Bedwetting symptoms

Most people (80%) who wet their beds tend to have no symptoms other than wetting the bed at night.

There are other symptoms that could suggest psychological causes or problems with the nervous system or kidneys. You should alert your family or GP that this may be more than routine bedwetting if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Wetting during the day
• Frequency, urgency or burning on urination
• Straining, dribbling or other unusual symptoms with urination
• Cloudy or pinkish urine or blood stains on pants or pyjamas
• Soiling, being unable to control bowel movements (faecal incontinence or encopresis)
• Constipation

Frequency of urination is different for children and adults.

• While many adults urinate only three or four times a day, children urinate much more frequently, in some cases as often as 10-12 times each day.
• "Frequency" as a symptom should be judged in terms of what is normal for that particular child.

Faecal impaction may show up as constipation. Both faecal impaction and constipation cause straining, which can injure the nearby urinary sphincters, muscles that control flow of urine out of the body.

• Faecal compaction is when faeces becomes so tightly packed in the lower intestine and rectum that passing a bowel movement becomes very difficult or even impossible.
• The hard, tightly packed faeces in the rectum can press on the bladder and surrounding nerves and muscles, interfering with bladder control.
• Neither faecal impaction nor constipation is that unusual in children.