Bedwetting Alarm

Have you tried eliminating dairy products from his diet? Bed wetting is highly associated with dairy consumption.

My son is 11. We buy Pull-ups. The alarm didn't work. He wets because he sleeps too deeply, so the alarm woke everyone else up EXCEPT him, and by then, he was wet, so it was worthless for me to wake him. They will outgrow it (hopefully). Most do, some do not. Good luck.

Get him an alarm clock set it twice once and hr or two after he goes to bed and than another time inbetween that and the time he wakes to make him go again. My son is 7 just turned in december he still wets the the bed but in the last month started having more control.

We used the one called "Starry" with great success. It's loud and the startle reflex stops urination at the first drop. My son would sleep so soundly he just didn't wake up. Starry made Iall the difference. Occassionally he would get so tired he'd relapse. We'd get the alarm out for a couple of days and he'd be back on track. The first few nights we used it were hard as he'd start to wet every hour or two and we'd have to get up but it was worth it.

www.sleepdryalarm.com/See-How-The-Alarm-Works.html

Tried one on my one son. Didn't work. Sometimes the problem is deep REM sleep. Sometimes it's that their bladder is growing/developing at a slower rate than the rest of him. Or a combination.

I would pretty much suggest you get used to decreasing his liquid intake after dinner, purchase pads (big square things) to absorb as much as possible, get used to washing jammies and sheets, and definitely invest in a mattress cover that protects the mattress.

It's long and frustrating for parents. And the kids. But we all hang in there and love them anyway, right? Comes with the package.

I know you didn't ask for other suggestions but I have heard that sometimes chiropractic can help, my chiropractor has helped a number of kids with that problem.

Life Family Chiropractic
Dr. Steve Swindle
Hudsonville MI

just in case you live in the area and want to check him out... insurance might pay for it too !!

I used an alarm on my now 12 yr old daughter when she was about 8 yrs old. I don't remember which one we purchased, but most them work on the same theory, so overall, I would choose one that you are comfortable paying for. It did work for my daughter - sort of. First, be prepared to "modify" how it attaches to your son. We ended up cutting a slit in the overnight diapers and taping it in place, since how they suggested attaching it simply didn't work (came out of place easily). We used it for about a month and after about 10 days she started staying dry (don't stop using it until he has had about 2 solid weeks of dry nights). However, a few months later, she started wetting again. We hooked up the alarm, "retrained" her bladder, and she had a long dry spell again. 6 months later, she started wetting again, we got the alarm out again. For us, it wasn't a "permanent" fix, but definitely reduced the amount of overnights we were using (we would always reuse the dry ones). For the most part, kids need to outgrow bed wetting on their own and when they are ready, but this can be a great start on training their bladder when they are sleeping. We did have her checked medically (you may want to as well) and nothing was wrong.

If you do decide to use the alarm, keep a couple of things in mind:

1. Will he actually wake up to the alarm? If not, it won't work.

2. Is he in a position to be able to get out of bed safely after soundly sleeping and then being suddenly woken up by the alarm?

3. Are there other children in the house that may also be woken up and won't go back to sleep if the alarm goes off?

4. Is he old enough/mature enough to not pull the alarm off himself before he actually falls asleep?

5. Is his bedroom situated so that you can hear the alarm and help him in the bathroom with getting cleaned up and the alarm shut down and reinstalled for the night (you will have to hook him back up if he is wetting multiple times a night).

Good luck.

Update: I forgot - we also had her wear regular underwear under the overnights with the alarm for two reasons: 1. I didn't want the tape I used to hold the wire in place in the overnights to touch her skin (she is really sensitive), and 2. the regular underwear disburse the wet immediately so if the alarm had moved a bit, even the slightest moisture/dribble would set it off.

I don't know anything about the bed wetting alarms but I do something about bedwetting. My son was a bed wetter till he was almost 8 we talked to the doctor about it and they put him on nose drops (sorry don't remember the name). They were great. The son would never wake up, he would sleep right through it. The doctor said he was a hard rem sleeper and that he was so deep in sleep that he couldn't wake up. They worked wonders. Good luck,

We had an alarm but it did not work with my son. He was 11 at the time. By 12 we put him on the medication. DDAVP. He was on it for 2 years. That worked and he never had any side effects.

