Bedwetting In 8 To 12 Year Olds

Although most children have dry nights by the time they start school, there are plenty of 8 to 12-year-olds who wet the bed, with around 2% of all kids continuing to do so right up to late teens. Bedwetting is more common in boys than girls.

Make sure your child understands that they’re not the only one, nor is it their fault. Kids in this age group are highly likely to be ashamed of their bedwetting and worry that others will find out and they’ll be teased. As a parent it’s your job to be upbeat and compassionate to maintain their self-esteem and happiness while you help them through this stage.

• Nearly all children eventually grow out of bedwetting at nighttime.Bedwetting runs in families. If one parent wet the bed as a child there is a 50% chance of their child wetting the bed. If both parents wet the bed, then 

• there’s a 75% chance their children will too.
• Deep sleepers don’t wake in response to the message sent by the bladder to the brain that it is full. The bladder then either tries to store the urine until the child wakes up, or it empties while the child sleeps.
• Some children pee in their sleep because they do not produce enough of the hormone ADH. This hormone helps monitor the amount of urine produced. If nighttime ADH levels are low, your child will produce the same amount of urine as they do during the day. These kids will keep peeing in their sleep until their bodies make more of the hormone. In some cases, this might not happen until they are ten years old.
• Unlike potty training, which is deliberate and happens during the day when the child is conscious, nighttime bladder control depends on the maturity of the nervous system and bladder so it can be much harder to train a child a night.