getting dry at night

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DS1 aged 7 has never been dry at night. Have bought the Rodger alarm system, and have used for about a week. However - two problems - first, that it always goes off at about 1am, a time at which I find it almost impossible to go back to sleep myself. So I feel a wreck! Second problem is that the loo is on a different floor from the bedroom, so it's really hard for DS to get there (although the alarm wakes him up, he's a zombie and not really up for navigating stairs). Altogether not great. A couple of times this week I have walked him to the loo just before going to sleep myself (10.30ish) and on those occasions, the alarm hasn't gone off at all - suggesting that he only needs one night-time wee. My question is: if I continued to lift him regularly every night before I went to bed, would this train him in the same way as the alarm? It would be so much better than constant sleeplessness! Would be grateful for thoughts and suggestions.

I'm very interested in this. Was just thinking about investing in a Rodger system. My seven and a half year old wore night nappies til last year and since then has been walked zombie style to the loo every night about eleven. This does keep her dry but I'm not sure it is training her to waken up when she needs as we've been doing it for over a year and if for any reason we forget or leave it too late the bed is wet every time. Maybe you'll have more luck. Fingers crossed for you. I was thinking of using the roger system but with the sensor in a night nappy so that at least the up time during the night would be minimised. Would that work do you think?

I only know that a friend of mine did the waking thing for a couple of years with her ds and now he's fine. Seems easier than being woken at 1am for a couple of years!

Thanks for both those posts. I have been using a night nappy on top of the "electric pants", so I haven't been changing any sheets - it's just that I find it almost impossible to get back to sleep if I'm woken so early in the night. Very annoying. I'm interested to hear about experience with lifting - it does seem to me that it's probably not the same as training the brain to wake up when the bladder is full…My latest thought is to put DS into the room next to the loo downstairs on a mattress, so he doesn't have to walk very far, and with any luck, I might stay asleep! A bit mean, but better mean than viciously sleep-deprived! The hope would be that it would take months rather than years to train him that way...

Whatever it takes I say. Sleep is important too. People always tell me not to worry she won't be wetting the bed when she's eighteen but I am secretly wondering if dd will be the exception that proves the rule...

Ds is nearly 7 and has now been dry for about 6 weeks with no accidents. Previously to that we had been waking him before we went to bed. He was so difficult to wake that one night we left him and he woke the next morning dry and hasn't looked back. Before that he had never had a dry night. The one thing we are really sure about is that he has a wee a couple of times just before bed ie before teeth cleaning and then about 20 minutes or so later after story. It's amazing how many times he can do another wee. My son always wore a nappy but when his 3 year old sister became dry at night he suddenly felt silly wearing a nappy so gave up wearing one too. I think somehow giving the nappy up helped the process because he could the moment that he started weeing. The disposable sheet protectors helped on these occasions. I was beginning to think that we would have to seek help but kept putting off but although it is early days I am hoping that he has now cracked it!

Marking place. We have a 6yo who has never been dry, though as yet am not bothered too badly as all the books say don't worry until 7 is almost 8. He is such a sound sleeper once he actually goes to sleep that it is nigh impossible to wake him. I am reading every bit of advice!

No, waking your child up to go to the loo is not remotely the same thing as an alarm going off when the child has already leaked a tiny amount of urine.

We used the Rodger alarm on our ds1 when he was 8 and it worked within weeks - from happening every night twice a night in the first week, to every other night or so and only once a night in the second week, to once or twice in the third week, to not at all for weeks on end, after which we stopped using the pants. Even now, however, at age nearly 10, he will wet the bed about 3 or 4 times a year. It's a huge improvement on every night, twice a night, though, and is now fairly predictable: when he's tired and fighting off a cold, so, eg at the start of the Autumn term when there are lots of bugs going around. When it happens, he wears the alarm pants again for a few nights to build up his confidence again. The odd thing is, wetting the bed clearly had nothing to do with having a full bladder, given that the alarm did not so much teach him to wake up in the middle of the night when he needed the loo, as teach him to sleep through without wetting the bed...

Back on here again…I'm sure that's right, Rabbitstew. Waking him up to go isn't at all the same as him going when he's already started to wee.

The problem we have is the logistics. Our loo is down a long flight of stairs from the bedrooms, so DS would need to navigate all that half-asleep. I suppose it's not impossible…but it just makes it so much less attractive as an option in the middle of the night! Well I suppose I'll just have to go for it, and meanwhile be awake half the night after his alarm goes off.

Maybe worth trying the having him sleep downstairs for a week or two, as you considered before? Or even sleeping downstairs with him for a few nights to get him used to it and make him feel supported, rather than inconvenient!