almost half of 19 year-olds who have the problem are wetting the bed every night, according to research published in the May issue of the urology journal BJUI International.
Professor Chung K Yeung from the Chinese University of Hong Kong teamed up with colleagues from the Prince of Wales Hospital to analyse the results of more than 16,500 questionnaires surveying children aged from five to 19.
He hopes that his findings will reassure parents of children with mild bed wetting problems, but stress the importance of seeking advice in severe cases, which can often be caused by underlying medical problems and continue into adulthood.
512 children – just over three per cent of those surveyed – reported night-time bedwetting and one in five of those also had daytime incontinence. 302 were boys and 210 were girls.
The researchers found that although bed wetting was less common as children got older, the percentage reporting severe problems increased with age.
Children and adolescents who wet the bed at night also showed a similar pattern when it came to daytime incontinence, with a higher percentage of problems reported in older age groups.
When the researchers looked in detail at the 512 children with bed wetting problems they found that:
* Mild bed wetting was much worse among younger children, with 58 per cent of five to ten year-olds and 18 per cent of 11-19 year-olds wetting the bed less than three times a week.
* But older children reported a higher level of severe problems, with 82 per cent of 11-19 year-olds wetting the bed more than three times a week, compared with 42 per cent of five to ten year-olds.
* Just over 16 per cent of five year-olds wet the bed, with boys (21 per cent) having almost twice as many problems as girls (11 per cent).
* By the age of 19, three per cent of boys and two per cent of girls were still wetting the bed.
* Just under a third of 11-19 year-old boys (32 per cent) also experienced daytime incontinence, almost double the 15 per cent recorded in the under ten age group.
* The figures for girls were lower but showed a similar trend, at 25.5 per cent for 11-19 year-olds and 12 per cent for girls under ten.
* Overall, 29 per cent of children aged 11-19 experienced daytime incontinence, compared with 14 cent of under tens.
“Bed wetting showed a general reduction as children got older” says Professor Yeung, who is also President of the International Children’s Continence Society. “However, this reduction was much greater in those with mild symptoms who wet the bed three or less times a week, compared to those with severe problems who were wetting the bed every night.
“Just over 14 per cent of five year-olds who wet the bed did so seven nights a week. By the age of 19, severe bed wetting accounted for over 48 per cent of teenagers who were still wetting the bed.”
21,000 questionnaires were distributed to 67 schools, with a greater emphasis on children over ten, and just under 79 per cent were returned by parents and children.
The average age of respondents was just under 14 and the largest number of responses were from teenagers aged 16-18. 24 per cent of the questionnaires concerned children under ten.
“Our findings challenge the myth that bedwetting will always get better and disappear as the child gets older” says Professor Yeung.
“In 2004 we published findings of a previous study in BJU International that showed that adults showed no significant decrease in bed wetting problems from the age of 10 to 40.
“These latest findings underline the importance of seeking help for children with severe bed wetting problems, especially if they continue into adolescence. If these individuals are left untreated, the evidence suggests that they will continue to experience ongoing problems when they become adults.”
From Blackwell Publishing
Most of the time bed wetting will go away. Getting laughed at by family or scolded and threatened by parents is not fun and makes things worse. This site helps. Thanks for maintaining it. When I was 14 or 15 and we were on vacation I wet the bed. I told my mother and she said nothing but angrily stripped the bed. Then she angrily took me to the front office check in and asked if there were special rooms for teen boys who wet the bed and what was she to do with a boy who wet the bed and she was terribly sorry and perhaps baby diapers were the answer and would there be an extra charge, and again does the motel have diapers. I really was embarrassed and shamed. With sites like this parents can read and be more understanding and help the situation. Diapers would have been helpful, but I was so shamed that I never asked. Hurray for Goodnights and sites like this.
Hi im 15 and i still wet the bed, not everynight but mostly. A few weeks ago i was sleeping over at me bestfriends house and, ive never wet the bed at a friends house before, until that night. I got really nervous, i sprayed perfume all over and i thought it would dry till morning but it didnt. I was afraid to go back to sleep. I ended up telling her it was because i took a sleeping pill. I really want to stop, im tired of waking up and changing and sleeping on the ground…PLEASE HELP ME!!!
darcy,i am 15 also and wet the bed about 4 to 5 times a week.i wear goodnites with plastic pants over them for extra protection.take my word for it ,it works.they sell girly plastic pants on various websites.i was just confirmed this past may and had to wear a white dress and veil[i am roman catholic].i wore a pair of plain white plastic pants under my tights with my dress.why dont you try goodnites and plastic pants?
darcy, trust me, you dont need as much help as you think. if your friend is actually your friend, then explain it to her whats up. chances are pretty good she may have had the same problem when she was younger. so she will most likely understand. and i know, ive been there. im 20, and it still happens. next time you are going to go for a sleep over, talk to her before hand. explain that you wet the bed sometimes. dont say its a problem, cuz its not. its just a little quirk that your body has to figure out in time. ask her if it would work to go to your place instead, or explain that you have to bring goodnites or underjams, (or if your a bit more grown up than your age, depends,) along. if she treats you like your some stranger freak from mars, then she isnt worth the time to be friends with. and if you ask me, it sounds to me like you dont sleep with any pull ups or “helper pants” (a good term to use with friends. sounds a lot better than diaper). if so, i know it can be hard to transfer into using them, but if you can figure out what things can cause it, then you will only need to use them if you might. thats what i do. i know if i get that same feeling as when youre nervous, you know the one where you have to pee but you actually dont, if i get that before i go to sleep, i need to wear one. if i dont, ill be fine. but either way, explain it to your friend. its always better than trying to cover it up or lie about it.
