Bedwetting (enuresis)

For a lay person:

Bedwetting, or enuresis, is when a child who is old enough to be dry still wets the bed during sleep. It is common, often runs in families and is nobody's fault; most children grow out of it. It can affect confidence, so reassurance and practical support matter.

For a trained medical person:

Nocturnal enuresis is involuntary voiding during sleep in a child aged five or older, classed as primary or secondary and as monosymptomatic or with daytime symptoms; contributing factors include nocturnal polyuria, reduced bladder capacity and high arousal threshold. Assessment includes history, bladder diary and urinalysis, looking for constipation, diabetes, urinary infection, sleep-disordered breathing or psychosocial stress. First-line management is reassurance, fluid and toileting advice and treating constipation, then an enuresis alarm or desmopressin.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook gives Chinese herbal formulas for this condition without a full pattern differentiation. Treatment still follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor if bedwetting starts again after a long dry spell, or comes with daytime wetting, pain on passing urine, excessive thirst, weight loss or constipation. Herbal remedies should not be given to children without medical advice.