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
I know a girl who is about to be 17 and is still peeing the bed every nite, and during the day!! She doesn’t seem to care at all. She doesn’t go change her clothes, or her sheets, and then wonders why ppl make fun of her! I just don’t understand how she can wake up every day n just be ok with the fact that she just slept in a pissy bed, and then puts on nasty smelling clothes and JUST DOESN”T CARE!!! She doesn’t need diapers as they just condone the problems as far as I’m concerned. I think she needs a WAKE UP call. Her problem is pure LAZINESS. She has been to the doctor and all has been tested and all is fine. What her mother and I have been trying to do is find some kind of program to help, whether it means she has to be sent away or not. If anyone has any useful information on where we can call to get help it would be great.
I am writing this on behalf of one of my best friends who is a bedwetter and i want to try and help her.she wears nursery print plastic pants over her bedwetting diaper every night and has at least 2 dozen pairs of them in her drawer all with baby prints on them.i have slept over at her house and seen her many times with the baby print plastic pants on.i asked her why she wears the baby print kind and she told me thats all her mom buys for her.i know she is not happy wearing the baby print plastic pants and told me she wants pastel or white ones to wear.can anyone tell me how i can help her to deal with her mom?
To all out there who have to wear diapers and plastic pants for bedwetting. Your not alone in any of this. I have been an Adult Babysitter for 5 years now.
If anyone of you would like to talk more about how you fell. Please add me to facebook or msn under [email protected].
i need an opinion from you other 16 year old girls here.do you feel its ok for parents to require their 16 year old daughters to wear a thick cloth diaper and plastic pants to bed for her bedwetting? i know three girls in this situation and they are not happy.
No, I do not see this as reasonable. You can find plastic sheet kind of things. It requires some cleaning if you wet the bed. It should be put under your mattress pad and if you wet the bed then the next morning you wash your sheets, blankets, and mattress pad and then with a soapy wash cloth you clean off the plastic sheet. When you sleep you should not be able to feel it and in the morning it requires some time for the cleanup but in my opinion it’s far better than cloth diapers and plastic pants. Hope this helps!!!
@Katie & April,
I’m sorry but I find it utter nonsense to state that it’s better to have to clean up smelly, soaked pyjamas and bed-sheets a couple of times a week. For crying out loud: I’m also a bedwetter and I find adequate protection such as good comfortable diapers and plastic pants a godsend gift.
The greatest problem here isn’t the bedwetting or whatever we use to manage it; it is the strange ideas that people have about it. It is those ideas that cause untold misery for millions of people like myself who just have a handicap that we’d like to manage in the best possible way, thank you very much. I’m sick of other people telling us that we shouldn’t use diapers because they have this wacky idea that only babies and MS patients should be allowed to wear those. What is the matter with you?
Some people just have a bladder control problem that is not their own fault. Deal with it!
Is it really possible that this will never go away? the doctors kee p saying that he will grow out of it!!! When?!!!
please tell me what to do!! 16 years old!! and it still happens every nite!!!
Im 16 and I’m a bedwetter! I don’t know what to do? My mom always is yelling at me for wetting my bed. I don’t wet my bed on purpose! I get so frustrated!! I’m not the only one who has this problem but my little brother who is 10 also wets the bed . What can I do or should do?
Hello- I am 15 going on 16 years of age and I still wet the bed. I have a sister a couple years younger than me, she doesnt but my 9 year old brother does. If you find out any inforataion, let me know. I cant seem to find any answers.!!!! Good luck, to the both of us.
