One in 50 teenagers still wet the bed

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


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653 thoughts on “One in 50 teenagers still wet the bed”

  1. Im 12 and i still wet my bed im sick of my mom telling me to stop doing it but i guess she doesn’t understand that is not my fault.
    And the funny thing is I don’t even feel it when it’s happening.
    It’s very frustrating because i can’t stay in relative’s houses or go to far places.
    PLEASE HELP =(

    • Talk to your doctor s/he can give you a med that helps. I take it and only wet the bed one a month at the most. Don’t drink too much taking the pill or your wet the bed.Hope it helps.

    • you mother doesnt understand that is true. and i went thru the same thing. i couldnt feel it just woke up after it happens. the problem with parents is that they are not experienced in bed wetting or are experienced in a bad way. im glad (or hope) she doesnt punish you those are the worse kind and can make bed wetting permant and day wettings possible for you in the future

    • 4 me on lights i go 2 bed early,i dont drink alot past 5.If u stay up late,it will be easier 2 empty youre bladder a little without having 2 change youre underwear pjs sheets and maybe put on a diaper.But this doesnt always work because u mite not stay up late.

  2. Ok, i dont ever wet the bed, but i DO ocassionally wet my pants.. the sad part is that im 13! & its embarressing when i do it in publin places! & its also embarrising when do it, in front of my friends. I cant control it! WHAT DO I DO?!

    • beth,i have a cousin who is 13 and and wets her pants also like you.she wears pull ups with toddler plastic pants over them when she goes out in public or with friends.she gets the toddler plastic pants at a thrift store.this works for her so you might try it also

  3. When I was growing up – we did not have an indoor toilet and so my brother and I had to wear diapers at night and were encouraged to use them. This seemed perfectly normal – but it was all we had ever known.

    When I was about 10, we had a bathroom fitted and it was no longer necessary – but by that time it was so in-grained that we both continued to wear at night until we left home – with our parents blessing.

    Wearing them was only really a convenience – wetting was mostly quite deliberate save for a few accidents. These days I still use them for just that – long car journeys, save having to queue for rest-rooms at the mall, smelly toilets on trains – and just occasionally at night for comfort.

    Al

  4. I Honestly Don’t See Why A Guy Would Dump His GF Because Of A Bedwetting Issue. I Would Try To Help Her, And Make Things Easy. Ach…
    I Have Only Wet My Bed Once, And It Was Because I Got Dead Drunk And Must Have Neglected Using The Toilet.

  5. These are very interesting statistics. I have a 4 year old and it is never a problem. He holds his pee pretty well till morning. But now, I am surprise that relatively a large proportion of people even at teenage age can still wet the bed. As long as frequency is not high, not a problem, but maybe there is a market for teenage diapers.

  6. i use to wet the bed sense i was like 4 untill hmm 14? im 15 and maybe once every 2 or 3 months i do
    i really hated it because it was EVERY SINGLE NIGHT
    i realized i had a bladder infection
    got medicin that didnt help much
    i grew out of it
    but let me tell you it was hard i hid it from my friends i was so embarassed
    so all of you experiencing this just know i feel for you and i know its hard
    hang in there
    lots of love <3 jess

    • i am a 15 year old boy and i stil do it every night , when i go to partys or sleepovers i always have to try and staty up all night and it isnt nicce is there anyhting you can suggest to stop this because its really becoming to much to handle :(

      • wow. we have 2 things in common. name and problem. i did the same thing when i was 15 but now its not always a problem. i try to say up all night but it just dont work. usually i only spent the night at a friends who had a baby brother or sister or another bed wetter in the house where i could use those secreatly but i dont recament that. just dont drink any thing after 6 and after you go to the bathroom and think you are empty wait for atleat 2 hours and 4 hours at the most and then try to go again and i mean put some force into it just to be sure thats what i did when i didnt have accecc to diapers or pull ups and it worked 99% of the time and when it didnt work i was good at disgising it before any one woke up. or you could just not spend the night but that would look bad on you. if you think your parents would understand then that is the easy way. but not likly. you know your parents better then i do

  7. I was 6 years old and still wetted the bed, my parents wonderd about it and when i turned 8, still doing it so i went to a doctor, she told me to stop drinking soda for about 2 hours before bed, didn’t work and so my life went on, until I turned 11, my friends wanted me to come over and sleep over, I had to make something up but at age 13 I had a very truthful friend that I told, and she didn’t make fun of me or nothing but made me feel better about my self, my parents became good friends and now i sleep over with her. But now I’m 14 and want to do somthing about it so i went to this wonderful doctor and told me to take Catalyn and do this exercise Kegel and it WORKSHope this works, it did me!!!

