Most children who wet the bed, even at the ripe old age of eleven, don’t have anything wrong with them. It’s not unusual developmentally for some kids to take longer dealing with night-time bedwetting.
However, the main reason you do want to get medical assistance and an exam from a qualified doctor if your child is experiencing this issue at age seven and up, is to rule out possible underlying health conditions that can cause bedwetting.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
If your child has some kind of infection, it can cause them to avoid using the toilet during the day. They may be experiencing pain and a more frequent need to go. If they get these infections often, there may even be an underlying anatomical abnormality causing it.
Diabetes
If someone has diabetes, one of the ways the body fights it is by increasing urine output. The reason your body wants to make more urine is to get rid of the extra sugar in your body that insulin is not taking care of.
Anatomical Abnormality
Your child may have something going on with their organs, muscles, nerves, and so forth that can cause incontinence and bedwetting. One sign of this is the length of time it takes from going to sleep until the flow of urine happens. If it’s immediately after going to sleep even if your child used the potty prior to bed, this is a potential concern to discuss with your child’s doctor.
Neurological Issues
Issues with the nervous system can cause a problem with the natural and healthy urination signals that your child receives.
Emotional Problems
It’s not that unusual for children to experience regression in their potty skills if they are going through something emotionally – for example, if they are being bullied, abused, or if they are simply worried about their parent’s marriage. If something new is happening and new bedwetting behavior occurs, you may want to speak to a counselor who can help you deal with it.
Hereditary
The truth is, even though we don’t know why, it seems that some long-term bedwetting issues are indeed hereditary. If that is the case with you, that doesn’t always mean that it’s not a health problem too. Make sure you still take your child to the doctor to help determine the reason.
Remember that even if none of this is a contributing factor to your child’s bedwetting, it doesn’t mean that your child is doing it on purpose. Even if the reason is behavioral, it doesn’t mean it’s on purpose either. Children are very individualized when they finally have dry nights, and the best you can do is ensure your child is healthy, and then support them emotionally through the process of becoming dry at night.
