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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Bed wetting alarm................

22 replies

StarPlayer · 03/05/2009 17:49

Has anyone used one with their child and what was the outcome? If it worked - how old were they and how long did it take?

I would really appreciate your responses (and so would the other 50 odd lurkers who hang around looking for this kind of info)

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Ponders · 03/05/2009 18:06

I had a very soggy boy - we had various alarms, none worked, he sleeps too deeply & has small bladder capacity.

desmopressin made a big difference, eventually (didn't work until he was much older than 7) - it suppresses kidney function overnight, a thing which is supposed to happen naturally around age 3 but in some children takes years longer.

something of an explanation - a very helpful piece actually

MrsBoo · 03/05/2009 18:46

My DS got referred to an eneuris clinic eventually, when he was 7. They dont consider it a problem before that.
The specialist got us to monitor the amount he was drinking during the day, and the amount he was peeing.
Then we got the alarm, and had to keep a record of times, and whether successful or not. For us it worked within about 2 weeks.
It used a sensor and a vibrating alarm - he hated wearing it -but was prepared to give it a go.

The main things to remember are plenty of liquids during the day (not fizzy) and not too much milk at bedtime, which was our main problem. Apparently it is slow to digest, so doesn't turn into pee until much later in the night.

Original poster

StarPlayer · 03/05/2009 19:15

Thanks for your replies so far.

Anyone else?

How do you manage to know if they're drinking enough throughout the day at school?

OP posts:

MrsBoo · 03/05/2009 19:22

My DC each take a 500ml bottle of water to school so you can check how much they have taken.
I would say my DS was confidently dry at night by the time he was about 8.
Up to then, I was still taking precautions, reminding him to go to the toilet, restricting milk after 6pm (he gets through about 1L per day). We were still taking bedmats etc on holidays, or for sleepovers.

It's very much a taboo subject - but around the time, I discovered that around a third of his class of 15 boys were all having some problems too.

devientenigma · 03/05/2009 20:30

My DD still wets the bed frequently. She's 12. We have tried everything going and now going back over to try again.
The alarm she didn't like as she was woken up from her sleep. She would just sleep in it until she got to cold. Not very nice I know. HTH.

Greensneeze · 03/05/2009 20:33

Oh no don't use the alarm

I had this when I was about 8 - it had two sheets of foil, one under and one above, and when it got wet they connected and the whole house was woken up by a noise like an air-raid siren

mind you in my case it was the last in a long line of "approaches" my mother tried, including embarassing me in front of her friends, and making me sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor next to my bed because I was a "dirty lazy little bastard who didn't deserve to sleep in a bed"

I think the alarm is traumatic, I will never forget the panic and the shame. It gave me nightmares for years.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 03/05/2009 20:34

My DS2 had the alarm (this is over 10 years back) and at the time was sharing his room with DS1 and a friend's toddler. Not one of them woke to the alarm - I did, though.

He grew out of eventually.

janek · 03/05/2009 20:39

my brother had an alarm. it woke me, my mum and my dad, and we'd be standing around his bed trying to wake him as the siren wailed. he was such a deep sleeper that nothing woke him. i think it took puberty to sort him out. strangely, after several pints in the local pub it was no longer a problem...

thisisyesterday · 03/05/2009 20:44

my brother had this and it didn't work. all that happened was it woke him (just about) as he did the wee, and woke everyone else as well.

some children do just take a LONG time for that connection to be made in the brain. as with Janek's brother mine was a bedwetter until puberty.
coincidentally so was my mum.

applepudding · 03/05/2009 22:58

Greensneeze how awful for you!

Ponders - have read this link - interesting thank you. This is telling you not to reduce drinks in the evening, which is different to the advice we got from the GP. Also the point about not wearing pull ups at night - I must admit that I do wonder if this exacerbates the problem as DS remains comfortable, although wet - but - if as it seems this is something which may continue still for a couple of years, I couldn't face washing bedclothes every night. Do other people use night time pants for their DCs?

Starplayer - I know what you mean about how do you know what they drink at school. DS always brings his squash bottle back undrunk. He says he doesn't drink with his lunch but he drinks plenty of water from a cup in the classroom at break - which is rather strange as he won't drink water when I give it to him.

SlightlyMadSwineFlu · 03/05/2009 23:03

You shouldn't reduce fluids in teh evening. If you reduce fluids it tells the bladder to shrink exacerbating the problem.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 03/05/2009 23:15

SlightlyMadSwineFlu, that's the advice I was given over a devade ago too - though fizzy stuff is to be avoided.

As for the pull-ups, if your son is like mine was (he grew out of it eventually, but it took time, he was about 8 I think) you will just be faced with wet bedding most days, so if you can still get pull ups to fit, and he doesn't feel weird about wearing them, use them.

SlightlyMadSwineFlu · 03/05/2009 23:22

I also think I have heard somewhere that if a child drinks red/dark juices they are harder to night train than if they drink orange juices/water etc.

Based on my experience seems to have been true - although even my red juice drinkers were night trained before they went to school so may not be relevant in this context.

devientenigma · 03/05/2009 23:27

Hi,
LOL at bed clothes washing daily. I do! DD goes through duvets, pillows etc, sometimes 2-3 times a night. I don't mind the washing but it's the drying. Also even with plastic covers on!! I don't know how she does it. She has even been through numerous beds and carpets with going through. At times I feel like I can't go on either.

