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Dr Catherine
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Boy
8-15 years

I am young and wanted to know some ways of telling my parents that I want to wear nappies but I am worried that they could make fun of me for wetting the bed? How can I tell them?

As embarrassing as this may seem you are not alone. There are thousands of people, including teenagers and adults, who wet the bed at night while they are asleep. This is not conscious wetting and therefore in no way your fault. The most likely reason for wetting is that you are having difficulty in waking from sleep when your bladder is full. This may be because you are in a particularly deep sleep, which may occur if you are overtired, alternatively teenagers can sometimes wet the bed when they are stressed or anxious. Whatever the cause it is important that you discuss this with your parents – I’m sure they would hate to think that you are trying to manage this on your own. Any form of bedwetting during your teenage years really should be investigated by a doctor, this is just to make sure there is no medical cause. All the best, Dr Cathrine