Bed wetting alarm suggestions?

[pixxi]

My 10 yr old son is still wearing pullups. He's very small for his age (hense a small bladder), is a very deep sleeper and has night terrors as well. My doctor suggested stopping the pull ups and get a bed wetting alarm. There are so many alarms on the market so I'm looking for suggestions for which ones have worked for you guys. The doctor was ok with letting him wet the bed until he has 12+ but since he's having sleep overs and camps I want try something else. She doesn't want to medical him.

 

[nena]

My son wet the bed at night until he was 8. We used a sensor that was placed into his underwear. Even a little drop of urine would make the alarm go off. That noise would wke him and all of us up. Then we would get him up to pee. We also tried to limit his water before bed, made sure he went to the bathroom before bed and had plastic bed covers on the mattress.
Good luck!

 

[lady9]

My BFF and I have sons the same age (born 3 days a part). Both had night time accidents. She tried an alarm, but it only woke up the rest of the family, not him as he was a deep sleeper. The medication doesn't have to be every day. We did the medication for camps and sleepovers, starting it a few nights before the event. It worked well for both of our DSs. As is typical, they both out grew it around age 12.

 

[Poohbug]

Also interested in alarm suggestions for the future.

Tried the medication-did not work at all. Still using pull ups but I think the next step will be the alarm.

 

[mommys3]

My 9 year old has had bedwetting issues, and I heard great things about the Malem bedwetting alarm. Kind of pricey (almost $100 on amazon), but so worth it. It worked in 3 weeks. He will have an accident every now and again (maybe once every 2 weeks), but it is such an improvement from wetting the bed every night. It did not wake his brother up (he sleeps on the top bunk).

Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Malem-Ultimat...220625&sr=8-2&keywords=malem+bedwetting+alarm

 

[bmraar]

I worked for 4 years at a Girl Scout camp, and was surprised at how common this is. We had some children come who were on medication, but most we were notified of the issue on the health form. We would put the kids to bed, then wake them up before the adults went to bed (around 11 PM) and take them to the restroom. They were then usually able to make it through the rest of the night.

FYI, we were all used to the issue, and made sure that the other campers were unaware. Since it is a bodily fluid issue, the laundry was brought to the nurse to clean while the children were off at activities around camp. She would wash them and return them to their bunks before anyone returned so noone was the wiser.

Kim

 

[Dismom55]

Let me just say this is all wonderful information, my son is 19 and was a bedwetter and never a word was said about any of this by his doctor when we were going thru this. It was a horrible time for him and I never once scolded him as I felt then and now it was out of his control, but it did a lot of self image damage to him and he still pays for it now.

I hope your sons have much success with this technology that is available and you let them know they are ok, just some bodies grow up faster or whatever your doctor says is the right phrase to let them know they are ok.

Wishing you all well.

 

[PatMcDuck]

We used the DDAVP medication for DD. This was years ago, she was about 8 or 9 I think. (she is 20 now).

We tried the alarm, but it scared her and was really stressful. I think it messed with her head, she would not be able to fall asleep, because she was so afraid of the alarm. I know this sounds nuts, but it seemed cruel to continue.

The medication was a miracle, like flipping a switch in her case. I think she took it for only a few months. I know, it sounds extreme to use a chemical when an alarm could also do the same thing. But the alarm did not work, so we tried the meds. (OP, I understand meds did not work in your case)

 

[Chelley00]

We also used a Malem alarm. Lifesaver. DS used it for 2-3 months and hasn't had an accident yet (knock on wood) It would wake me up, but everyone else slept through it. I'm a very light sleeper though. We did find we had to change the alarm tones because one of them wouldn't wake him up at all.

We'd put the sensor on his underwear, and then put a pull up over it so I wouldn't have to change sheets in the middle of the night.

 

[wgeo]

We used the Wet stop 3 for our ds who was wetting through his pull up everynight. I couldn't find pullups that were absorbent enough, so we had the expense of that plus doing laundry every day. He was just turned 6 at the time. Honestly I chose the wet-stop because it was cheaper then the Malem, and the first one we got the sensor didn't work, but we were able to get a replacement. When that one came it worked very well and within 3 weeks he was dry Honestly the best money we have ever spent . I hope this isn't too long, but I found the review I posted on Amazon a few years ago and I'll copy it here in case anyone is interested.

I truly cannot believe the results we've had with this alarm. Our 6 year old boy had never had a dry night in his life. A few months ago we tried the method where I would get up and wake him up and that was a disaster, I was waking him up 2 times a night and he would still wet 2 or 3 other times a night. The short version is that the alarm went off 3 times for the first nights, then 2 times and on night 10 - no alarm and my son got up on his own to go and has done so every night since!

The reason I gave the alarm a 4 instead of a 5, is because the first alarm we got didn't work at all. We bought the alarm from the Bedwetting Store and they wouldn't help at all with what they said was a manufacturing issue. Then I called Potty MD, who said they would replace it, but they wouldn't pay for return shipping since I didn't purchase it from them. It's frustrating that since it was obviously broken to begin with they should have stood behind their product more, and then it took over 2 weeks to get a new one.

Long version: The first couple of nights the alarm went off 3 times, and my son was pretty wet, but each time the alarm went off he was standing next to his bed when I got into his room. The next 5 or 6 nights, the alarm went off 3 times, and then 2 times a night, but almost everytime my son was able to stop himself pretty quickly and finish up in the bathroom. Then we had 2 nights that were tough were my son didn't get out of bed when the alarm went off, although he did stop himself from urinating further. I didn't hear the alarm as well these nights because he had taken it off his top and shoved it under his pillow. The next night we pinned it to his shirt and the alarm only went off once and that was it. Every night since then he's gotten up on his own to go during the night!

