Alex's Answer

Hi there and welcome to Ask Alex.  

We appreciate you writing to us. You have asked: ‘what exactly are wet dreams?’. 

A nocturnal emission or ‘wet dream’ as it is known informally, is a normal occurrence and can happen to both males and females. It is a spontaneous orgasm during sleep that includes ejaculation for males and vaginal wetness or an orgasm for females. Wet dreams usually happen during dreams that have sexual images in it. You can read more about wet dreams here: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/expert-wet-dreams.html?ref=search. Here are some more links that may be helpful to you: www.spunout.ie and/ or https://www.verywellhealth.com/.  

It is only natural that questions around sexual activity arise for young people. It can be difficult to find accurate information and to find all the answers so it is pretty important that you get your information from a reliable source.  It is good that you are asking these questions. You have the right to get answers to your questions and to get all the information that you rightly deserve. 

We understand that having these conversations with your parents or family can be daunting however, sharing what’s on your mind can be incredibly relieving and helpful. Do you have a trusted adult in your life who you would feel comfortable talking to about this? This can be a family member like parent, aunt/uncle, grandparent, or someone outside of the family like a teacher and/or a neighbour. You have the right to be listened to, to be heard, and to be supported.    

Remember, you can always contact Childline. We have our web chat service (www.childline.ie), a text service which can be reached on 50101 or you can give us a call on 1800 66 66 66 to talk about what is going on for you if you don’t feel ready to talk to someone in your life quite yet. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While we will not tell you what to do, we are here to listen to and support you, and to help you to explore the options that are available to you in your life. We are here to help you in a way that suits you.   

Take care,  

Alex