And after 2 weeks of that stupid alarm he dismantled it himself. Maybe if we started earlier it would have worked.

I agree, the kids in our family just sleep very deeply and the alarm my ex and his wife used didn't do anything except sound an alarm and wake everyone in the house up.

Buy the pullups, or do more laundry because of having wet clothes, bed linenes, blankets, etc...pull ups are just much more time efficient and actually save money because washing, drying, laundry soap, bleach, plus your time being worth something really makes them cost effective.

Hi- Sadly I'm not sure an alarm will work. I've heard of parents getting the alarm but it still doesn't solve the problem because the child has already gone by the time it wakes them. My oldest daughter wet the bed off and on until she was about 7. Our doctor said there isn't much you can do, in her case it was small bladder/heavy sleeper. He told us that it is very common and the vast majority of kids just naturally stop by 8-9 years old. If they do not stop by then it can be an issue into the teen years but he stressed how unusual that is. If you havn't already, I would get him to the doctor just to be sure it's not medical. It may just be something you'll have to wait out. Good luck!

You didn't mention it, but have you taken him to a urologist for an exam? It isn't all that unusual for it to go on this long. I bring it up because they likely have good resources for either solving the problem or getting the "tools" needed to manage it until it resolves on its own.

An alarm didn't work for my son either. We spent the money to send him to the Eneuresis Treatment Center. It was expensive and not covered by insurance, but after years of everything else, by the time he was almost in junior high and still wet every night, we were at our wits' end. He was dry almost from the first treatment. I wish we'd have done it sooner. We also used the DDAVP nasal spray, but over the years he built up a tolerance for it and we had to continue to increase his dosage. They say there are "no serious side effects", but I'm not sure I agree with that. My son's problem was not physical, as confirmed by a urologist. It was a sleep issue. ETC addresses that. They will help you work out a payment plan. Best money we ever spent.

We saw a pediatric urologist for my son starting when he was around 8-9 years old. The urologist did testing and my son simply has a really small bladder capacity - coupled with chronic constipation. He also had urgency - he took detrol for many months to help with that while we treated the constipation - and there are ways to improve bladder capacity... most kids will outgrow bedwetting by age 15 - that is the age that urologists consider it a problem!!! He said you can do medicines that treat the problem but are not a cure, do nothing and wait to outgrow it - or do the bed alarm... my son chose the alarm shortly before he turned 10 - he was dry in just a couple nights - but we used it for a full 2 weeks - he has been dry ever since (he is 11 now). The key was that HE was ready to use the alarm.

I would first see a urologist - there are different reasons why kids wet the bed - and keep in mind - it is normal - I know it is hard - especially as they get older - which is why I was so proud of my son for chosing the alarm - he was ready!

Hi Katie ,We use an alarm for my 11 yr old girl and they do indeed work. We also use Desmopressin or Ditropan which are prescription meds we got from the pediatrician.They work very well and are safe to use. We also had gone broke buying pullups, besdies they are too small now. LOL Anyways, we got the alarm from Binsons Medical Supply for $150.00. It is called the Nytone alarm.The doctor says to give the child a secret word in the middle of the night when she goes to the bathroom, and ask her to remember the word when she awakens, and give her a dollar for the word. If she does not remember the word, no cash! This is supposed to reinforce the habit to help it disappear. That , however has not worked. My girl sleeps very hard and can't remember s!*$! Bless you and your son and know bedwetting is hereditary and that there is nothing wrong here!! Thanks, hope this helps, C.

YES, the alarms work wonderfully! My ped. wanted to wait until he was 7 (last year). We got the SleepDry Alarm. We started in June, and yes it did take a good 3 months but the end result is totally worth all those 3 months. Some kids might not take the whole 3 months some sooner, the longest is 3 months but having bed wetters on both sides of our families I was happy he just stopped and he hasn't even had an accident! Totally works I'm a very happy parent that no longer buys Goodnights! But the key to the alarm system is consistency, consistency, consistency!

Please do take him to your family doctor before investing the money. My good friend's son is 6 1/2 and he often wet the bed. When the doctor investigated it, they found his bladder is small and the urine is actually backing up into his kidneys and may have caused some damage already. They put him on an oral medication that helps him fully empty his bladder and it's helped tremendously with his bed wetting.