Frequent bedwetting in younger children under the age of five isn't usually a cause for concern (unless the child is very upset by it). This is also the case for occasional episodes of bedwetting in older children.
Bedwetting is usually only regarded as a medical issue when it occurs in children who are five years old or older and who wet the bed at least twice a week.
Additional symptoms
In around 1 in 5 cases, a child has additional symptoms that are related to their bedwetting.
The medical name for this is polysymptomatic enuresis. These symptoms may include:
- a sudden and urgent need to urinate, which can result in loss of bladder control (urinary incontinence) if your child can't reach a toilet in time
- urinary incontinence that's unrelated to an urgent need to urinate
- a frequent need to urinate or, alternatively, an infrequent urge to urinate, which in most cases would be less than four times a day
- pain when urinating
- having to strain to pass urine
- constipation
- soiling (accidental loss of bowel control)
- feeling very thirsty all the time
- high temperature (fever) of 38°C (100.4°F) or above
- having blood in their urine
When to seek medical advice
Most children will grow out of bedwetting so treatment is often not required. But if a child or the parents, or both, are finding episodes of bedwetting particularly upsetting or bothersome, then treatment should be sought.
Aside from the physical affects of bedwetting, such as skin irritation, the condition can have a significant adverse impact on some children’s self esteem and self confidence. In these cases, if bedwetting is left untreated, it may lead to psychological problems in later life.
It's therefore recommended that you arrange an appointment with your child’s GP. You should also visit your child’s GP if they have any of the additional symptoms listed above because they could be due to an underlying health condition, such as type 1 diabetes or a urinary tract infection (usually a bacterial infection of the urinary tract).
