First and foremost I concur with the other posters - definitely talk to your doctor. Sometimes there is a medical problem such as diabetes or recurring bladder infection (not all of them result in pain when peeing) - if the infection I recommend an ounce of prevention or 8 ounces of cranberry juice every day.
My middle DS was/is the bedwetter. We never got to the alarm stage so I can't speak to how they work. For him the problem is being a very deep sleeper. I linked the problems to his daytime activities. The more exciting/active the day the more likely he was to pee the bed, which helped me plan for the night - if I knew we were apt to have a pee accident I would put down a flannel coated rubber sheet. This helps repel the water from the mattress while the flannel absorbs the flow so it doesn't run over the sides - this washes easily. Mostly now he gets up but he will stagger all over the house and sometimes pee his pants before he finds the bathroom because he hasn't woken up all the way. One time he made it all the way into the basement before the noise of him stumbling around woke me up and I directed him to the bathroom. Once he got up to pee after he'd gone to bed and when we went to bed we found him asleep on the toilet. What works most for us is limiting the quantity of fluid just before bedtime making sure he goes to the bathroom right before he falls asleep (he's very good about doing this himself now) and if we know he's had a lot to drink that day we get him up right before we go to bed.
Good Luck!
My middle DS was/is the bedwetter. We never got to the alarm stage so I can't speak to how they work. For him the problem is being a very deep sleeper. I linked the problems to his daytime activities. The more exciting/active the day the more likely he was to pee the bed, which helped me plan for the night - if I knew we were apt to have a pee accident I would put down a flannel coated rubber sheet. This helps repel the water from the mattress while the flannel absorbs the flow so it doesn't run over the sides - this washes easily. Mostly now he gets up but he will stagger all over the house and sometimes pee his pants before he finds the bathroom because he hasn't woken up all the way. One time he made it all the way into the basement before the noise of him stumbling around woke me up and I directed him to the bathroom. Once he got up to pee after he'd gone to bed and when we went to bed we found him asleep on the toilet. What works most for us is limiting the quantity of fluid just before bedtime making sure he goes to the bathroom right before he falls asleep (he's very good about doing this himself now) and if we know he's had a lot to drink that day we get him up right before we go to bed.
Good Luck!
