Staying dry at night
Staying dry at night usually comes after being dry during the day, often between about 3 and 4 years. Wetting the bed sometimes is still common at school age: about 3 in 10 children at 4½ and about 1 in 10 at 9½.
How sure are we?
Researchers disagree. Studies found different ages, and they count "dry at night" in different ways. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child's body is learning to hold on through the night, which happens with time rather than practice.
In the four-country study, half were dry most nights by about 2¼ years in South Africa but about 3 years in Argentina. In a large English study, about 3 in 10 children still wet the bed sometimes at 4½.
We don't know exactly why some healthy children stay dry at night much later than others.
A main source for the ages
Similarities and differences in child development from birth to age 3 years by sex and across four countries: a cross-sectional, observational study
Ilgi Ozturk Ertem, Vibha Krishnamurthy, Mphelekedzeni C. Mulaudzi, Yanina Sguassero, Hakan Balta, Ozlem Gulumser · 2018 · Lancet Global Health
- Children
- About 4,900 healthy children
- Where
- Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey
- Ages
- Birth to 3½ years
- How
- Trained staff asked parents open questions about what their child could do, at health clinics
- What it found
- Found the age by which half of children reached more than 100 milestones. Most came at similar ages in all four countries, and for boys and girls. For example, half of children waved bye-bye by about 11 months and said a first word by about 9 months.
- Limits
- Only four countries and no rural areas, children from city clinics, and only healthy children (about half of those who came were left out for health reasons). It gives the age for half of children, not the full spread.
A main source for the ages
VOIDING PATTERN AND ACQUISITION OF BLADDER CONTROL FROM BIRTH TO AGE 6 YEARS—A LONGITUDINAL STUDY
U.-B. Jansson, M. Hanson, Ulla Sillén, A.L. Hellström · 2005 · The Journal of Urology
- Children
- About 60 children
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- Birth to 6 years
- How
- Researchers followed the same children from birth
- What it found
- About half the children were dry during the day by 3½ years and at night by 4 years. Nearly all were dry by day before they were dry at night.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary. A small group.
A main source for the ages
The prevalence of infrequent bedwetting and nocturnal enuresis in childhood
Richard Butler, Jon Heron · 2008 · Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology
- Children
- About 14,000 children
- Where
- England
- Ages
- 4½ to 9½ years
- How
- Parents' questionnaires
- What it found
- About 3 in 10 children still wet the bed at least sometimes at 4½, falling to about 1 in 10 at 9½, with the fastest drop between 4½ and 5½.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary. The exact definition of bedwetting is in the full paper.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026