Bed-wetting in teenagers and adults: what you can do
Do not blame yourself. Remind yourself that it is not your fault. There is no need to feel guilty or dirty. And remember that no one can tell just by looking at you that you have this problem.
Cut down on alcohol. Trial and error will show you if this helps. Similarly, try cutting down on coffee in the evening.
Use an alarm clock to wake you a couple of hours or so after going to bed, and a couple of hours before your usual waking time. Vary the time every few days, to avoid getting into the habit of emptying the bladder at the same time each night.
Try sleeping in a different bed, or moving to a different room or even just moving your bed into a different position – some people find this helps.
Visit your doctor if you have not already done so. You may be so embarrassed that you feel this is impossible for you – and in fact 1 in every 6 adults and teenagers who wet the bed never seek help. Resolve to be one of the brave people who gets it sorted. Your doctor will not be surprised or embarrassed, and will be pleased to help (look at the section on talking to your doctor). But you must explain clearly that your problem is wetting the bed. Do not pretend you have cystitis or some other urine problem, hoping the doctor will guess what is wrong, because he or she probably will not. For 2–3 weeks before you see the doctor, keep a diary detailing when you wet the bed.
Written by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Edited by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Last updated:
Friday, February 12th 2010
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Posted by ME on 09/03/2010 at 11:37:26 am
My brother and I have wet the bed since we were little. Its genetic, my father wet when he was young. My brother stopped when he turned about 13 well i am now 18 and I still wet the bed. Sometimes I have dry nights. Sometimes dry for a week straight then it will start again. Told it was from stress but even when i dont have anything to be stressed about. My boyfriend knows because i peed on him once. lol but he understood and supports me through it. My best friend also knows and she understands. Its really embarrassing but tell the person your always with like a boyfriend, girlfriend, or bestie, they understand. They find out eventuall anyways.I thought it would have stopped by now but I dont know what to think anymore. Im going to see my doctor to find out the cause and my options. Its work....and i wish hope for everyone with this problem.
Posted by Debz on 04/03/2010 at 01:12:16 pm
Im 19 and ive wet the bed all my life, ive been to doctors, ive been to clinics and i still wet the bed, if im in someone else place i dont wet it but wen i get comfotable i start, its very anoyin cos ive tried everythign from alarms to tablets n it still happens, im 20 this year and am soo embaressed i jus ddont know wot to do!!
Posted by george on 31/01/2010 at 04:51:00 pm
i am at my wits end i have started wetting the bed but its only when i have had a few beers that this happens it has only recently started a few months ago wondering if anyone may have the same prob, as i say its only after a few beers.and would appreciate your view on this.
Posted by joseph jesujoba on 19/01/2010 at 11:21:00 am
It is already a thing of shame. I will discover i found myself playinf in my sleep and just dashed to a nearby to urinate, half into it i will wake up.
Posted by Anonymous on 18/01/2010 at 07:36:00 pm
Iam now 15 going on 16 and i have always wet the bed. I went to tge doctor because i jus couldnt cope anymore wuth the embaressment of having to tell my mumnit had happend and so the doctor gave me some tablets, desmopressin, to stop it from happerning. Within the 1st couple of months i wasnt bed wetting at all i was soo happy but a couple of weeks ago i wet the bed i took my tablet tgat night but it still happend. Please help???
Posted by Justin on 18/01/2010 at 11:10:00 am
Yes, I'm sixteen years old and i still freakin wet my freakin bed. I'm going crazy because it's so embarrassing. My parents found it out recently and my dad is killing me and telling me how disgusting it is. it's not my fault! i felt so alone but now through this site, not as much as before.
Posted by john on 06/01/2010 at 05:24:00 pm
I feel very embarrassed about having to start to wear a nappy and a pair of incontinence pants for bed and have a rubber sheet under me for bed wetting. I live on my own andI feel worried about visiting members of my family seeing any of these things while they are hanging up while drying after washing but feel too embarrassed also to tell them that I have started to wet the bed,so I'm not sure how to approach this this situation.
Posted by Anonymous on 12/10/2009 at 04:29:00 am
yeah im 17 and i have never had a dry night in my life i now have a boyfriend and he wants me to sleep over at his house but im to embarrassed to tell him that i wet the bed. i used to wear pull ups until a few years ago and then i just stopped wearing them because thats even more embarrassing. what do i do?
Posted by Tye on 18/09/2009 at 03:37:00 pm
I am 21 and I used to wet the bed every night up until I was 16. When I was 11 I found out that I only have 1 kidney and it needed to be operated on. After hitting 16 it became less frequent, after I hit 19 I stopped wetting before I started my period every month and I find that I do not wet when someone is sleeping next to me. Unfortunately this problem has come back and I don't know what to do about it. It only seems to happen on the nights that my fiance and I have sex. I don't know why this is happening, but I want it to stop.
Posted by CM on 16/09/2009 at 09:12:00 pm
i am 23 years old. I have been wetting the bed since I was a child. No one in my entire family has tis problem. I am scared to go to the doctors. I don't even feel it when it happenes. I am unable to wake up. Is there anything that can help this problem.
Posted by Anonymous on 16/09/2009 at 10:56:00 am
I have been wetting my bed for the last 15 years, ever since my wife passed. I feel this website has helped greatly and has minimised my early morning accidents. Thank-you
Posted by shell on 19/07/2009 at 04:08:00 pm
have been wetting myself and the bed for years after giving birth to my daughter . i now control this by wearing a nappy . not very nice but atleast iam dry . my husband is very supportive . so dont wait use prottection and save on getting embaressed .
Posted by peanut butter on 18/07/2009 at 05:46:00 pm
i have started to wet the bed at night i don't know why though i just started wetting the bed but this has never happened before why?
Posted by green on 05/05/2009 at 11:11:00 am
on odd occasions i wet the bed,usually i have either beendreaming about urinating or i have been in a very deep sleep and the wet bed wakes me. I dont drink at night, but i do drink tea and coffee in the daytime. I alstake medicartion for angina
Posted by Anonymous on 13/04/2009 at 12:35:00 am
I have been bed wetting since I was a child. I thought it would stop as got older but it is now worse than ever. I am bed wetting on a nightly basis(every night)it is getting very bad. I even get up at least twice in the night desperate for the loo and can still wake up wet in the morning. It is now driving me mad, I just want to go to sleep and wake up nice and dry. I dont get into deep sleeps never have really, so I dont know why this happens every night?? Can anyone help me?
Posted by Anonymous on 24/03/2009 at 03:54:00 am
I havent "wet the bed" since i was very young, but a couple months ago it happened, i woke up right after, terrified and washed everything before anyone woke up. Now i fear it will happen again, and i have the strong urge to urinate every time a lay down to sleep even if i use the restroom right before
Posted by Anonymous on 22/03/2009 at 02:16:00 am
My roommate has wet our futon twice in the last week. We have no idea why she does this and she doesn't own up to it, even though there are even still yellow stains on the futon. She finally washed the sheets after asking her to. What can I do to solve this problem? How do you confront it or what precautions do you take to prevent it or keep it sanitary?
Posted by rose on 07/03/2009 at 07:24:00 pm
i am 34 and in this last mounth i have started wetting bed i dont know what to do
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Bed wetting in teenagers and adults: what you can do
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