 

[wgeo]

Hey OP,

FWIW I just went looking and found our old alarm, I put new batteries in and got it go off by touching the sensor to a wet cloth. Soooo if it doesn't gross you out and you'd just like one to try send me a pm and I can mail it to you.

 

[bdcp]

Our youngest DS wet the bed until he turned 10, probably 2-3 times per week. It was literally the week he turned 10 that it just stopped. It's purely a neurological maturity issue in most cases. We used to wake him up and that worked sometimes, but his brain really had to mature enough to wake him when he needed to go. He wore washable pull up type absorbent underwear. We never made a big deal about it and he's now 26. My DH and I both were bed wetters. I was til I was about 12, but only occasionally. DH was til he was about 10, also occasionally. Our oldest DS was completely dry at night at age 3. Genetics can play a huge role.

The alarms when he was young weren't as good as today. Most people I know who used them didn't particularly care for them.

 

[dimimi]

We tried the alarm, but that didn't work for us and our son was much older than yours. The alarm wasn't 100% so we new we could still have troubles at a sleep over. We did get the medication. It made things much easier. We only used it for sleep overs and when we had guests at our house. Our son is 14 now and ....yes... he did outgrow it.

 

[reginaastralis]

This is really informational, I didn't know it was such a prevalent problem. My dd is currently 7, and my doctor always believed she would outgrow it this year, but it seems to be getting worse. We'll be going for her check up sometime this summer, and I really need to know what's going on ...

Our problem is she can hold it ALL day, and she hates to go to the restroom at school and especially hates to ask if she can go to. Since she's so go.go.go all the time the only time she doesn't have the chance to hold it in is when she falls asleep. I never knew there were such things as an alarm.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

DD is 9 and still rarely makes it through the night. She uses medication when she spends the night out, but she still wears a boxer-style pullup because the medication doesn't work all the time.

I'll be curious to hear if the alarm works. DD's problem is that she sleeps so soundly that she doesn't wake up - I would be surprised if the alarm would wake her. Her doctor says that almost all kids outgrow this either around age 8 or at puberty. It is also quite common, but there is such a stigma that no one talks about it.

 

[Chelley00]

I'll be curious to hear if the alarm works. DD's problem is that she sleeps so soundly that she doesn't wake up - I would be surprised if the alarm would wake her.

The Malem we have has the alarm (with a few different sounds) vibrates AND has a flashing light. My son can sleep through ANYTHING, but that alarm wakes him up quickly.

 

[sookie]

http://bedwettingstore.com/

Before trying meds, you should really try an alarm. Alarms do work if you give them a chance. They are annoying - but that is the point! It is conditioning the child to not sleep so deeply - so they can get up and go empty the bladder.

This website (above) has some really fancy alarms that you can use. These alarms above can be wireless and easily hidden, can have music, vibration. Very interesting. I've seen them demonstrated and I have recommended them to families and I have gotten good feedback. The biggest complaint I hear is cost, but usually people who proceed with the purchase tell me it is worth it.


Another brand is the Wet-stop. It is a simpler and cheaper alarm, but I have had patients who have had good results. It is really a basic alarm but that may be all you need. This brand has been around for a long time, and I've seen it demonstrated and it seems simple and efficient.

Good luck! I always feel bad for families because this is a sensitive topic. But give the alarms a chance... they do have a pretty good success rate!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

We've used the Potty Pager for both my DD and DS. It slips into the underwear and vibrates if it gets wet even a tiny bit.

http://www.pottypager.com/

My DD was 8.5 and a very deep sleeper. It worked on her within 2 weeks!

My DS just finished with it on Sunday night. He turned 7 in March. He started using the pager about 1.5 months ago and it only went off the first couple nights and he's been dry since. I made him continue wearing it just to make sure as we were on vacation and with the ending of school his sleeping schedule and eating schedules changed. Worked great through all of that!

It's only $75 and there is a return policy. If within a month you don't think it is working you can return it with no questions asked. You'll know within a month or not if it is working for you.

I highly recommend as it worked great for both my kids.

 

[Sugar Jones]

We used the alarm for my ds last year. It worked like a charm. He used it for about 7 nights and after that he's been dry ever since. This is the one we used:

http://www.dri-sleeper.com/excel.htm

I would try the alarm before I would use the meds. There are some risks involved with the meds. My nephew is the same age as my ds and we gave him the alarm after we were done with it, but it didn't work for him He just started the meds last week. He has to have a blood draw every two weeks while he is on the meds.

My 8 year old son still wears pull ups at night, we will try the alarm with him this summer.

My dd who is almost 5 went had no problems with waking to pee. She's been in underwear at night since she was potty trained at 2yrs old. That really bothered my oldest and that's why we decided to take some action.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

I'm definitely going to research all these options! DS9 still wets. I think I did until I was 10 or 11 One thing the dr told us was that if your child drinks A LOT in the first part of the day, they will produce most of their urine in the first part of the day & have a better chance of not wetting at night. Kind of like, they only produce a certain amount per day. I thought it sounded odd, but wondered if any of you had heard this?

Just wanted to ask...do these not shock the skin? I just want to make sure it's a vibration, and not a shock of any kind. BTW-as much as we spend on pull-ups, the device will eventually pay for itself anyway.