It is surprising that about 1 to 2% of fifteen years old would occasionally wet their beds.  While there are about 0.5 to 1% of individuals from ages eighteen to sixty-four who would have bladder control problems at night.  If you would do a head count, that would be about a hundred of teens who would still wet their sheets at night. 

Bed wetting or nocturnal enuresis has two kinds or categories: primary and secondary nocturnal enuresis.  Primary nocturnal enuresis is the kind of bed wetting that happens since infancy.  If a person has already been dry for a minimum of six months and then reverted to bed wetting, then it is categorized as secondary nocturnal enuresis.  Secondary nocturnal enuresis is often the category for teen and adult bed wetting cases. 

There are different possible causes of bed wetting among teens.  It could be genetics. There are studies showing that parents who wet their beds while they were young would likely to pass the characteristic by 45% to their children.  It could also be because your teen has smaller bladder.  It could also be brought about by a medical condition, the amounts of liquids he would drink before going to sleep and any stress or medication being taken that could trigger bed wetting. Emotional stress like divorce or death could also be a reason for bed wetting. 

To rule out any medical reasons, it is safe to bring your child to the doctor.  Doctors would perform evaluation and assessments to identify the cause of bed wetting. Bed wetting could be a symptom for diabetes, sleep apnea, or problems with the excretory system.  Taking medications, like DDVAP could help.  This kind of drug ensures that the anti-diuretic hormone is within its normal range that would make sure that there is less production of urine at night. 

Here are some useful tips which your teens can do to avoid bed wetting: 

• Stay away from caffeinated drinks like soda and coffee.  Drinking too much of these would produce more urine.  It is safer to drink water and juices. 

• Avoid drinking too much, an hour before going to bed or once dinner is over.  

• Before going to bed, empty your bladder first.  Even if your teen does not feel like going to the bathroom yet, still do it.  Emptying out your bladder or relieving just a small amount, will give your bladder more space at night. 

• Use an alarm clock to signal your child at the middle of the night that he has to go to the bathroom.  

• Using medication for bed wetting is an option, however, it is safer to get a doctor’s approval before you let your teen take any kind of medication.  

• Make sure that your teen is fully rested and sleeps for at least eight hours a day.  A complete sleep will make sure that your child is not too tired to get off the bed and go the bathroom.  There are teenagers who are just so tired and sleeps heavily, forgetting to go. 

• Regardless if your are dealing with young children and teenagers, shaming and punishment is not an effective way to deal with bedwetting.  They could even make the situation worse.