Bed Wetting Alarm

An alarm was used on my as a kid and I'm convinced it only taught me how to hit the snooze button and ignore alarm clocks. The alarm goes off once there is enough wetness on the pad. Well guess what, the pjs and sheet are already wet by then. I would just peel of my PJs and take the blanket onto the floor. This was over 30 years ago, maybe technology has changed, but I still need 2 alarm clocks to get up (ore one baby).

HI L.,

I had that problem with my daughter, her doctor gave us an alarm system to order and it WORKED. It took her just over a month. She has been dry now for the past 3 years. She will be 9 next month. She had to wear two pair of underwear at night to use the system but it was worth it. It cost me $60. I don't know the brand I will have to look at it and let you know. If you have any questions about it feel free to contact me.
P.S. Ask his/her doctor he might be able to help as well with that product.

Good Luck,

D.

I've heard they don't work.

This is what we would do for our 5 year old that had that problem

-no drinks after 6 (unless shes really really thirsty
then she just gets a sip)
-you must go potty before you go to bed.

And just to make sure that she would stay dry we would wake her up at 10 - 10:30 pm (whatever time we went to bed) and she would go sit on the potty.

She's getting to the point were we haven't had an accident in a long time. And now she gets up and goes herself.

Our son is 8 and still wets almost every night. We've tried it all, starting with the alarm. As far as cost goes, ours was presribed by a pediatric urologist so was covered by insurance. That said, it did nothing towards helping our son stay dry. It woke up the whole house, but not him and ultimately just made him feel worse about his situation. Maybe others have been helped by these devices, but not us and no one I know.
Talk to your pediatrician, ours has been great about reassuring us that everything will work out.

We were still putting a pull up on our son at night and he would wake up soaked, but our pediatrician encouraged us to try without the pull up, just in case he was wetting it as soon as he woke up in the morning, and not actually during the night. We took the pull up off and he never needed one again. In his case, he was just being lazy and not getting up to use the toilet as soon as he woke up.

Check his diet. Reduce his sugar during the day. Sugar makes the muscles week, just like alcohol does in adults. The bladder is a muscle. This includes ALL sugars, even from juices and fruits. Even White flour converts to sugar. I'm sure he'd be happy if you found the reason for the problem.

I'm not a big fan of pull-up either because they don't feel that they are wet.

My daughter was trained before 2years old but nighttime wet until 6. With her it was a power struggle. If I got her up at night she would scream. Alittle peer pressure worked! Kids started having sleepovers and I told her she could not go in a pull-up. Within a week she was dry and never had an accident after!!

One person mentioned diet. There are food that can cause the bladder to be stimulated, like chocolate, tomatoes, caffiene, sugar...so check into those. Also, check for food allergies. Food allergies can travel to the bladder causing chronic bed wetting in children starting around 5ish. www.drrapp.com a pediatric allergiest talks about this in her book, Is This My Child? It is just something else to consider. I have written some articles in my family health column, link is below on allergies and looking for other key signs.

Good Luck,
J. W. MPH
Chicago Examiner Family Health Expert
http://www.examiner.com/x-7158-Chicago-Family-Health-Exam...

L., please let me know what you come up with. My 5 1/2 year old is still bed wetting. The problem is when he is in a pullup he doesnt have as many accidents and the minute i take him out of the pullups he starts having accidents again.

Thanks M.

We decided to try an alarm for my son when he was about 7, and still soaking a pull-up every night. It did initially involve me getting up when I heard the alarm going off and waking him and taking him to the bathroom. We clipped it to his underwear and covered it all with a pull up initially to cut down on clean up at night. By the end of the first week when the alarm sounded the amount of moisture on his underwear was minimal so we quit covering with a pull-up. The alarm sounded less and less often over the next couple weeks and he was completely dry within 5-6 weeks. He was so happy to have achieved nighttime dryness, it has made him much more confident whenever he/we stay the night somewhere else. I found mine new on ebay for about $45 I think, it was a PottyMD. Definitely worth it for us.

