Bed-wetting is the involuntary discharge of urine when asleep. It is only defined as enuresis if the person has normal control over urination while awake.

Children at birth has no control over their bladders. The bladder automatically empties itself when full until they are approximately twelve months to twentyfour moths old when an awareness of the bladder being full develops. At this stage, however, the bladder is relatively small and many "accidents" will happen until approximately three to four years of age when the capacity of the bladder has increased, children are fully aware of a full bladder and the ability to "hold it up" is starting to develop. At six it is normally true that the child can urinate at will.

With some children it takes until they are seven years old before they can control urination while asleep. This is not abnormal, just slower development.

Heredity seems to play a role in enuresis. If one or both parents were bed-wetters the child is three times more likely to also be a late developer.

Conditions that may cause enuresis are: a defect of the bladder or nervous system to send a signal urgent or strong enough to the brain to successfully interrupt sleep or organic problems such as a kidney inflammation or infection, bladder infection or other part of the urinary tract being compromised.

Taking into account that some children may not develop the ability to control urination while asleep until they are seven years old it is strongly recommended that parents do not react by blaming the child as this can cause severe emotional distress in the child who is unable to respond by fixing the problem. Understanding, sympathy and encouragement is far more likely to have a positive outcome than criticism, anger and derision.