I am 17 and also wet the bed everynight and I hate it, I never let my friends stay the night at my house because it’s so embarrassing and never go out. I don’t know what to do. I’ve even tried to stop drinking a ew hours before bed but it won’t help. D:
May I know all to well how frustrating it can be to be a teen and have a bedwetting problem. I use to be afraid to wear a protection at night but now wear either pullon protection with a pad or a cloth diaper with plastic pants. If you wear a good quality plastic pant you shouldn’t have cracking and noise. They cost a little more but well worth the cost. It is nice to be able to sleep without fear of waking in a wet bed and pajamas.
may,why dont you just wear a cloth or disposable diaper and plastic pants like i do.they keep my bed dry and arent that uncomfortable.
i need help! i am 16 and a bedwetter.like the rest of the people here.i wear a thick cotton diaper with adult size plastic pants over it every night.the plastic pants fit me baggy and crinkle under my pajamas when i walk around.does anyone know how to soften them up so they dont crinkle? p.s. i am being confirmed in may and per parish requirements have to wear a white floor length formal dress and veil.my mom told me i have to wear one of my bedwetting diapers and plastic pants under the dress,so this is another reason i dont want them to crinkle.
I’m 16 years old girl, and yeah I still wet my bed. I use to sleep at 11 pm because I think i only wet in my bed every midnight. I always set my alarm at 2 am, but sometimes i forgot to wake. There’s a time that i won’t wet my bed, and there’s i time that i wet my bed. This Jan. me and my classmate need to go somewhere and sleep there. I’m scared that I will wet my bed there. Help me please.
My daughter is 18, in college and still wets her bed. I am worried for her psychological well being, Emotionally and physically this drains her. She puts her sheets in a bag and hides them til the coast is clear to go wash them. The dorm room smells strong of pee and the scent won’t come out in the wash. I am concerned about her isolating herself or worse being shunned by her dorm mates.
She didn’t wet the bed until she was started school. I have taken her to many doctors, but have been unsuccessful. We’ve tried everything but nothing helps. I am concerned that it is more than just a developmental stage. I need to help her!
I’m 19 and wet the bed every so often. I’m a deep sleeper and don’t wake up in time sometimes. The periods when I wet the bed are very sporadic. I’ve gone up to three months at times without wetting. Other times I wet twice a week. At times I’ve dreamed I was standing in front of the toilet, only to be woken up from wetting. I’m tired of dealing with this. I don’t want to use pills, alarms, etc. I need a natural way to stop this. Please help.
I started wetting the bed at 8 time to time i would wet the bed, but hide it from my mom. I started wearing my little brother’s diapers (he was 4) then i started to leak the pull-ups so i wore more then one. Then my brother got somewhat potty trained so i was out of diapers until i was 11 and i had to buy diapers and has i had accidents i forgot how to poo in the potty, but then i got bad in the middle of the day about late November my mom searched my room for diapers and
i was totally out so i had to get use to the potty!
I just wish my mom joined in on me and got and changed my diapers
I am 14 and still wet the bed, i know it’s something I shouldn’t be embarrased about but I am. How are you suppose to wear night pants on a camp or sleepover without your friends finding out? Cuz idk how to tell them or if they would understand. Does anyone have any tips?
Please have a parent or guardian take you to the doctor. If the doctor cannot find anything wrong physically with you, there are pills to help control bladder functions during the night. It is not commom for a girl to have a bed wetting problem at your age but a lot of boys have this problem at age 14. Do not drink anything after 7 pm might also help. Do not drink coffee or softdrinks at night. Also, if you know what kegel exercises are (as a female in your family) that will also help streghten the bladder muscle to hold urine longer. You will eventually stop bed wetting…..
i need help i am 19 years old and i wet my bed and i want to stop it. the thing is i dont know what to do to stop it. I have tried everything from the nasal spray to diapers to everything. i even had an accident in my car on the way home from somewhere and now my car smells and cant get rid of the smell is there a way that works best for that, any help would be very much appreciated.
Sounds like you are having bladder muscle function problems. Go see a doctor for help. This ususually happens after women have given birth because the bladder ges stretched out and women lose control. Now you know why there are so many Depends commericals on TV. I read that 1 in 3 women have continensce problems after giving birth vaginally. If you feel more comfortable, see a female gynocologist. Good luck.
