Bed-wetting Statistics

Wetting the bed is a problem faced by a surprisingly large number of children and even teenagers. Medically referred to as nocturnal enuresis, bed-wetting can be a real problem for both the children and parents alike. In this article, we’ll be relaying several statistics that relate to bed-wetting to better help you understand exactly how widespread the problem is.

During our development, bladder control is reached at various ages depending on the person. Everybody is born a bed wetter, and while some get over the problem at a young age, it can take some children years to conquer bladder control issues. At age five, most children have a normal system of waking up when they need to urinate.

At age five, as much as twenty percent of children still experience a bed-wetting problem. After age five, the likelihood of nocturnal enuresis occurrence continues to decrease, though at a slower pace. Roughly ten to twenty percent of all first grade boys have a bed-wetting problem, and eight to seventeen percent of first grade girls. Around two percent of nineteen year olds may have bed-wetting issues.

If your child is a bed wetter, they face roughly a fifteen percent chance of getting rid of the problem without any outside help within the year. To that end, 85% of all bed wetters do not solve their problem without some form of outside intervention.

Bed-wetting doesn’t necessarily happen in the nighttime. While it most commonly occurs at night, statistics have shown:

• while seventy four percent of nocturnal enuresis sufferers wet the bed only at night,
• ten percent wet the bed only during the day
• and sixteen percent wet the bed both at night and during the daytime.

There are four established diagnoses when it comes to enuresis: diurnal enuresis, nocturnal enuresis, primary enuresis, and secondary enuresis.

Diurnal enuresis notes a problem with wetting the bed during the daytime.

Nocturnal enuresis affects the child only at night

Primary enuresis occurs when a child was not properly toilet trained

Secondary enuresis is present when the child had a case of enuresis that was believed to be cured, but has come back.

These statistics were compiled from various sources on bed-wetting. Since the testing methods may be skewed, it’s important to take every statistic that you read with a grain of salt until you fully understand the process the researchers went through when collecting the data. Many of the facts above about bed-wetting are well-known and are therefore considered sound data. Some of the results may be slightly off, but generally, the information is just about correct.

Now that you can see just how prevalent the problem is, you may want to affirm your child with the information so they realize that they are not alone. Many bed wetters are ashamed of their problem, and getting over that shame is an important step in curing the problem.

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