With pajamas soaked and sheets saturated, they climb out of bed believing their laziness, stupidity or stubbornness caused the accident. Humiliated by a habit they can't understand and aren't able to control, some seven million American youngsters struggle with bedwetting, also known as nocturnal enuresis. To complicate matters, many of their parents are convinced bedwetting is a behavioral problem not a physical one. For years, bedwetting was considered psychological in nature, says Dr. Allan Shanberg , director of pediatric urology at UCI Medical Center and medical director of the new Antoci Center for Pediatric Urology and Nephrology . Today, however, we've established that it's a medical problem in most cases.
Reasons range from the simple to the complex, but one thing is certain.
Urination is a complex activity, explains Shanberg. When a child is very young, his or her bladder fills to a certain point, then automatically contracts and empties. But as the youngster grows older, the nervous system develops. As a result, the child's brain begins to send signals to the bladder to keep it from automatically emptying when it's full. Unless there's a urinary tract infection or other abnormality, doctors generally aren't concerned about bedwetting until a child reaches 8 or 9 years of age.