By Barbara J. Moore, Founder & CEO
Table of Contents
- The Medical Community’s Current View
- What Bedwetting Really Is
- Why the Old Approaches Don’t Work
- The Science Behind Bedwetting
- A Better Path Forward
- Real Solutions Exist
- Frequently Asked Questions
When parents bring their child to the doctor for bedwetting, they usually hear the same advice. “Don’t worry. They’ll grow out of it.” Or maybe the doctor suggests medication. Sometimes they recommend limiting drinks before bed.
These responses have been standard for decades. But here’s the problem: they don’t work.
After 50 years of helping families end bedwetting, we’ve seen thousands of children and teens who tried everything their doctor suggested. They waited years. They took medications. They stopped drinking water after dinner. Yet they still wet the bed night after night.
The medical world needs to rethink how they view this issue. Bedwetting affects five to seven million American children right now. That makes it the second most common childhood condition. Yet most doctors still treat it like a minor problem that will fix itself.
The Medical Community’s Current View
Most doctors approach bedwetting as either a medical problem or something to ignore. They often run tests looking for physical causes. When the tests come back normal, they tell parents to wait it out.
This happens because doctors are trained to find medical causes for problems. They look for infections, diabetes, or issues with the bladder. When they don’t find anything wrong, they assume time will solve the issue.
But this thinking misses the real cause of bedwetting. It also leaves millions of children waiting for help that never comes.
Many pediatricians mean well. They care about their patients. They want to help. But their training didn’t include the real solution to bedwetting. Some doctors do recognize this gap and refer patients to specialists who can help. However, many others stick with outdated advice because that’s what they learned.
Parents often ask us why their doctor didn’t tell them about better options. They wonder why their child spent years trying treatments that didn’t work. These are fair questions.
What Bedwetting Really Is
Here’s what many doctors miss: bedwetting is not a medical disorder. It’s a sleep disorder.
Children who wet the bed sleep too deeply. Their body produces urine during the night, but they don’t wake up when their bladder gets full. They sleep right through it.
This deep sleep pattern is inherited. If a parent wet the bed as a child, their kids often do too. It runs in families, just like eye color or height.
Dr. Roger Broughton, a neurologist and sleep researcher, proved this connection through groundbreaking research. His study showed that bedwetting happens because of how deeply someone sleeps. This wasn’t a theory. It was proven science.
Yet even with this proof, most doctors still treat bedwetting as either a bladder problem or something that doesn’t need treatment. They keep recommending approaches that don’t address the sleep issue at all.
Why the Old Approaches Don’t Work
Let’s look at the three most common recommendations doctors give:
Wait and See
Telling parents to wait assumes the child will naturally outgrow bedwetting. Some do. But millions don’t. Many people continue wetting the bed into their teenage years and even adulthood.
Meanwhile, children deal with shame, low self-esteem, and social problems. They miss sleepovers and camps. They feel different from their friends. Waiting doesn’t just mean wet sheets. It means years of emotional pain.
Medication
Some doctors prescribe medication that reduces urine production at night. This can reduce bedwetting episodes while the child takes it. But it doesn’t fix the underlying sleep problem.
When kids stop taking the medication, bedwetting usually comes back. The medicine was just covering up the issue, not solving it.
Plus, medications come with side effects. Parents worry about giving their child drugs every night for a problem that has a better solution.
Fluid Restriction
Limiting drinks before bedtime sounds logical. Less fluid in means less urine out, right?
But this approach doesn’t work either. Children who wet the bed do so because they don’t wake up, not because they drink too much water. Even with restricted fluids, they still sleep through a full bladder.
This approach can also leave kids thirsty and uncomfortable. It teaches them that their body’s natural signals are wrong. That’s not a healthy message.
The Science Behind Bedwetting
The key to ending bedwetting is understanding sleep patterns. Deep sleepers don’t respond to their body’s signals during the night. Their bladder fills up, but their brain doesn’t register the message to wake up.
This isn’t the child’s fault. They’re not lazy or immature. They’re not trying to be difficult. Their body simply sleeps too deeply to receive the signals it needs.
The good news? Sleep patterns can be changed. When children learn to sleep less deeply and respond to their body’s signals, bedwetting stops. No medication needed. No years of waiting. No invasive tests.
This approach addresses the actual cause instead of just managing symptoms. It teaches the body and brain to work together differently during sleep.
A Better Path Forward
Doctors need to shift their thinking about bedwetting. Instead of viewing it as a medical problem or something to ignore, they should recognize it as a sleep disorder that can be treated.
