What is Enuresis?

And At What Age Should A Child Be Dry?

Problems with both bedwetting and incontinence of either the bladder or bowel are quite common in young children. For example - for 7 year olds - 10% still wet at night, 2-3% still wet during the day and 1-3% still soil.

If children of seven or older have one problem, they often have more than one of these problems. A percentage of these children also have incontinence or enuresis  alongside other mental disorders such as autism and ADHD, or physical disabilities such as kidney damage, but not all of these children have any other physical or mental problem as a cause or irritant for their enuresis or incontinence.

There is no set age at which its considered to be “normal” to be dry and you can look at the statistics below to see why this is so. However as a guideline, between the age of 5-6yrs,  if bed wetting shows no sign of  “drying up”, bed wetting treatment will help to speed the process along.

Statistics for Enuresis

Depending on specific studies the statistics for Enuresis are similar to the percentages shown below

* 82% of children have enuresis at 2
That means 82 toddlers in a 100 still wet the bed at 2
* 49% of children have enuresis at 3
That means 49 in a 100 pre schoolers still wet the bed at 3
* 26% of children have enuresis at 4
That means 26 in a 100 pre schoolers still wet the bed at 4
* 15-20% of children have enuresis at 5
That means 15 in a 100 kindy kids still wet the bed at 5
* 7% of children have enuresis at 7
That means 7 in a 100 school children at 7 still wet the bed
* 5% of children still have enuresis at 10
Thats 5 in every 100 school children at 10 still wet the bed
* 3% of children still have enuresis at 12
Thats 3 in every 100 high school children at 12 still wet the bed
* 1-2% of children still have enuresis at 18
Thats 1 in every 100 teenagers at 18 still wet the bed

As many as 12 % of children aged 5–17 years still have a daytime wetting problem. One third of these children will also have bedwetting. Day wetting is more common in girls than boys. Boys have more bedwetting than girls. Bedwetting occurs more frequently in the first born child.

Medical experts say there is not a specific age for children to become dry but it is commonly accepted that between 5 and 6 years of age a more assertive approach to the issue should be started to treat and cure it.