Nighttime wetting alarm for kids

[StephaniePlum]

Using the Wet Stop 3 tonight for the first time tonight for my 6 year old at direction of our Ped. Anyone have any experience or advice on these? TIA!

[livinitup]

Sadly, no experience. But that sounds tough. GL.

[eddy]

Youknow it is natural for a 6 year old to have accidents, right?

I will be honest an alarm seems a tad cruel.

My son grew out of wetting the bed around 6. I started going in at 10 pm to take him to the bathroom. That was all he needed to stay dry in the night. Eventually we didn't even need to go in as he matured enough to wake himself.

[StephaniePlum]

Jul 31, 2015 19:52:19 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

That's the model we used with M a few months ago. The bad news is: the alarm quit going off after about 5 weeks. The good news is: we aren't exactly sure when it broke because by the time we noticed, he was staying completely dry during the night. He's had maybe one or two accidents since then when he has woken up just a little too late and peed his pants on the way to the bathroom.

Also, the first few nights were ROUGH. He's a super heavy sleeper and fought it so hard. He wouldn't wake up, and when we woke him up, he would deny that the alarm was going off. So make sure that you can hear the alarm in case your kid manages to sleep through it.

.

Thx! I'm going to sleep in her room the next few nights to help and hopefully avoid her waking up her sister in the next room! Glad it worked for you guys. 5 weeks sounds way better than the 2-3 months in the instructions!

[lilafowler]

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

[iamgrace]

Jul 31, 2015 20:11:18 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

no you are not wrong.

[StephaniePlum]

Jul 31, 2015 20:05:10 GMT -5 eddy said:

Youknow it is natural for a 6 year old to have accidents, right?

I will be honest an alarm seems a tad cruel.

My son grew out of wetting the bed around 6. I started going in at 10 pm to take him to the bathroom. That was all he needed to stay dry in the night. Eventually we didn't even need to go in as he matured enough to wake himself.

Totally appreciate this perspective, but our dr who is at one of the top 3 kid hospitals in the country thought it was important for us to try right now, so we are following her advice. Glad son was able to resolve on his own.

[StephaniePlum]

Jul 31, 2015 20:11:18 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

According to our dr, if mom or dad weren't late (older than 5) at staying dry overnight, the odds of resolving on its own (being a physical v behavior issue) are very small- less than 5%. Again, we weren't ready to go down this path until 7, but our dr strongly suggested we start now.

[eddy]

Jul 31, 2015 20:11:18 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

No you are not wrong. 

I read a an article about how shamey our society is about wetting the bed even though physically it is still an appropriate thing to happen. To lazy to look it up right now.  

Like I said above J dropped it on his own sometime during the first half of six. 

[onomatopoeia]

We used a chummie alarm for my 9 yo. We started with the one that clips to their undies, then we got the mattress pad alarm (the clip one was really uncomfortable). It's the only things that's even come close to helping him have dry nights.

FWIW, while our pedi did say he wasn't concerned about the bed wetting from a development or health perspective (I was also a bed wetter, so my kids come by it genetically), he also really encouraged us to try the alarm. Tokens, charts, waking up in the middle of the night to pee...none of those worked. We even tried medication. DS was getting frustrated and embarrassed, and I won't lie - the constant laundry was killing me (he refused to wear a pull up).

He's been dry for about a month now, and his 6 yo brother (also a bedwetter, he still wears pull ups) wants to use the alarm next.

I agree with the PP that you have to be able to hear the alarm - it really depends on the parents getting up and helping. It won't work immediately, but you'll likely see an improvement over a few weeks. It's exhausting, but so is the alternative right?

I read the same article as another PP about our society being shame-y about bedwetting. If it bothers your kids (like it did/does mine) I don't think it's shaming them to try to help them stop doing it, you know? I actually wish the alarms had been around when I was younger.

[penguingrrl]

My niece wet the bed until 7 or 8. They tried the alarm at 6 and it didn't help. Even when it woke her up it was too late since it didn't wake her up until she had already peed. All it did was interrupt her sleep and her mother's sleep. She outgrew bed wetting on her own a few years after giving up on the alarm.

[auntie]

Most docs I know consider it a function of neurological maturity.

Not sure I'd do an alarm under the direction of a PCP/pedi for a six. About 10-12 % of kids who are six wet. It's pretty common, especially for boys.

The alarm works after the fact.

[shell24]

Jul 31, 2015 20:11:18 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

I hope not because my 5.5 yr old DS still wears pull ups. Our pedi is not concerned either.

But for the OP, I can also see how an alarm could help and wouldn't judge the use of one.

[auggie]

My 6.5 (at the time) dd was wet every.single.night. After about a month with the alarm, she was completely dry all the time. Before the alarm, she didnt want to wear pull ups and the laundry was killing me. There was no shaming involved; we explained that lots of kids still wet the bed, but this might help. She was so happy to be dry at night. Sure we could have waited who-knows-how-long until she stopped, but the alarm worked so well,, I'm so glad we didn't. We could have been dealing with it for years.

Since it worked so well for her, I tried it with her 4.5 year old little brother who was dry sometimes but was wetting at night more and more often. I think it took 2 or 3 nights and he was never wet again. I recommended it to a friend whose 9yo was wet every night. Worked for them, too.

