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January 23, 2017 / 25 Tevet, 5777
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Anxiety and Bedwetting: Are They Linked?

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Photo Credit: Rifka Schonfeld

Yossi’s mother was at her wit’s end. Yossi’s grey pants were wet again. It was the second time that week.

“Yossi, please go change your pants,” she sighed.

“But Mommy, why?” Yossi asked.

“Why Yossi? Because you are wet again. Didn’t you realize that you needed to go to the bathroom?”

“Maybe. I was just so caught up in my game that I forgot to go.”

“Alright, Yossi, just go wash up and change your pants,” his mother suggested. Why was six-year-old Yossi suddenly wetting his pants when he had been fully dry for three years?

During the Day

When children are potty trained and then fail to hold their bladder during the day, there can be several causes.

Stress or anxiety: When children learn to use the toilet between the ages of two and four, they are utilizing a complex system of neural connections and muscle control. If your child is distracted, bothered or frustrated, he might not be able to control those minute processes. Stresses on his emotional health can include a new school, a new sibling, different living arrangements or a problem with friends. The best way to understand whether your child is suffering from an anxious form of wetting himself is to talk to him about the issue. Is he aware of it? Is there something bothering him? Maybe he needs to verbalize the issues in order to work on the physical nature of the problem.

Physical: There are several physical problems that can lead to wetting during the day, among them urinary tract infections and diabetes. Urinary tract infections can lead to more frequent urination or sudden urges to urinate. Diabetes often requires more frequent urination because the body is trying to secrete the excess sugar in the blood. In addition, children with diabetes might experience excessive thirst which will lead to more frequent urination. A trip to the doctor can help rule out these medical causes.

Bladder-specific: Two issues with a child’s bladder can increase pants-wetting: an immature and/or overactive bladder. Because the process of urination requires complex neural and physical connections, if the bladder and the brain have not yet learned how to effectively communicate, this can result in frequent pants wetting. On the other hand, an overactive bladder induces spontaneous, strong contractions of the bladder muscles that can result in an urge to urinate, causing daytime accidents. Your child’s pediatrician or a children’s specialist can help you counsel your child’s brain to catch up to his body.

At Night

Unlike daytime wetting, bed-wetting or enuresis, is a more common occurrence than most people realize. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about twenty-five percent of 5 year olds, and ten percent of 6 year olds wet their beds. Bed-wetting is often attributed to a psychological or anxiety disorder, but new research is actually proving that this is not always the case. Below are some common causes of bed-wetting:




Small bladder: Physically, the child might have a small bladder that might overfill at night, causing nighttime urination.


Limit fluids before bedtime.


Create a reward system for dry nights.

Ask your child to change the sheets after they get wet.





Rifka Schonfeld





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Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/family/parenting-our-children/anxiety-and-bedwetting-are-they-linked/2013/01/31/

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