To try a bed wetting alarm

[ChipsCheeseAndBeans]

My 7 year old is still not dry at night. Wears a pull up to bed which is very heavy in the morning. If he goes to bed in pants he wets the bed but doesn’t even wake up when wet.

Spoke to the doctor who is going to refer him for a scan to see if there is a problem with him not emptying his bladder fully. He is reluctant to try him on medication until he is 9.

He can’t go for sleepovers with his friends or on overnight school trips. Although that us not a problem at the moment because of covid.

Just wondering if anyone had success with alarms and if so which ones, as there are so many out there.

He's only really at the top end of normal for being dry at night, it is completely hormone driven. 2 of mine were late being dry and were still in pull ups on a night at this age. Didn't stop them doing beaver/ cub camps etc they just popped their pull up on in the toilets and wore a onesie so no waistband showing. Both became dry in their 8th year.

Have a look at the Eric website for information but I wouldn't be staying or medicalising at this age.

We used the Astric one, which is a pad under the bottom sheet, for DS last autumn (he turned 7 last summer). It worked really well, he was mostly dry within about four weeks and had done three full dry weeks (which is what they class as "done") within three months.

We did do all the stuff they recommend on the ERIC website first though - so monitoring fluid intake and bowel movements, a couple of weeks of no pull ups to observe any patterns etc. So we were pretty confident it was the right time for him.

Worked for mine aged 7. Called malem something or other. The medication didn't work (and made him put loads of weight on).

It took 3 months though to be dry for 14 nights in a row. DH and i took it in turns to sleeps with him to turn the alarm off quickly so it didnt wake everyone else. And to help get him to the loo and changed etc.

We're lucky that he doesn't often use a duvet and usually sleeps on his back so only had to wash the duvet a couple of times and the sheets a few times. Usually just the pyjamas.

We later discovered he has ADHD which is associated with night time wetting.

Is the clip uncomfortable on the pants? I have been looking at the malem one on ERIC website. Just worried that it a lot of money if it doesn’t work.

We have a Dry-Easy one I got from Amazon, think it was about £40.

It just clips onto their pants. It is very loud! We did have another one, which I can’t remember the name of now, which was quieter but didn’t actually wake my daughter. I slept in with her, & woke her. She was almost 9 then.

We stopped using it as it was disturbing our sleep so much (at least twice a night), she was exhausted & we didn’t feel it was actually doing any good. That was after around 2 weeks. It was my daughter who asked to stop, but I was relieved. It was like having a new born again!

She stopped on her own around 4 months ago, but then suddenly started again, so I dug out the alarm. For some reason it had stopped working, so I got this new one.

She used it for around a week, but it only went off twice in that time.
She is 10 now.

Personally, I think at 7, I would leave it for now. At least you have the COVID excuse right now with regards to sleepovers.

My daughter still went on sleepovers. Only to the friends she trusted not to tell anyone else, & of course with a pull-up.

Tbh, now that she’s been dry for a while, I’d actually be more nervous of her going for a sleepover. but I’m not 100% sure she wouldn’t wet, just yet.

We also used a dry easy alarm from Amazon. DS 8 was also waking up with full pull up. The alarm only went off a few times the first week and by week 4 he was completely dry. I would definitely recommend trying one. You do have to stick with it for a few weeks.

I can offer a perspective as both a bedwetting child and the mother of two late bed wetting DDs (now both dry!)

The alarms never worked for me or for DD’s. They just woke everyone up.

Luckily when I was a child in the 80s my parents were easy going about my bed wetting and just gave me the option of wearing “child size” nappies (basically just huge disposable baby nappies) that we’re available from Chemists in those days. There were no Pull-Ups or DryNites then.

We did try going without every few months and it never worked. We occasionally tried the alarms (which were available then) but they never worked either.

I realise now I was lucky because I now know many kids were still punished or shamed for bed wetting back then.

I eventually outgrew it when I was in double digits (which was just as well as the child size nappies barely still fitted).

With my own two DD’s I provided Pull-Ups and later DryNites for as long as they were needed. I did the same as my parents and (with DD’s cooperation) tried without periodically and also tried the alarm method.

In the end, by which time my eldest DD was also in double digits and still in DryNites, someone suggested to me that the problem might be drinking cordials, especially blackcurrent.