Hi..i have a sever problem im 11 years old and i still wet the bed>..<
not severe buddy. lol. just deal with it the same as you would with a math problem at school. you know that if you have to mulitply something, and you dont know the answer, use a calculator! so, you know you wet the bed. theres your equation. now you tell me what youve got that will help solve the problem. ill give you a hint, one brand would be good nites. and no matter how embarassed you feel, just remind yourself that it doesnt help to be embarassed. if you just learn to deal with it, itll go away sooner or later. and if it doesnt, youll just be all the stronger for it.
Herman – you are the man ! Thanks for intelligent posts (not just this one).
hey dick heads im 14 and even i know that scientists should put their research into something more important like curing cancer!? stop wankin about and make a blog on somthing interesting.
dick heads? honestly little man? you come to a site like this, where people that are emberassed, because people like you make fun of them, come to find help, and you decide to let loose with your little rant? come on. if you really wanted to have them research something like cancer, you would make the first step to show people that were no different. instead, you poke fun at us. so you tell me, whatcha compensating for? or am i dick head cuz yours is too small to find?
you need to shut your mouth.
If you do not want to read this, you have the freedom to go to another web site, or better for us turn your computer off, it’s a free country.
hey u liam callin these guys dick heads just because they wet the bed makes you worse than wat they feel thay are ok if anythin ur tryin to cover up urself that uv done it so pull up ur non dickhead diapers and think how hard it is for these people
yeahh i know the ins and outs of bed wetting i’m twelve and have always wet even when i can’t remember on the photos for my first day of school my pants are wet and on my first birthday anf 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th and 6th and so on it’s so embaressing because i went to a camp oout with the schooland all my friends were there and i had spare diapers in my bag and my bag fell on the floor and al the diapers fell out :@
i feel ya there. i visited my girlfriend in alberta when i went to meet her the second time and asked her to grab something from my bag. needless to say i didnt think her idea of finding was to dump all the contents on the floor. so ya, i had some explaining to do. however, i was lucky to have an understanding girlfriend. i hope for your sake your friends were true friends.
Bobby, what is up with you thinking girls look sexy in diapers??? That has nothing to do with wetting the bed?
hi i am 19 i still wet the bed i have been to the docs about this what shall i do or where
hi,i wanna do friendship with u.
For you young people i am 60 and i wet the bed till i was 12. i wore diapers.Guess what a couple years ago due to a neurological disorder i started wetting again. day and night. The first thing i did was buy some diapers.; I* would far rather have someone find out i was wearing a diaper then peeing my pants.Oh of the bedwetters out there 50 of them have parents that wet the bed at one time. but few parents will admit to it.
Catalyn is a placebo. It is a multi-vitamin, has nothing to do with your problem. If it worked, your problems were probably pyschologically motivated.
what is with parents of bedwetting daughters who require them to wear cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed?i have many bedwetting preteen and teen girls who are required to wear diapers and plastic pants for bedwetting.but yet not many bedwetting boys wear them.why is ther gender discrimination here?girls should be allowed to wear underjams or goodnites.most girls have told me their parents tell girls are more adept at wearing diapers and plastic pants and that girls are more baby like than are boys.this is BS!
janelle,i totally agree with you.i think parents treat their daughters differently for bedwetting than they do their sons.i am a bedwetter and my parents make me wear cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed.i know two other girls who have to wear them also and they feel its unfair also.i dont like it when bed time approaches as i know i have to put diapers and plastic pants on.
katie girls dont get discriminated against many girls are allowed to wear goodnites and underjams but boy cant wear girls cloting but girls can wear boys no that is discrimination.
true that! if my mom had done that, which she couldnt cuz she never knew (that i know of), i would have been emberassed beyond belief! i say if they are comfortable with it fine. but if they express that they would rather have goodnites or even for that matter depends, then let them! and dont assume (moms) that you need to put it on them. sometimes its better to let them figure it out on their own. if your worried about stains, let them do the laundry and/or buy new sheets. but emberassing them is not the answer. heck, it might even be the cause.
i have the same problem, ur not alone and when im sleeping over my cousins house i feel so embarrised if i pea at there house so i dont know wat to do but all i know dont go to the doctors its a wast of time trust me and they dont do anything at all. just go to the bath room every right before u go to bed , ull have days when ull still pea but ur brain will get used to it, ull start waking ur self up in the middle of the night.ur day will come.