  8. I AM 17 YEARS OLD AND I WET THE BED EVERYDAY, I USE TO CRY BUT NOW I JUST WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT BOTHERS ME ALOT AND THE FUNNY PART IS THAT I DONT EVEN FEEL IT WHEN IT HAPPENS. IT HURTS SO MUCH. I GO TO MY DADS HOUSE IN JERSEY AND I FEEL SO EMBARRASED. PEOPLE THERE TELL ME WHY YOU DONT STOP DOING IT, YOU ARE JUST DOING IT CUZ YOU WANT TO!!, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DONT EVEN KNOW HOW IT REALLY FEELS AND HOW MUCH IT AFFECTS ME IN EACH AND EVERY WAY. ITS SAD BECAUSE I CANT DO THINGS ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW AND I HAVE TAKEN PILLS THAT DEAL WITH BED WETTING BUT ITS NOT ENOUGH AND IT REALLY DOES NOT HELP. ITS FRUSTRATING BECAUSE AS I GROW OLDER I CAN THINK TO MYSELF OUTLOUD AND I SAY TO MYSELF, I DONT WANT TO LIVE MY WHOLE LIFE LIVING WITH THIS, I JUST WANT IT TO STOP AND IM WILLING TO DO ANYTHING SO THAT THIS PROBLEM CAN GO AWAY, I REALLY WISH THERE WAS A CURE, A REAL ONE THAT CAN ASSURE ME THAT, IT WONT EVER HAPPEN EVER AGAIN!!!!

    • well I have a cure for all of you but its a little gross. I used to wet when I was a kid. It went out of control when I turned 6 so my dad did this to me: he boiled the bladder of the pig for me to eat. Its gross but it works because its an old asian medication. Try it and you’ll see. I didnt want to tell you guys about this but you seem depressed so…its worth it right?

  9. pues tengo 18 años y sinquerer hoy maje la cama pero no se por que nunca me habia pasado puede que sea algo malo ?
    o puede ser porque tome demasiada agua de jamaica en todo el dia ??

  10. hi my little brother still pees the bed i hate it because i always have to change him what should i do he is 16

  11. hey, I know what you’re going through…it’s so hard. What’s REALLY stressfull is the fear of REJECTION<<that is the main reason. It's so embarassing, this fear of staying the night or having a bf/gf.

    I'm 21 yrs old & will be transferring from community college nxt fall to a UC…I'm just scared of living in a dorm b/c of my issue :( It's only at night (almost every night) and I've heard that I've got primary nocturnal enuresis (based on research)<<<which is where you wet every night since the day you were born.

    I remember going to the doctor as a kid & after some tests they told my mother that everything was completely normal (like my bladder…I remember having to hold my pee for a very long time while they did like an ultra sound<<I guess to test my bladder capacity??).

    It just really sucks to have this & feel like you can never be with someone you'd really like. This issue may be due to me being a deep sleeper when I hit REM; whatever the reason, it's very stressful and I don't want to ever give up finding a solution that won't be hazardous to my health (like the consequences of taking meds your whole life).

  12. I can’t believe how many stupid and perverted trolls these sites get. Any story about any one forced into diapers excessively is likely a troll. Anything with the Catholic stories are crazy, it makes no sense at all, they can’t even tell convincing stories.

  13. It’s kind of strange. I see all this talk about teenage girls almost being tortured through their parents making them wear diapers and rubber panties. I don’t know if they’re actually serious, or if they’re just a 13 year old with a diaper or urine fetish, but I promise that this kind of activity does go on. My parents and I were invited to a Christmas party last year by a good friend of our family, a party for the community (I live in a small town). It was held at one of our towns politician’s houses. And when his daughter came down from upstairs (I’m gonna guess she was 16 or 17), she was wearing a short party dress with a diaper and rubber panties underneath. I know because I was 17 at the time and went over to talk to her for a while, not that it wasn’t obvious anyway. But at some point during the party, she actually wet the diaper. She said it was because “she got nervous.” I don’t know about that. In fact, I don’t know what kind of effect stuff like this is having on teens, but it can’t good for them mentally.

  14. I am a 16 year old girl and all of the sudden one night I just wet the bed for what seems to be no reason what so ever and I can’t think of anything help!

  15. i tried to email you some info but was unable to cause the email account was wrong, check it please

    lucy

  17. I was bed wetting everyday and it suddenly stopped when i was 15 years old.

    I had many problems when i was bed wetting.It couldn’t stay in relatives house or go to far places.

    Now im 20 years old and it suddenly stopped when i was 15.I don’t know how.

  19. Don’t worry about them. i still wet the bed. it takes time. Tell them to hold on and if that doesn’t work buy a bed wetting alarm. they will evenually stop wetting the bed. if this an issue put them in diapers. it’s ok

  20. My husband stiil wet the bed at 30
    years old. He had high blood pressure so I convinced him to stop drinking caffeine. It lowered his blood pressure, but he also stopped wetting the bed. He has not wet the bed in 2 years. My 13 year old daughter was also wetting the bed. So I told her to stop drinking caffeine and low and behold she quit wetting the bed. It has only been about 2 months for her. She did wet the bed a couple of times but then found out she drank caffeine. She still misses her caffeine but would rather not wet the bed. I hope this helps other bed wetters. Try it you have nothing to lose.

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