# He....WET...my...BED!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 26, 2000, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581 "2000-09-26T10:36:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/21 "2000-09-26T15:53:29Z")

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kelli:

Be nice to your son tonight when you get home. I’m sure he feels just AWFUL.

My 4-year-old occasionally pees his bed…my immediate reaction is #&@%@%!%#!!!..wash the sheets, wash the pillowcases, wash the mattress pad, check the mattress to make sure it’s not damp, take the comforter to the Chinese laundry and hand over ten bucks…but if I don’t reassure the little fella, I feel guilty as hell.

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**Author:** ![Engineer\_Don](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e95f7d/32.png) [@Engineer\_Don](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Don)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/22 "2000-09-26T16:02:52Z")

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The pet-stain removing fabric cleaners with the enzymes in them do great at getting rid of odors, even on plastics and wood. Follow the directions to the letter, and there won’t be any smell. I am having a hell of a time with my 3 year old and potty training. My older daughter caught on at about 2, and rarely has any sort of accident, so I thought “hey, this is easy.” Now my 3 year old is showing me the error of my ways, and seems to almost enjoy peeing everywhere but in the potty. The enzymes seem to really work, though, so I am not throwing out the sofa, carpet, bed, kitchen floor, etc.

Go easy on him, stressing all the times he made it to the potty, and how you are so proud of him when he does that. They say that works most of the time.

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/23 "2000-09-26T16:48:40Z")

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When my Nephew was just a little lad, he woke up in the middle of the night and got in bed with his mommy (my sister). Sometime in the middle of the night he wet the bed. He got up, and went back to his own bed. My sister didn’t know WHAT the hell happened! It was too funny.

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**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/24 "2000-09-27T04:43:47Z")

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kell, just a thought. While it is somewhat normal for a five year old to wet the bed sometimes, it can also be a precursor to him getting sick. This was true of all the kids in my extended family. After we had all grown to the stage where we no longer had nighttime accidents on a regular basis, our parents could always tell when strep throat or the flu was coming on because the kid would wet the bed. Just a little FYI to watch out for a runny nose or scratchy throat or the like.

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**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/25 "2000-09-27T09:30:01Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by vanilla \*  
> \*\*A funny aside. When I saw the title, before reading the thread, I had assumed some cute guy kelli had brought home had a bit of an incontinence problem.  
> Well, it _seemed_ funny. \*\*

Me, too. Vanilla. In fact, I thought even worse than you did!

It occurred to me that Kelli started another thread recently, and _my_ first thought was “Geez, Kell, I’ve heard of a Mrs. Robinson but _this_ is ridiculous!” :eek:

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**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/26 "2000-09-27T11:35:11Z")

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What a bunch of nuts! 😃

Have no worries over Frankie’s health, he only forgot to pee before bed. He isnt upset either, that kid takes everything in stride.

My bed seems none the worse for wear either, smells ok now, and the magic fingers are still working - ask angkins, she was using them last night!

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**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/27 "2000-09-28T01:46:15Z")

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**wring** said:

> [@](#):
>
> semi related - how common is bed wetting at that age? […] [W]hen my brother’s two daughters were still having semi frequent bed wetting episodes up to age 8, I was alarmed. was I needlessly?

Yes, it was needless. Bladder control while asleep–and awake, for that matter–can vary pretty widely in children. As I understand it, bedwetting up to age eight is not considered a particularly big deal, medically. (It is often presented as a big deal by those huckstering bedwetting alarms and such, but that’s another story.)

**vanilla** said:

> [@](#):
>
> When I saw the title, before reading the thread, I had assumed some cute guy kelli had brought home had a bit of an incontinence problem.

The same thought passed through my mind…but I didn’t find it especially humorous.

This is a subject I know about for two different reasons–I did research on it for a novel I was writing, and another matter I’ll get to in a moment. The medical name for it is “enuresis”–the inability to control one’s bladder. It is of two types–nocturnal, which is urinating in one’s sleep, and diurnal, which is inability to control one’s bladder while awake. It seems a bit perverse, but diurnal enuresis does not automatically mean that person has nocturnal enuresis. Some enuresis has a determinable cause; some does not. It does not necessarily imply a physical (or mental) illness–it can be a physical condition all by itself.

As for the ages this can afflict people at, that would be all of them–teens, 20s, all of them. This is not just a problem of children and the elderly. It can start later in life, too, for various reasons. A child–or teen, or adult–who has been dry but then starts having wetting accidents should see a doctor, because it may be a signal of something else going wrong. Or it may not.

I should probably mention that nocturnal enuresis–bedwetting–is more of a male problem, with the male/female ration on the order of 60%/40%. (Until I researched it, I was under the impression that the ratio was far more lopsided towards males.) Females are significantly more likely to experience diurnal enuresis, mainly because of the way they are built–I’ve seen statistics suggesting the ratio is something like 90% female.

Now for the second reason I know something about this: my ex-wife was somewhat enuretic; she occasionally wet the bed, and frequently had daywetting problems. I’ve personally known a few other people who had incontinence problems, too. For these reasons, I don’t much like comments that make fun of incontinence–it’s making fun of something that people can’t help. Bladder control isn’t a matter which is always cut and dried.

(I request that everybody ignore the horrible pun I just made–puns are something _I_can’t control.)

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/28 "2000-09-28T01:55:43Z")

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No more seconds on the rootbeer floats for dessert, huh?

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**Author:** ![Angkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Angkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angkins)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/29 "2000-09-28T02:20:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kellibelli \*  
> \*\*
> 
> My bed seems none the worse for wear either, smells ok now, and the magic fingers are still working - ask angkins, she was using them last night! \*\*

I cannot begin to express my deep love for Kelli’s vibrating bed 😃  
The bed is fine and does not smell of urine… perhaps I should head over and check it out again tonight!!  
Kels, can I sleep over? I won’t pee the bed!!!

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**Author:** ![dewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@dewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dewt)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/30 "2000-09-28T12:43:37Z")

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When I first saw this thread, I thought back to your ‘Mrs Robinson’ thread… _that_ gave me a jolt…

My deepest sympathies for your early morning experience.

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**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-wet-my-bed/34581/31 "2000-09-28T13:03:20Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> My bed seems none the worse for wear either, smells ok now, and the magic fingers are still working - ask angkins, she was using them last night!

That’s it! I’m packing today and moving to Canada! Magic fingers, here I come!

Zette  
(packs up her genie lamp and crystal ball…Oh! Can’t forget the slot machine and funky red sofa…hmmm- I hope you have room for all this stuff, Kels!)

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