We found one online that was around $20. It worked like a charm with one child, and less so for the second (my fault for not being consistant.)

You may have found a solution by now, but in case you might want to see some more information, here is a resource with some ideas that might be helpful...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t071200.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl22.asp

http://drphil.com/articles/article/120/

Best wishes,
J.

Our son wet the bed off and on til he was around 8 years old. the Dr. today us that it was because he is sleeping to soundly and is not woken up by the feeling of needing to use the restroom. He also checked him for diabetes and kidney problems and ruled them out right away.
I would continue to use the pull ups if you do not want wet sheets. Monitor the liquids he is drinking in the last few hours before bed. Just make sure that he uses the bathroom before he goes to bed.
It is frustrating but it should pass. I never used a wetting alarm. If your child is sleeping that soundly that is not going to wake him up in time.

There are some good websites out there which can help guide you. Check out www.tryfordry.com We used a Malem alarm. They do cost around $100. At first it seems strange, because there is a clip that attaches to the underwear, a cord which snakes up under the PJ top, and the alarm itself, which is about the size of a box of dental floss, which gets safety pinned up by the collar bone. My daughter is a very sound sleeper. It takes a few days of getting up with the child but then the alarm starts to really work. Within 3 weeks she was waking up before the alarm. In the last 4 months she has only had one accident, when before the alarm she wet every night consistently. I would suggest keeping a voiding journal for a few days to see how much is coming out and how often he is going. We also started using a little Miralax since the doctor explained that my daughter has a very small bladder capacity, and extra materials in the bowel can push on the bladder and reduce the capacity. Good luck!

We used the Malem bedwetting alarm for our soon to be 9 yr old son. It worked wonderfully & unless he is VERY over-tired he doesn't have any problems. You can purchase new or used on ebay or you can go to bedwettingstore.com. There are several different models to choose from & when the alarm would sound my son & I were the only ones to wake & after a short time, it was just him.
Our ped recommended it to us.
I would buy one again in a heartbeat!

We used a malem alarm for my son and it was the best money ever spent. I paid $90 for one with all the bells and whistles, but they have cheaper ones. Do it. It fixed the problem in about a month's time.

We tried one (can't remember the name but if needed, I could find it) and it is NOT worth it. It cost thousands and it did nothing for my oldest son. This was not something that we went through his doctor, we did it ourselves.
He sleeps very hard so it would take both my husband and I to get him awake to use the restroom and had many nights of little sleep- which effected his school work as well as very stressful for me and my husband.
We are hoping that he will outgrow this but as research has shown if either of the parents were bed wetters it might take several years. Good luck and I hope this information helped.

I would say don't waste your money. Kids at that age are still growing into their bladders. Your biggest mistake is using the pull-ups. It lulls them into a false security and they know that if they pee in it, there's no discomfort.

Get a good bed liner that is vinyl lined (walmart has them for less than $20, I think) and be prepared for a few nights to be woken (sp?) up to change the boy and the sheets (or just strip it down and wash first thing in the morning. This is really the best time for this as school is out, so losing sleep isn't a problem for the next day.

Make sure you don't scold him for wetting the bed, let him know its natural, but that he has to get used to the feeling that he's got to go and has to wake up to go to the bathroom. Also, limit his liquids at least an hour before bed-time and make sure he goes before hopping into bed.

I went through this with my younger daughter til she was seven or eight (it really only happened occasionally the older she got). But the key is them getting to not like the feeling of wet underwear AND not causing them anxiety. Let them know that their body is still learning, just like their minds are.

If it continues for more than a couple of weeks he may have a bladder issue and you should consider a doctor's visit, but I really doubt that will happen. Once he feels that wet, cold pee on his skin and sheets...he'll learn to wake up and go to the bathroom. Good luck and be patient!

My son is 11 and still wets. We tried the Pacific International program. DON'T TRY IT!!!! We did it for 4 years and were supposed to get a refund but they won't give it to us even thought we did everything they suggested. We are using the potty pager now and it works so much better. It was only about $85 online. My son is such a sound sleeper but this actually wakes him up. Good luck!