In 2015, the International Children’s Continence Society (ICCS) and the European Society for Paediatric Urology launched World Bedwetting Day.

This year, May 24th will be marked globally as World Bedwetting Day. The goal is to continue to raise awareness among the public and healthcare professionals about this embarrassing, but common medical condition.

The 2016 theme is ‘Time to Take Action’, and is in recognition that much more can be done to diagnose and treat children with bedwetting.

See your child’s Health Care Provider about bedwetting in school aged children. In most cases, there is no underlying disease in the bladder, kidneys or urinary tract, but this can be ruled out by a visit to your health care provider. He or she can also determine if there are other problems, such as daytime wetting or urgency, constipation or stool incontinence, urinary tract infections, or diabetes. These conditions should be addressed before nighttime wetting is treated.

Causes
Bedwetting can have several causes, with more than one cause affecting a particular child. The main predisposing factors are:
Sleep arousal difficulties
Nocturnal polyuria (production of large amounts of urine during the night)
Small bladder capacity or overactive bladder
Heredity

Bedwetting is not caused by a psychological condition but can affect a child’s emotional well-being and self-esteem. Bedwetting is not your child’s fault and they do not do it on purpose. Each year, 15% of children spontaneously stop wetting, however, 85% continue until the next year. Waiting before taking action leads to unnecessary suffering.

Action
Insure adequate fluid intake during the day
Insure regular soft bowel movements
Empty bladder two times before bed, 20-30 minutes apart
Begin moisture sensing bedwetting alarm to alert child and parents when wetting is occurring
Be consistent with bedwetting alarm use as your child learns to stop the flow of urine and empty in the toilet, eventually waking before the alarm sounds