I was a Ribena junkie as a kid and both DDs had “no added sugar” cordials throughout their childhood.

We tried for a week with just milk and water (and later pure fruit juices) and the bed wetting stopped almost overnight.

I was genuinely gobsmacked and did not want to think about how much money I might have saved (and my parents might have saved!) if we had known earlier.

If your son likes cordials (fruit shoots are the worst) then maybe try going to water and milk for a week, just to see what happens.

It might be your miracle cure too, and best of all it’s free!

Got to be worth a go- it worked for my two.

Can’t help on alarms but my friend’s DS had similar issues. She was advised to give no drinks after 6pm and if her got thirsty give an ice cube to suck

Lots of good advice above. Main thing is not to criticise them, as it’s beyond their control. My DS was desperate to not be wetting. We managed to crack it finally at the age of 9 over lockdown, having been referred to the continence service etc.

Encourage fluids during the day; he should be drinking at least a litre. Space it out, encourage with every meal. Ideally water rather than eg milk. Blackcurrant squash and fizzy drinks are a no-no! For some reason blackcurrant makes them want to wee (not an issue for us, but the clinic specifically mentioned it).

Encourage them to go the loo, even when they don’t want to. Mine used to be far too busy doing something more interesting, then would end up wetting/ dashing.

No drinks 2 hours before bed. Encourage them to do a sit down wee just before bed; for some reason it can help them empty better.

Don’t dream wee/ lift them when they’re asleep.

If they’re constipated or have bowel issues, that can also have an impact on the bladder, as a lot of poo in the back passage can press on the bladder.

The above are all about increasing bladder capacity so that it can then hold more at night.

We tried desmopressin; no effect at all, although it does work for some.

What cracked it finally for us was the alarm. The clinic gave us the WetStop one, which has a wire clip. Didn’t work for us, so I bought a Rodger one from eBay where a little sensor clips into pants. Worked brilliantly and after a couple of weeks he was dry.

We learned so much from a referral to an enuresis clinic.
What was very enlightening ( and, sorry, I don't remember the detail ) was how much they should drink and when.
It seemed very counter- intuitive but it worked like a miracle!

Happy to answer any further questions! Also it’s more common in boys, and if there’s a family history of bedwetting.

It can take a good while to crack it; don’t be disappointed if it isn’t instant. It can also relapse (DS did after he’d been set for about 6 weeks), and the clinic said this was common and just to get back on track with the alarm and really encouraging drinking, voiding and keeping an eye on whether constipated.

I bought some waterproof washable sheets that go across the bed, so that when he did wet, I just whipped off the top layer without having to change the whole bed. It’s all about making it tolerable and sustainable for you.

Pick a couple of weeks where it doesn’t matter if you and he have disturbed sleep.

And reassure him it’s not his fault, his body just takes a bit longer to learn how to be dry

I could on about this forever (as the Mum of a bedwetting DD aged 9). We are just, hopefully, coming to the end of the bedtime wetting.
We were seeing the Enuresis clinic before all those types of clinics stopped due to Covid. Our nurse recommended a bell & pad alarm. As others have mentioned, traditional beeping alarms don't tend to wake children, they just wake you and the whole point of an alarm is to bladder-train the child, so you leaping out of bed and seeing to them doesn't train their brain to 'cure' the problem.
The bell & pad alarm can be hired on a weekly basis and returned when no longer needed. Have a look at www.bedwet.co.uk.

Sounds just like my DS when he was 7. I was sceptical about how the alarm would work at first. It was like waving a magic wand. It took about 10 days and that was it - he's been completely dry at night ever since. He's now 12.

The clip didn't disturb him at all. We borrowed the alarm from the medical centre we were referred to by the GP. I'm not sure which one it was.

I would really recommend giving it a go.

I am in the same position my almost 8yo DS. Urine test shows he can concentrate urine, scan has shown no problems so now waiting for an appointment with the bladder clinic.
He only drinks water, I can’t wake him once he’s asleep he’s such a deep sleeper. I’m hoping he will grown out of it. The good thing is, he doesn’t mind still having to be in pull ups and knows he can’t help it.

I would give it a go. However, we tried several times (for a week or so each time) with DS between ages 6-8. He couldn’t cope at all as the alarm scared him so much. I’m sure it would be really beneficial for a less anxious child and it did wake him up as he started to wee. We’ve tried all other strategies suggested on the ERIC website.
We have had a wet bed every single night until he started Desmopressin 3 nights ago.