This means:
- Acknowledging that bedwetting won’t always go away on its own
- Understanding that medication only masks the problem
- Recognizing that the sleep disorder needs to be addressed directly
- Referring patients to specialists who can help with sleep-related solutions
The medical community has good information about many conditions. But when it comes to bedwetting, their standard approach falls short. Children and families deserve better.
Real Solutions Exist
The Bedwetting Treatment Center was started by a parent who faced the same frustration many families experience. Her daughter tried everything doctors recommended, including surgery. Nothing worked.
That’s when she learned about Dr. Broughton’s research on sleep disorders and bedwetting. By addressing the sleep issue directly, her daughter’s bedwetting ended. Her emotional health improved. Her confidence grew. Her whole life changed.
For five decades now, thousands of families have found the same success. They didn’t need medication. They didn’t need to wait. They needed a treatment that addressed the real cause: deep sleep.
The solution exists. It works. And it works without the drawbacks of traditional medical approaches.
Why Change Matters
Bedwetting affects millions of children. Each one deals with embarrassment and worry. Many feel alone because they think they’re the only one with this problem.
When doctors continue giving outdated advice, children suffer longer than necessary. They miss out on normal childhood experiences. Their self-esteem takes hit after hit. Some develop anxiety or depression.
Parents feel helpless watching their child struggle. They try everything their doctor suggests, but nothing changes. They wonder what they’re doing wrong. They don’t realize the advice itself is the problem.
By changing how the medical community views and treats bedwetting, we can help millions of people. We can end years of suffering. We can give children their confidence back.
This isn’t about criticizing doctors. They work hard and care about their patients. But their training didn’t include the right information about bedwetting. Now that we know better, we need to do better.
Medical professionals who recognize the limitations of old approaches already refer their patients for proper sleep-based treatment. More doctors need to make this same shift.
Children who wet the bed deserve solutions that work. Families deserve honest answers. The medical community needs to update its approach to match what science has proven.
Bedwetting can be resolved. But only when we treat it as what it really is: a sleep disorder, not a medical condition or phase to wait out.
Every child who wets the bed has the potential to sleep dry. They just need the right kind of help. And that starts with doctors understanding what bedwetting really is and how it can truly be resolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
What causes bedwetting in children and teens?
Bedwetting is caused by sleeping too deeply. When someone sleeps very deeply, they don’t wake up when their bladder is full. This deep sleep pattern is inherited, which is why bedwetting often runs in families. It’s not about drinking too much water or having a medical problem with the bladder.
Will my child outgrow bedwetting on their own?
Some children do stop wetting the bed as they get older. But millions don’t. Many teens and even adults continue to struggle with bedwetting. Waiting and hoping it goes away can mean years of emotional distress for your child. There are effective treatments available that work much faster than waiting.
Does medication work for bedwetting?
Medication can reduce bedwetting episodes while your child takes it. However, it doesn’t solve the underlying sleep problem. When the medication stops, bedwetting usually returns. Medication also comes with possible side effects. It’s treating the symptom, not the cause.
Should I limit my child’s fluids before bedtime?
Limiting drinks before bed doesn’t solve bedwetting. The problem isn’t how much fluid goes in. The problem is that children sleep too deeply to wake up when their bladder is full. Restricting fluids can leave kids thirsty and doesn’t address the real issue.
Is bedwetting a medical disorder?
No. Bedwetting is a sleep disorder, not a medical condition. While doctors often run tests to rule out infections or other issues, most children who wet the bed have no medical problems. Their bodies are healthy. They just sleep too deeply to respond to their bladder’s signals.
How common is bedwetting?
Bedwetting affects five to seven million American children at any given time. It’s the second most common childhood condition. If your child wets the bed, they’re far from alone. Many families deal with this issue, even though people don’t often talk about it.
Can bedwetting really be cured?
Yes. When you address the sleep disorder that causes bedwetting, it can be resolved. By teaching children to sleep less deeply and respond to their body’s signals, bedwetting stops. This approach has helped thousands of families over the past 50 years.
Why don’t more doctors know about sleep-based treatment for bedwetting?
Most medical training focuses on finding physical causes for problems. Doctors learn to look for medical conditions and treat them with medication or procedures. Sleep-based treatment for bedwetting isn’t part of standard medical education. That’s why many doctors still recommend outdated approaches like waiting or medication.
Learn More
For more information about bedwetting and sleep disorders, these resources can help:
- National Sleep Foundation – Information about sleep health in children
- American Academy of Pediatrics – Bedwetting – Overview of bedwetting from a medical perspective
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases – Research on bedwetting causes and patterns
If you’re ready to find a real solution for your child’s bedwetting, the Bedwetting Treatment Center has helped thousands of families end bedwetting for good. Visit nobedwetting.com to learn more about treatment options that address the sleep disorder at the root of bedwetting.
