Would appriciate suggestions for bed wetting alarms

[Momo]

Hey there! I know some on here have mentioned in the past that they used these to help their kiddos. I have researched in the past, but decided to just ask you all what you used. Any pros &/or cons welcomed.I am needing them for both a boy and a girl.

[HouseofWool]

Suz - for the older two? What does your ped say about it?

[GreyhoundsRUs]

My cousin had some issues with her son - he would literally sleep through the urge...

One thing the ped said was to eliminate dairy at dinner. I know that her son's major issue was that he would wake up to the alarm...after having wet the bed. It got better over time, but he was 6 or so before completely potty trained.

I know it is super frustrating - good luck

[Momo]

My ped say to just chill and use pull ups. We went cold turkey this summer and I would say S averages maybe 2 accidents a week and A maybe 2 a month. The problem is Z and I will take turns waking them before we fall asleep to go potty. We want to stop this and try using the alarms to see if they can just do it on their own. A was always my heavy wetter, but he has really improved! S was trained right off the bat but after having a bout of pneumonia where we put her in a good night she reverted back to wetting @ night. She too has improved but I obliviously thought it would be A that would struggle more.

[Amiens]

B, my 7 year old, is still wetting pretty much nightly. We tried an alarm, and he is just such a heavy sleeper that he doesn't even remember being woken up and taken to the bathroom. Because B is still wetting so frequently, we were advised to put him in pull-ups. As he gets closer to 10, and the frequency has not let up then we will look at medications. The medication used to treat nocturnal enuresis only helps the symptoms, not the actual problem. So Dr. A said if B ever wants to do a sleepover at a friend's house, he can write a prescription for one time use. Otherwise, because he is still so young, we need to let his body catch up and mature.

We have tried just about everything- reward charts, limiting certain foods, ensuring he drinks water throughout the day, stopping all food and drink by 7 pm, bed wetting alarm (woke us up, but not him), having him change his own sheets. Poor B, actually started getting stressed out by it (we were not threatening him, but he wants to stay dry. He knows his 4 and 3 year old brother and sister stay dry at night.) Anyway, we are not getting worked up about it. We are just being encouraging and taking one night at a time.

Good luck!

[oceanchild]

DH got a freebie at AAP last year that we've kept sitting around as a joke. I can probably talk him into giving it up, in which case I could mail it to you. I don't know the brand but can check at home tonight. Send me a PM if you're interested.

[houseelf]

I still have the one C used, but I haven't seen it since we moved. I'm sure it is in one of those 100 boxes yet to be unpacked so I don't have a specific brand recommendation.

From my extensive reading, here is a quick lowdown of what I learned. First, do you know when your kids wet the bed? If it is right before they wake up, this is suppossed to be the easiest to solve. Second, I remember reading that the alarm system solves about 2/3 of cases so don't get frustrated if it doesn't work out. If, however, you do decide to do the alarm sysem, you have to be ready to really commit because it sucks hard at first. It is like going back to a newborn sleep schedule. Essentially, you have to train the kid to notice their body's signals during sleep. Once wetness is detected in the underpants, the alarm physically shakes, sets off a siren, and lights up. If this doesn't wake the child, the parent is suppossed to place wet wet wash clothes to help the child wake up. The child then changes their underpants and/or sheets and the process starts all over. Once the program starts, you have to keep on it every night to ensure that the kid is continuing to grow in his awareness of the problem. In our case, the first week was the worst, but it did get better amd was solved within two months. Additionally, the books recommended NOT waking the kids up from a sleep for a preemptive potty break before the parents go to bed. The whole goal is for the kid to figure it out. This was the hardest part for me to follow because I knew I could get more sleep in if I cheated on this rule. Finally, make sure you check with your health insurance, our former carrier covered 50% of the cost. Best of luck.