Original poster

StarPlayer · 04/05/2009 21:04

Thanks everyone.

Ponders - I found that link interesting as well. From now on I wont limit drinks at night time.

I did have him in Drynites but I thought he was getting way to comfortable in sleeping in them and was hoping that once he was actually sleeping without them he would get up and have a wee - no such luck.

It would be easier to put him back in Drynites but I feel a bit resistant to this as this would feel like he's regressing[dilemma emoticon]

OP posts:

IlanaK · 04/05/2009 21:13

We have just seen a pedieatric urologist (private) for just this issue with my almost 8 year old. He had a scan to check kidneys and bladder as well as an xray. Everything was normal and the urologist said there was nothing wrong with him, it was not behavioural (which I knew) and was not psychological (which I also knew). He did not recommend any particular treatment - in fact I got the impression he leaned towards just waiting. However, he did give me a leaflet about the medication that supresses urine production at night. We asked ds if he wanted to take it or just wait and see - he has opted for wait and see. We do use drynites as there is no way I am washing bedding each day. And since the urologist has confirmed that it is not anything that is under ds's control, I feel there is no reason not to use the drynites.

Ponders · 04/05/2009 21:33

At almost 8, I would go along with your urologist completely, Ilana.

IME problems in regular life only really arise when it comes to sleepovers with friends, school trips, cub camp etc - it's worth having desmopressin in reserve, & practising beforehand, to cover those situations.

If you do start using it regularly, it's advised to use it for a limited period & then have a week or so off to see if things have improved - if not carry on with it (or not), but if the child seems to have become dry then continue without & see how it goes (it appears to be possible for use of the synthetic to trigger regular vasopressin production)

IlanaK · 04/05/2009 21:48

We are lucky - we home school so there is really no peer pressure about it. My ds does not feel that it is a worry - though he of course realises that it is not that usual for boys of his age as his younger brother was dry at night from 3 years old. He will be starting sleep overs soon, but with a friend who only recently was dry at night too so there is really no issue there.

madwomanintheattic · 05/05/2009 09:24

dd1 - consistently wet every night. we tried desmotabs but they had no effect at all. at 8 1/2 we borrowed an alarm, and she was dry within two weeks. it didn't wake her up to start with - we used a baby monitor so it woke us up (dd1 can sleep happily through a fire alarm), so i then went in and flung the light on, clapping and banging and generally making sleep untenable lol (small nod to the traumatised greensneeze). the idea being, that if weeing in bed has such an undesirable effect (ie noise, light, mentallist parents etc), your body learns to deal with it before it gets to the 'leak' stage. it was absolutely fantastic for dd1. she has been dry for a year now (and shows no sign of being scarred for life lol)
(oh, dd1 had been through the paed mill lol - at one point we had to measure her output so had to persuade her to wee in a pot to see how much there was etc and see if there were any issues with capacity... all a total waste of time)

ds1 - hmm. he's only 7... the paed (different paed lol - we moved) referred him for ultrasound etc which was all normal, and kept on at us to try desmotabs. as they hadn't worked with his sister we weren't keen, but after 6 months we have succumbed. so, now he's on 2 different meds (also oxybutinin to stop spasms i think?) and has an alarm as well. the meds help a little - he is definitely wetter without, and so far the alarm is only waking him up to go for a wee, rather than teaching him to wake up before it goes off. so, the jury is still out...

the paed essentially said that there are two reasons for night time enuresis
a - essentially maturity - non production of the hormone (which medication replicates)

b - really deep sleep (in which case an alrm will have the best effect)

obviously it is also possible to have a combination of both factors... which appears to be ds1...

dd2? dry day and night at 2yo lol. go figure.

so, in sum. it will depend on your particular child and the reason for bedwetting lol.

but my laundry and drynites bills are down...

(oh, the reason we decided to take ds1 earlyish (at 7) to doc - drynites not capable of containing lol, so in addition to drynites and bedmats bills, i was still doing laundry every day, including his duvet... his room literally stank like, well, you can imagine...) Very jealous of you not having to do laundry every day Ilana!

so, two down, one to go.

madwomanintheattic · 05/05/2009 09:34

next step for ds1 btw is referral for 'scope to have a look and see physically what's going on... we're opting to wait it out for a while first...

balloonslayer reminded me on the other thread that severe constipation or impaction can also have an effect (ds1 spent a while on lactulose and we keep it to use if he gets out of 'routine' lol). this can result in day time enuresis too...

Ponders · 05/05/2009 09:38

madwoman, my bedwetter combined a) & b) too, but sleeps so deeply that nothing woke him. We had one of the old fashioned box alarms & put it inside a biscuit tin on his bedside table to make it even louder, but still it woke the entire house (who all gathered around his bed, shouting, while he slept on ).

We also tried one of the vibrating ones that clips inside the pyjamas - that didn't wake him either. Time & desmotabs were all that worked with him...

madwomanintheattic · 05/05/2009 09:44

lol. he's got a vibrating one with 8 different alarm tones that alternate... so he doesn't get used to one tone and zone them out lol. and desmotabs. and oxybutinin.

last month i decided to take him off the meds as i wasn't convinced they were doing much.

but the floodgates opened even more, so he's back on them lol.

i'm loving the biscuit tin idea

i suspect strongly that it's going to be another year at least. but as long as i don't have to launder every single thing, every single day, that's manageable. and the house smells better lol.

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