Then, finally, a few years later, I used it on my third kid. Worked for her. So, I'm a big fan for sure. I know it's perfectly common to wet the bed at this age, but if a few weeks with an alarm stops it and saves me from years of laundry and let's them go to sleep overs with their friends and cousins, then yay. I promise that my kids were cool with it.

Good luck, OP! Hope or works well for you!

[LoveTrains]

The problem, IMO, with the alarm is it trains kids to no longer sleep deeply. My H had this problem as a child and his parents forced him to sleep with the alarm.

As a result, as an adult at the age of 34, he wakes up to pee almost every night. It's disruptive to his sleep cycle and has long term negative ramifications. He craves deep sleep and is exhausted many mornings. He is convinced it's from the alarm.

[onomatopoeia]

Jul 31, 2015 23:41:07 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

The problem, IMO, with the alarm is it trains kids to no longer sleep deeply. My H had this problem as a child and his parents forced him to sleep with the alarm.

As a result, as an adult at the age of 34, he wakes up to pee almost every night. It's disruptive to his sleep cycle and has long term negative ramifications. He craves deep sleep and is exhausted many mornings. He is convinced it's from the alarm.

I could see that happening.  On the other hand though (speaking anecdotally as well), my oldest would wake up when he peed the bed anyway, even with no alarm, all wet and cold.  Either way the kid gets disrupted sleep, you know?  At least the alarm is short term.

I do know a woman who tried the alarm and the only thing it did was scare the shit out of her son, so I guess it works great for some and less so for others.  I think it's important that the kid is actually on board..forcing it on your child (like your DH) is pretty much setting them up to fail. 

I've also read that it's a problem for parents who wake their kids up to pee (with no alarm) on a nightly basis....it gets the kid used to having to wake up to pee in the middle of the night.  Parents of bedwetters just can't win, lol. 

[auggie]

Aug 1, 2015 0:23:09 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

Jul 31, 2015 23:41:07 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

The problem, IMO, with the alarm is it trains kids to no longer sleep deeply. My H had this problem as a child and his parents forced him to sleep with the alarm.

As a result, as an adult at the age of 34, he wakes up to pee almost every night. It's disruptive to his sleep cycle and has long term negative ramifications. He craves deep sleep and is exhausted many mornings. He is convinced it's from the alarm.

I could see that happening.  On the other hand though (speaking anecdotally as well), my oldest would wake up when he peed the bed anyway, even with no alarm, all wet and cold.  Either way the kid gets disrupted sleep, you know?  At least the alarm is short term.

I do know a woman who tried the alarm and the only thing it did was scare the shit out of her son, so I guess it works great for some and less so for others.  I think it's important that the kid is actually on board..forcing it on your child (like your DH) is pretty much setting them up to fail. 

I've also read that it's a problem for parents who wake their kids up to pee (with no alarm) on a nightly basis....it gets the kid used to having to wake up to pee in the middle of the night.  Parents of bedwetters just can't win, lol. 

None of my 3 kids who've used the alarm wake at night to pee in the middle of the night; they all sleep through and just stay dry. Now, the dog, on the other hand.... But seriously, we all sleep so much better now. It really wasn't any more exhausting for me to do the alarm because I was already dealing with wet beds.

Since there can be different reasons for bed wetting (some produce too much urine at night, some have small bladders, some sleep too deeply, etc.), that may be why alarm works for some and not others. And maybe that's why some still wake at night into adulthood and others don't.

I can see how the alarm could scare some kids. My kids reacted differently from one another. My daughter wouldn't even wake up. I would hear it from my bedroom and get up and take her to the bathroom or help her change. She wouldnt even remember it in the morning. I thought it wouldn't work because she was really practically asleep through the process, but it did.

My son was such a quick fix. It woke him and he was upset by the noise. He only set it off a couple of times before he stopped. My youngest would set it off and then lie there covering her ears and yelling. Even though she clearly didnt enjoy the process, she was always the one to remind me to put it on at bedtime.

OP, we used the Malem alarm and the reviews on amazon sold me on it. It's important to follow the directions of the alarm. It also had us track accidents in terms of frequency and amount and that was a great visual to share with the kids to show progress because its hard for kids to see that it's improving when it can take many weeks to work for some kids.

[MixedBerryJam]

Jul 31, 2015 20:11:18 GMT -5 lilafowler said:

Isn't being able to stay dry through the night something that's more reliant on the body being physically able as opposed to behaviorally?
Ellie is 5 and wears pull ups at night and the pedi didn't even bat an eye. We work on not having a lot to drink after a certain time and peeing right before bed but if her body isn't physically ready I'm not going to push it.
Am I wrong?

This is where I am, too. We tried an alarm eventually, but more like 10, when he was developmentally ready to perceive and respond to his body's cues. And OP, the alarm didn't really work for us because part of the problem was that he was a heavy sleeper and sleeping through his body's signals, so he also slept through the damned alarm. It woke the rest of us up just fine, though.

We limited (but did not prohibit) liquids after dinner, had him go right before bed, and if he was somewhat stirring when we'd check on him when we'd be going to bed we might wake him and send him in, but not always. We always had a couple of layers of sheets/protective pads on the bed so he could handle stripping the wet ones off and getting back to sleep by himself.