First night with bedwetting alarm tonight... anyone else in the same boat?

[FourArms]

DS1 has just turned 6 and has only ever had one dry night in his life. He's getting very distressed about this, and having to wear nappies, so we're trying out a bedwetting alarm. Just got it from the HV today (was about a long wait!) so we'll be trying it out tonight.

Any hints or tips? Have just purchased millions of waterproof sheets and planning to layer the bed up. Hoping to only have to get up a couple of times max, but will see how we go!

He's a very wriggly boy, so have put futon mattresses on his mattress to make his sleeping space smaller (he has a kingsize bed!). He also comes into my bed during the night every night, so we're going to have to tackle that at the same time, or I'm going to have a wet bed.

Wish me luck!

Good luck! My ds1 (also 6) has started getting a bit upset about not being dry at night, too, so I've ordered a duvet cover to go with his waterproof bed pads and mattress protector and am currently hoping he will be more successful at waking up now than he has been in the past (he is dry about once every three weeks in nappies....). Wish he'd wait to discard the nappies until AFTER we get the duvet protector, but I don't want to upset him by insisting on nappies... Let me know how the alarm goes, because when he's been without nappies in the past, he's slept through the night in a wet bed. He's even slept the night in his own vomit. He sleeps through everything... I even hear that some children sleep through bedwetting alarms!

I wouldn't be surprised if DS1 slept through wetting the bed, but the alarm is quite loud - very similar to the smoke detector. Apparently bedwetting is more likely in heavy sleepers, and DS1 is also a heavy sleeper. Have been pushing fluids down him all day (no blackcurrant or fizzies), and then he'll only get a v.small amount of milk at bedtime (part of his bedtime routine, and he got really upset when I said he couldn't have any).

Good luck to you and your DS!

DS1 had an alarm age 6 and it was a success. DS2 has just started with one and is age 9. The alarm is really loud and wakes me up but not him. I then have to literally drag him out of bed to the toilet. He then goes straight back to sleep and I toss and turn for the rest of the night!

The incontinence advisor we saw is very positive about them but obviously they don't work for everyone.

Layering the sheets is definitely the way to do it. We also have a 'wee sheet' which is bath towel sized and really useful because it sometmes means the sheets don't need washing. We've had it for years so I'm afraid I can't remember where we bought it.

Wishing you lots of luck.

I personally had to have a bedwetting alarm when I was 6 too. It didnt take very long for my brain to connect having a wee and needing to wake up. The alarm was very loud so no chance of sleeping through it. Good luck!

Hi, FourArms,

How did the first night go? Ours wasn't a success - ds1, predictably, was soaking wet when I went in to get him up this am and just lying in it, awake. I'd told him I really wouldn't mind the bed being wet, but would be upset if he hadn't called me to let me know when he realised the bed was wet, but apparently that was in one ear and out of the other last night... I do think an alarm might help, as I doubt he'd actually been awake and lying in it for that long (it looked very wet and fresh!), but I just don't know. I don't see how we can get any control over it if I have no idea when the wetting is happening and he isn't finding the sensation of being in a wet bed unpleasant enough to do anything about it. And yet it was at his instigation that we took the nappies off for him for another attempt at getting him dry in the first place.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Well, no wet beds this morning. and

Because he didn't have a nappy on, he did a further wee before he went to sleep (he came down to say he needed a wee, but didn't know what to do - I said GO TO THE LOO! ) Then when I went up to bed, he had a bit of a night terror, so while he was awake, I got him to do a wee (have put a big bucket in his room to help with night times - not sure if this is a good idea?).

Throughout the night he did another wee at some point, but woke up and came into my bedroom THREE times! I sent him back each time, but it really disturbed my sleep.

So success? I don't really think so! Will have to stress that he can't get in my bed a bit more, and barricade my door. Otherwise I don't wake up.

I did manage to hold off drinks for 2 hrs before bedtime, and he drank 1.5 pints of squash in the afternoon, so will keep going with extra fluids in the day.

Good luck with your alarm ptangyangkipperbang, and hope tonight is better rabbitstew!

Day two. More of day 1. Dry again, but in my bed again. Didn't lift him when I went to bed though, so he woke up and did a wee. Think perhaps he was nearly ready, and the drink limitation before bed/stopping problem drinks/pushing daytime fluids has really helped?

Day 2 for us - the promise of a treat if ds1 let me know when the bed was wet rather than lying in it all night, or a treat if he woke up dry (to avoid the possibility he would deliberately wet the bed for a treat!) resulted in success (of sorts!). I was woken up at 12.45am by a very proud ds1, to let me know that he'd wet the bed! Having changed sheets and pyjamas, he went to bed happy and woke up in a dry bed. With any luck, now, I will at least get a better idea as to whether there is any pattern to the bedwetting and whether it ever happens more than once in the night! Hopefully, also, it will get ds1 out of the habit of letting himself drift back to sleep when he's wet, increasing the chances (she said optimistically) of him becoming more alert generally to wetness or bladder sensations in the middle of the night...

Here's hoping it wasn't fluke that he woke up!

Whilst we're doing this, DS1 is using fleece blankets which wash and dry quickly. He's got two layered up but one would probably be enough in this warm weather.