@Yesmate you’ve reminded me, it’s very common for them to be deep sleepers too.

My DS was like a little zombie when the alarm went off. They genuinely just don’t get woken up by their bladder signals, or when they’re wet.

The alarm can help their body make that association. Wetting = alarm = bright lights and noise and waking and weeing = unpleasant.

All very Pavlovian!

They recommend you try any alarm for at least a month as it can take that long for the body to start connecting associations. It’s hard when you’re tired, but we were generally only up once a night, and it worked pretty soon for us.

If your son is motivated, go for it. If they’re not that fussed, concentrate on the other things like encouraging drinking etc.

Yes! We listened to everyone telling us it was to do with a hormone that probably hadn't just kicked in. We wish we'd tried an alarm sooner (waited till he was 8). He was dry in a week. Seems his brain just didn't trigger a waking response when his bladder was full. It needed 'switching on' so to speak. We tried an alarm that could be clipped to his underwear. He wore normal pants, which we clipped the alarm to, with night time pants over the top - so no wet sheets at 4am. Couldn't recommend it highly enough.

We did however exhaust other options first - plenty of fluid during the day, encouraging him to go to the toilet often etc. Even tried medication, which had no impact at all.

Should have said it was a Dryeasy Plus bedwetting alarm.

We used one for DD at age 8 and it worked brilliantly.

We used a Wet Shop 3. She wore pull ups with the alarm clipped to them. I really couldn't be doubt with wee all over the bed so didn't use pants, although this is what is advised.

The first week was quite hard. The alarm would go off every night and I would go to her and she would still be asleep with a wet pull up.

The second week she learnt to wake up herself as the alarm went off and go to the toilet.

The third week she was dry at night and has been ever since.

She basically needed to learn how to wake in the night and the alarm taught her that.

Wer Stop 3 - not Shop.

My boy was 7 at the time, after just over a year being under the continence clinic they tried the clip alarm (sorry no idea what brand it was). The plan with it is after 14 nights of no accidents (except the damp pants which wakes them) they go without the alarm, we have had no accident since. It was absolutely brilliant, he was delighted with himself. No sleepovers yet though because lockdown happened the week after we finished!
So if you are UK based ask for a referral to the continence clinic so the device is covered but if I had to do it again I would pay for it in a heartbeat.
Good luck

I used one with my daughter who has severe learning difficulties when she about 7/8. It worked really well but it was a hard 2 weeks of very broken nights. It seemed to reset her brain to know when she needed to get up. I tried the desmo melts alongside but quickly cut those down over the first few days, they didn't work alone.

Not sure which one it was but the alarm was loud!

Worth a try!
I think sometimes it’s hormonal but I’m convinced my son just didn’t wake up as he was such a heavy sleeper.
We bought a Wet Stop alarm from Amazon for about £40. It is loud and vibrates too, it woke us all up! It’s hard for the first week as you have disturbed sleep several times a night. By end of week 2, he was waking up himself as soon as the alarm sounded. By end of week 3, he was dry! He was 6 at the time and has been dry ever since. He relapsed a couple of times that year (when he was ill/very tired) but a couple of nights with the alarm and he was fine.

Other things that helped: drink more in the day (to stretch the bladder!); no drinks after 6pm; no blackcurrant based drinks; no lifting them up for a ‘dream wee’.

The alarms never worked for me or for DD’s. They just woke everyone up

Yep..I was traumatised by that fucking alarm. Clipped to my pants. First night I woke up panicking n screaming because I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Whole house woke up.
Sister tormented me and laughed about it..making me more nervous at night.
We tried charts..alarms..bargains..liquids being withheld from me even when very thirsty.
It was all very distressing and made me go to bed terrified every night. Such a big deal was made of it in my house I felt so ashamed. Night times and mornings were so stressful for me.
I just grew out of it around 11 or 12. It just stopped one day.

Perhaps try the approach of just leaving child to it. Change the sheets as if it was nothing and dont let them think somthing is 'wrong' with them. Reassurance is what you can do here. Tell them it happens to lots of children.

I had doctors suggest to my parents(in front of me) that I was just lazy and wouldn't wake up...hence the alarm. But it was just my body. The signal didn't connect til I was a little older.