Causes and Treatments of Childhood Bedwetting

6. Deep Sleeping

Bedwetting in children may be due to a sleep disorder. According to Bennett, “Families have been telling us for years that their children who wet the bed sleep more deeply than their kids that don’t. Some of these children sleep so deeply that their brain doesn’t get the signal that their bladder is full.” Doctor John Kryger, pediatric urologist at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, confirmed the link by stating, “Practically every bed wetter I see is a deep sleeper, and when children go into a deep sleep, brain patterns change and affect bladder control.”

5. Underdeveloped Functional Bladder

While a child may have a normal sized bladder, it may not be functionally fully developed. A child who wets the bed may have a weak functional bladder, which sends mixed signals to the brain that it is full when it is not. This may cause the brain to signal the release of urine. “A large part of the problem is a delay in the maturity of the central nervous system and interaction between the child’s brain, sleep patterns, and bladder-control center,” Kryger says.