Many families try everything to help their child stop wetting the bed. When constipation contributes to bedwetting, it is often not obvious at first. Years later, they discover something they were told early on was not an issue was actually part of the picture.
Not the obvious kind. Not the painful, days-without-going kind. The long-term, low-grade kind that is easy to miss. Constipation during toilet training can be a common starting point for ongoing bowel and bladder difficulties, even when bowel habits later appear normal.
Most parents dismiss constipation because their child:
For most families, constipation means a child does not go at all, or poos are hard and tiny – the rabbit-pellet kind. But constipation is not defined only by how often a child poos. It is also about how completely the bowel empties. A child can poo every day and still retain stool over time.
What is the rectum?
The rectum is the last part of the bowel. It acts as a holding area where stool sits just before a bowel movement. When it fills, it sends a signal to the brain that it’s time to go to the toilet. After emptying fully, it is designed to return to its usual size.The rectum is designed to:
This is the typical cycle when bowel emptying is working well. When stool is repeatedly held back over time, the rectum can gradually stretch.
This commonly begins:
This is a gradual process. It does not happen from a single delay.
For many children, stool holding can begin during toilet training.
This can happen when:
If stool is not fully emptied during this stage, the rectum can begin adapting to holding more than it should. For some children, this pattern can quietly continue long after toilet training appears complete.
The rectum gets used to how much stool it regularly holds. When it is stretched again and again, that larger size can gradually start to feel normal to the body. Over time, the urge to go can become less noticeable, sensation can dull, and the signals sent to the brain can become weaker.
This is not usually damage. It is the body adapting to what it experiences most often.
When the rectum stays stretched, fullness is not felt as clearly. The messages telling the body it is time to go can become quieter and less reliable, rather than completely absent. Urgency may be reduced, and the body can begin prioritising holding over fully emptying.
This is why some children pass small amounts, leave stool behind, or seem unaware that they are not emptying fully. They are not ignoring signals – the signals are simply less clear.
The rectum and bladder sit very close together in the pelvis. When the rectum is enlarged or full, it can place pressure on the bladder, reduce how much the bladder can comfortably hold, and make bladder signalling less reliable.
At night, when the brain is in deeper sleep and gravity redistributes pressure within the abdomen, these bladder signals are easier to miss. This helps explain why some children manage well during the day but continue to wet the bed at night without waking.
Night-time symptoms are often the last to resolve.
Constipation is not always discussed in relation to bedwetting, but there is growing awareness of the role bowel health can play in ongoing night-time wetting. Like many aspects of bedwetting, bowel health is usually one piece of a bigger picture rather than the whole explanation.
However, constipation is still often assessed using stool frequency, stool appearance, or a brief abdominal examination. While these checks can be helpful, they do not always pick up low-grade or long-standing stool retention, particularly when a child appears to poo regularly and is not in pain.
As a result, chronic stool retention can persist quietly for years and continue to interfere with bladder function, even when everything appears normal on the surface. This is why many families only later realise that constipation was present all along.
Looking more closely at constipation often involves more than counting bowel motions. A fuller picture may include patterns over time, a child’s toileting habits, posture on the toilet, stool size and effort, episodes of soiling, abdominal bloating, or a history of withholding. When these pieces are considered together, ongoing stool retention becomes easier to recognise, even in children who appear to poo regularly.
In some cases, imaging such as an abdominal X-ray may be used by clinicians to help identify significant stool retention when other assessments have not provided clear answers. This is not routine, but it can sometimes reveal long-standing constipation that was not apparent through symptoms alone.
This stage focuses on helping the bowels empty more fully, clearing stool that has built up over time, and taking pressure off the bladder. Depending on how long constipation has been present, this stage often takes weeks or months rather than days.
Even when stools start to look better, the rectum may still be stretched and body signals may still be relearning what normal feels like. Setbacks can happen easily during this stage, as the body needs time at a normal level to fully reset. Stopping support too early often allows the cycle to begin again.
Softer stools can be a positive sign, especially if a child previously passed large, hard, dry stools. However, in some children, stool can still be retained even when stools are soft, particularly if the bowel is not emptying fully or bowel signals are unreliable. This can make it appear as though constipation has resolved, even when stool is still being retained.
The goal is soft, easy-to-pass stools with complete emptying and restored signalling. This is why soft stools are important, but they are not the only sign the bowel is fully back on track.
Constipation improves best when several small supports work together. The supports below cover the most common and practical foundations, but they are not an exhaustive list.
A stretched rectum is not necessarily permanent. With time and consistent support, rectal size can move back toward normal, sensation can improve, and bowel awareness can strengthen.
Specific exercises and strategies can also help rebuild coordination in the rectum and pelvic floor. This improved coordination supports bladder control, including when lying down at night.
When the bowel is working as it should, the bladder has a much better chance to do its job – including at night.
For a broader overview of how constipation and bedwetting are linked, you may also find this article helpful: Can Constipation Cause Bedwetting?
And Poop Accidents and Encopresis: Understand, Support, Don’t Punish.
If you’re looking for more information on what can cause or contribute to bedwetting, our Bedwetting Blog has a range of parent-focused articles you may find helpful.
Can my child be constipated if they poo every day?
Yes. Constipation is often about incomplete emptying, not frequency.
Can soft stools still mean constipation?
Yes. Soft, easy-to-pass stools are often the goal and are a positive sign. However, in some children, stool can still be retained even when stools are soft, especially if the bowel is not emptying fully or if bowel signals are unreliable. This can make constipation harder to recognise.
Does constipation affect bedwetting?
Yes, it can. Rectal pressure can reduce bladder capacity and disrupt signals.
Can constipation during toilet training cause bedwetting later?
Yes. Stool retention that begins during toilet training can affect bowel and bladder coordination for years if not fully resolved.
Can the rectum recover?
Yes. Sensation and coordination can improve with time and consistency.
Build communication between brain and bladder – Program to help build the messaging system between the brain and bladder.
Discover bedwetting triggers – Discover what encourages, triggers or causes bedwetting for your child. Set your child up for success!
Bed wetting help and support – Learn various techniques and tips to improve and reinforce bladder control.
Strengthen the muscles – Strengthen the 3 involuntary pelvic muscles and the ligaments they contract against to improve urge and bladder control
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Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. (n.d.). Enuresis – Bed wetting and monosymptomatic enuresis: Clinical practice guideline. Retrieved January 14, 2026, from https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Enuresis_-_Bed_wetting_and_Monosymptomatic_Enuresis/
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. (n.d.). Constipation and urologic problems. Retrieved January 14, 2026, from https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/conditions/constipation-and-urologic-problems
Bauer, S. B., & colleagues. (2017). Bladder and bowel dysfunction in children. Pediatric Nephrology, 32(10), 1791–1800. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40124-024-00329-3
Healthline Editorial Team. (2024, September 15). Can constipation cause bed-wetting? Retrieved January 14, 2026, from https://www.healthline.com/health/constipation-and-bed-wetting
Ginny Laver BA (Hons), MSc, NLP, Dip. THP is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner who specialises in helping children learn how to stop bedwetting naturally.
We’d love to hear from families who have seen changes in bedwetting after addressing constipation or bowel habits. Sharing your experience can help other parents see what’s possible.
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