Hi Nicky. Our son is just about to turn 8 and while younger never had a major issue with wetting his bed - sometimes wet his bed but only spasmodically. Over the last couple of years he has had a few UTI's which he's had antibiotics for and they have instantly stopped the problem. Over the last couple of months he's been wetting his bed every night - sometimes twice in the night yet the last two tests show no UTI. Where do we go from here? He's feeling that it is his fault.
While urinary tract infections are certainly one underlying cause, a return to bedwetting may also result from increased anxiety due to a change in the home situation (such as the birth of a sibling or parental separation) or an emotional trauma (like being bullied at school). By age 10, about 8 children in 100 will relapse into bedwetting after being dry for a period of time. Often children will stop wetting at night when whatever is causing the stress has been resolved. There are a number of other underlying structural or medical causes to Secondary Nocturnal Enuresis so it is important that your son receives a thorough check-up from his GP just to rule these out. Whatever the cause, you need to reassure your son that this is in no way his fault, to build his self-esteem focus on all those things in his life that he does well – your support and encouragement at this time is paramount.
Regards,
Dr Cathrine
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