Intro

After finding three wet beds at 7am I found myself googling one more time:
“At what age should my child stop wetting the bed?”

I wanted milestones. Charts. Progress reports. As parents, we want to know if our kid is “normal” (and when we can finally take the mattress protectors off).

Here’s the kicker — bedwetting seems to be pretty random.

From toddlers to teenagers (and yes, even a few grown-ups), bedwetting doesn’t always follow a tidy timeline.  Even in the same family, some kids sleep dry through the night right after toilet training, and others seem to take forever to figure it out. 

Check out what I’ve found:

Ages 2–4: The “Pull-Up Years”

Sorry, not a lot of good statistics here since bed wetting is still extremely common in this age group.

This is where it all begins — the grand potty-training era. Your child proudly announces their first dry night, you cheer like they’ve won the Olympics, and then… the next night, you’re washing the sheets again.

Totally normal.  In our house, that’s been the process for all our kids.  Once toilet-trained, they’d continue to wear pull-ups at night.  Seven dry nights in a row and we’d allow them to go without.  If they have an accident, then the process would start again.

During these years, nighttime dryness is highly variable. Most kids are still learning to recognize bladder signals, and their bodies are figuring out the whole “wake up before you pee” thing. Some stay dry early, others take their sweet time — both are perfectly fine.

Parent tip: Invest in a waterproof mattress cover early!

Ages 5–7: The “Wait, Aren’t You Too Old for This?” Stage

This is a more frequently studied range. For example:
– At age 5: roughly 15-20% of children still wet the bed. American Academy of Family Physicians
– At age 6: about 12-13% in some sources. National Association For Continence
– At age 7: about 10% of children are reported to wet the bed. NCBI
– One cohort study: at age 7 children had ~11.0% with enuresis in that study. PubMed

This is the age when you start comparing notes with other parents (or googling for solutions by some fathers!).

Your friend’s kid? Dry since preschool. Yours? Still waking up soggy twice a week.

Here’s the truth: about 15% of kids this age still wet the bed regularly. That’s not rare — that’s about 1 in 6 on your kid’s soccer team, classroom, and playgroup, all quietly dealing with the same thing.

For many kids, it’s simply a matter of bladder size and deep sleep. They’re not lazy. They’re not behind. Their bodies are just on a different schedule. 

This is the point we would usually start throwing things against the wall to see what stuck.  We’ve tried almost all the things you’re not supposed to try, and are supposed to try, with varying degrees of success.  We’ve limited water, provided extra water, woken in the night to take them to the bathroom, used alarms, and even coaching.  Seems like we’ve tried it all. 

Ages 8–12: The “Secret Sleepover Panic” Phase

The prevalence continues to decline with age. For example:
– At age 8: ~7% of children still wet the bed. NCBI
– By age 10: ~5% (in one source). NCBI
– By age 12 to 14: about 2-3%. NCBI

At this age, kids are becoming independent.  They want to reach beyond where parents are in control.  Its when the dreaded sleepovers and camps begin. 

And as parents, you start Googling “bedwetting hacks for older kids” like it’s your second job. (Been there.)

At this stage, if bed wetting is still happening, is likely pretty sporadic.  It could be a few weeks dry and then twice in the same week wet.  This is the psychoanalysis phase.  What may have happened that was the cause?  Did they drink enough during the day, any stressor that day?

As that dreaded sleepover draws close, you just pray for another dry night.  Or maybe suggest away they can discreetly pack a nighttime pull-up.   

The good news? Most kids outgrow it naturally each year. If it’s still happening often, it’s worth chatting with a pediatrician – there is a small chance there could be a medical diagnosis like constipation that’s having an impact, and it feels good (to parent and child!) to have that medical reassurance that everything is ok. 

Teen Years: “When Does This End, Exactly?”

Rates drop further but do not go to zero. For example:
– Teens: about 1-2% of adolescents still wet the bed.
– One source reports for late teens ~1% or so. National Association For Continence

Ah yes, the teenage years — when you’re supposed to be worrying about car keys and curfews, not bedwetting.

But it happens. Research shows around 1–2% of teens still deal with it, often due to deep sleep cycles or genetics. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, even if it’s incredibly frustrating.

Teens are often more self-conscious, so handling it privately and with reassurance is key. You’re not “babying” them — you’re being a good parent. And yes, there are ways to help even at this stage.

Parent tip: Keep the conversation calm, matter-of-fact, and shame-free. (And resist the urge to joke about it. Even well-meaning humor can sting at this age.)

Adults: “Wait… This Can Still Happen?”

Believe it or not — yes. About 1 in 100 adults experience bedwetting, often due to medical or sleep-related causes.

For some, it’s a lifelong pattern that runs in the family. For others, it can pop up due to stress, medications, or sleep apnea. If that’s you (or your grown child), you’re not weird — you’re just part of a small but very real group.

Thankfully, modern medicine has come a long way. There’s real help available — and zero need for embarrassment.

So What’s the “Right Age” to Stop Bedwetting?

Honestly? Whenever your child’s body decides it’s ready.

Bedwetting is one of the last milestones in physical development that kids truly can’t control. You can’t rush it, punish it, or parent it away — but you can support it, protect their confidence, and keep the laundry detergent stocked.

Most kids are dry by age 6 or 7, but some take longer — and that’s okay. What matters most is helping them know it’s normal and temporary.

I feel like we’ve tried almost everything.  I hate seeing the big pile of wet pull-ups accumulate in the garbage.  It’s hard on the environment and hard on the wallet.  Even shortening the bed wetting by 6 months would have a big impact on both, as well as our sleep.

Consistency, however, has probably been lacking.  Parents are busy, right? Once there are a few nights of success, our guard would come down, and we would forget to make sure whatever process we’re currently following gets done, and inevitably, we get another wet bed. 

Until we don’t – dry beds eventually happen.  But was it something that we did, or did they “grow out of it?”

From One Tired-but-Hopeful Dad to Another

Every parent wonders, “When will this end?” Particularly when you have a long span of children.  The secret I’ve learned (still working on it) is to be patient and try to make things easier.  There will be another wetbed so make sure you are set up for when it inevitably happens again.  Make sure you have a mattress cover and a bed that’s easy to change the sheets because you’ll be doing it a lot.  The easier the process, the less frustration.

Your kid is not broken. You’re not failing. You’re just in a season — and seasons always change (eventually!).

Hang in there, and keep dry.

Dad