How Constipation Can Cause Bedwetting
(Even When Kids Poo Every Day)

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.

Why Constipation Is Often Ruled Out Too Early

Most parents dismiss constipation because their child:

Poos regularly
Has stools that look soft
Does not complain of pain

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 Happening in the Body

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:

Fill
Send a signal
Empty fully
Return to its usual size

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:

After one or more painful stools
During illness or dehydration
With stress or disrupted routines
During early toilet learning or travel
With diets high in refined carbohydrates and low in fibre
When incomplete emptying becomes habitual

This is a gradual process. It does not happen from a single delay.

Constipation During Toilet Training: Where the Problem Often Begins

For many children, stool holding can begin during toilet training.

This can happen when:

A bowel motion is painful
A child feels rushed or unsure
Routines change suddenly
A child begins holding “just in case”
The toilet feels cold, unfamiliar, or uncomfortable

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.

How the Rectum Adapts Over Time

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.

Why Children Often Do Not Feel the Urge

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.

How This Affects the Bladder and Bedwetting

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.

Why Bedwetting Can Continue for Years

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.

Two Stages of Supporting Constipation

Stage 1: Reducing constipation

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.

Stage 2: Staying on top of it

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.

Why Soft Stools Do Not Always Mean the Problem Is Resolved

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.

What Actually Helps Constipation Improve (Diet and Beyond)

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.

Fluids
Keeping fluids steady through the day helps stool stay soft and easier to pass. Small, regular drinks tend to be more helpful than large amounts all at once.
Foods that are higher in fibre
Foods with more natural fibre and moisture tend to support comfortable emptying. These include oats or porridge, fruits such as pears, kiwi, berries, and oranges, cooked vegetables like pumpkin, zucchini, and carrot, and meals that contain moisture, such as soups and stews.
Foods that are higher in carbohydrates
Other foods are not a problem on their own but can slow things down if they dominate meals. These include large amounts of white bread, crackers or wraps, lots of pasta or rice, cheese-heavy meals, and very dry or processed snack foods.
Movement
Daily movement supports natural bowel rhythm. Walking, outdoor play, climbing, running, and jumping all help encourage bowel activity.
Responding to the urge
Encouraging children to go when they feel the urge to poo is important. When the urge is ignored, stool stays in the rectum longer, absorbs more water, and becomes harder to pass.
Toilet setup
Comfort supports emptying. Having feet supported, avoiding rushing, and keeping routines predictable can all make it easier for a child to empty fully.
Time & patience
Improvement is usually gradual. Consistency matters more than intensity.

Recovery Is Possible

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.

Conclusion: The Main Takeaways for Parents

Constipation is often about how completely the bowel empties, not just how often a child poos
Constipation during toilet training can quietly set the stage for later bedwetting
A child can poo daily and still retain stool that affects bladder function
A stretched or overfull rectum can dull signals and reduce bladder capacity
This makes staying dry at night much harder, even when daytime control looks fine
Clearing constipation and staying on top of it are two separate stages, and both matter

When the bowel is working as it should, the bladder has a much better chance to do its job – including at night.

Short FAQ

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.

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References

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

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.

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