I am now 42 and started bedwetting when I was 7, after my parents brokeup. I also started dressing in girls cloths too at the same time, (not related I think!) I started to wear plastic pants with towles inside for bed, and later was able to buy adult diapers. I have no problems when awake. Although I have gone out in diapers dressed as a teenage girl with the sole intent of wetting them, making sure I drink plenty of water beforehand, and that I.m trapped in a situation where I have to pee myself, I suppose that is more a fetish than a problem. Although I do love going out dressed totally as a normally dressed female, I have always had a love for younger styles, i.e. teenage cloths, but in the last 15 years, I would never go out in them! I also have 2 wedding dresses and 4 bridesmaids dresses( every girl wnats them I think, lol) I have had many girlfriends over the years, and never had many problems with my wetting or my dressing. Sometimes I can go for weeks without wetting, then other times I could wet every night for weeks too. I have over the last 12 years also had a love for adult baby dresses, and now with my diaper and lace frilled plastic pants wear baby girls cloths and bonnet and mitts to match. So although bedwetting is a problem I have never overcome, I do get some enjoyment out of it, by way off being a girl. I know this sounds silly, but is all true! Just try to find a way to enjoy it if you can’t cure it. Lots of Love Mandy x
i am 13 and i wet the bed last night…..its usually not frequent but idk how to stop it…….. the whole dont drink past 7 and wake up every so often to go pee doesnt work……also the whole go b4 u sleep doesnt work…idk how to fix it I WANT IT TO GO AWAY SO I CAN LIVE A NORMAL LIFE!!!
ps the wake up every so often just leaves me tired and depressed to know this is what i have to live with
Nicole, I think the only thing that I can suggest to you is not to drink any fluids maybe a half hour to an hour before you go to bed. Also with the whole bed wetting situation you will be able to get over it,it may not be right away but you will get over it in time. because i know from a personal experience I didn’t stop wetting the bed until i was i think maybe 8-14 years of age. but nicole as long as you limit your fluids around an hour to a half hour before you go to be at night I believe that should really help you a lot.
Best of Luck Nicole,
Sincerly,Michelle Coleman from Florida.
I am 12 years old and I am incontinent. I have very little control of my body. I wear diapers everywhere. When I act out my parents give me a pacifier and tell me I am a baby. When they do that I have to wear pants that have snaps on them or little girl dresses or footed sleepers. Something to remind me that I am a baby. People laugh at me in public and it bothers me. If I wasn’t incontinent my parents would respect me. Also when I act out I sleep in a crib and my parents take my temperature anally.
My
i hope some other bedwetting girls here can give me some advice.i am a girl,14 and have been a bedwetter for the last 8 months.due to a skin reaction to disposable diapers,i wear a cloth pin on diaper and plastic pants to bed every night.on christmas eve my sunday school class is singing at 11;00 pm service.all of the girls have to wear a white dress and tights and white shoes for the service.my mom told me that she is going to put my bedwetting diaper and plastic pants on me when i get dressed so she doesnt have to do it when we get home. i have never worn my diaper and plastic pants under tights and want to know if any other girls here have done it and if my tights will slide down over my diaper and plastic pants.can any girls here give me any advice?
Brenda, tights are inappropriate for girls who need to wear diapers and rubber panties. Your mother should put nice frilly white ankle socks on you with matching rubber panties for your concert and encourage the other mothers to have their girls to wear socks also. Socks make diaper changes much easier and grownups prefer to see girls your age wearing socks rather than tights.
Hi my name is Veronica I am also 14 and I to have problems with keeping it in. I have been a bed wetting problems to. I to often use my diaper in public I can’t hold either of them in. But if u wear tights with diapers they’re easly noticible. So wear the platic undies and put something absorbent in them and it will be less noticible. (sorry for spelling errors have a -D in english)
Hi Brenda
YES, plastic panties will cause your tights to slide down. I have worn diapers and tights many times. What I have learned is to wear a pair of panties (you say your dress is white, so be sure you wear white panties) over your tights and diaper. This will hold the tights up in place.
BTW – don’t listen to “Jean”. I’ve seen her post on other sites and she’s borderline psychotic. I doubt it is even female.
you are stupid