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Original poster

Bedwetting alarm - one week in.

42 replies

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 12:22

My DS1, almost 8, has been given one of these.

Just wondered if anyone had any advice/tales (hopefully positive ones) to get us through the next few weeks?

Starting to feel like we have a baby in the house again, having to get up through the night. It seems to be going off a bit with sweat which is a pain, we have put a second sheet on the bed which seems to have helped but it went off twice last night with sweat too, DS1 unwell, think he must have had a bit of a fever.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 22:18

Nobody else had experience of this?

OP posts:

flack · 06/12/2006 22:40

NO experience, but will be very keen to hear how you get on.

fortyplus · 06/12/2006 22:41

Works for some children but not all.

Have you tried Desmopressin nasal spray?

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controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 22:53

hi there mrs s.... positive story alert**!

got ds2 one of these when he was 6 and a bit..... he had been dry and clean in day from 2 and a bit.... but never a dry night and getting really embarressed about having night nappies. cant nb the name of the alarm but it came with a good info leaflet, star chart etc. it emphasised that the child must want to be dry and needs to be active participant in the whole project which seemed sensible. ours had a alarm box that pinned on pj top and a sensor like a crocodile clip that went on pants..... was ok when got used to whole thing. dont know HOW it worked but it did. ds's problem i think was deep sleeper so NEVER woke up. even when alarm went off he slept on.... it was us it woke up! but it did work. what i would say is it took a good while of faithfully foolowing the instructions. it was a fag but worth it and ds v pleased with himself when he became dry. we did it over summer hols. put at least 2 layers of waterproof sheet / sheet / waterproof sheet / sheet on his bed to make midnight bedchanging much easier (we often had 4 layers! good luck. any more ?'s let me know

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:06

Wow, sounds fantastic Controlfreaky, thanks for your reply, doesn't sound like it took too long if we are talking the summer hols?

Amazing that your DS never woke up to the alarm but it still worked. That's put my mind at rest a little as I don't see my DS1 ever waking up to the alarm either.

DS1 wanted the type that went in the pants with the alarm that clipped on but I don't know if the HV over-rode his decision or not but we have the box type that sits beside his bed, TBH it is probably for the best as we are all capable of sleeping through it.

We have only been doing this one week and at the moment it all seems a bit hit and miss. His bed at the moment has a waterproof sheet, pampers care mat, bedwetting alarm sheet thing (which is really plasticky and makes him sweaty) then two ordinary sheets on top of that. Plus we have just found out that he now has worms and the advice is to change the bedding every day, never rains but it pours.

Fortyplus, we did discuss medication with the Dr but I am unsure if I want to medicate him for something that he will, I assume, eventually grow out of, unless of course it was to start really bothering him (obviously he's not too happy about wetting the bed but it's not interferring with his life too much at the moment as he doesn't go on sleepovers etc yet). I would like to keep the medication as a last resort.

OP posts:

controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 23:13

i think we used it for about 10 / 12 weeks in all? to get to the magic 3 dry nights in a row... so a fair while or seemed so at the time because it meant putting ds's on mattresses on floor in study as their bedroom to far away from ours to hear alarm and ds1 wouldnt sleep on own in his bedroom etc etc etc.... you know the sort of hassle. what i would say is that once he cracked it he NEVER looked back. has never had an accident since cermonially giving up the alarm.... oh and forgot to mentionm we did offer him incentive of much wanted pressie!! maybe it was that and not the alarm! good luck

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:21

Ah, this is where we start to have problems my DS1 is capable of being dry in recent months up to 15 nights in a row, in fact I had claimed that he was dry at night a few years back as accidents were so rare and then he started wetting regularly again (there was and is no trigger as far as we can see, DH wet the bed until he was 12 so assume it's a family thing). The Dr and HV think DS1 doesn't drink enough so we are working on that. I think the ultimate goal for my DS1 is to wake when he needs the toilet and get up and go to the toilet. The Dr is also pretty convinced that the hormone required to concentrate the urine during the night hasn't developed yet (hence the discussion about medication).

Not been sure whether to offer a reward or not as if it works I don't know that I will fully believe it until he has been dry a good 6 months.

Thanks for the good wishes. I hope we are all going to come out of this with more than bags under our eyes!

OP posts:

controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 23:23

i think the received wisdom is if there's an accident 2 nights in arow however long after apparent dryness you must just revert to stage one and use the alarm again every time.... slow and steady mrs s....

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:25

Did you buy an alarm then controlfreaky? Our's is on loan from the Enurisis Clinic, think we have it for 12 weeks, don't know if they just take it away then whether it has worked or not.

Wondering if buying one would be an idea, this one went off one afternoon when nobody was in the bed .

OP posts:

controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 23:30

we did. it wasnt cheap but cant nb how much.... look on web... think i googled enuresis society (but may have made that up!). i think if you can it would be helpful in your circs.... you dont want to wait weeks to get another alarm if he backslides, you want to be able to address problem immediately. not sure what dh did with ours... if we've still got it you are v welcome to it. will enquire and let you know...

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:40

The site we have been directed to has been ERIC. Although I've been looking on e-Bay and there are a few for sale, cheaper than ERIC.

Not sure what to do at the moment but if you find your alarm, let me know what you want for it as we might be in the market for the new one.

OP posts:

controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 23:42

if we still have it (dh is world's biggest chucker) you can have it free gratis etc mrs s

controlfreakyturkeyandstuffing · 06/12/2006 23:42

and it was eric iirc

fortyplus · 06/12/2006 23:45

MrsSpoon - Desmopressin is just a synthetic version of the hormone that we all produce at night to concentrate our urine.
Babies don't make it - most children make enough to allow them to sleep thru aged 3 or 4, but many don't.
Then when you get old production reduces which is why some old people become incontinent at night.

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:46

controlfreaky, that would be really kind, I've just mentioned it to my DH and he has said "would you like a freeview box in exchange?"

OP posts:

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 06/12/2006 23:48

fortyplus, I realise that, it's just I can't believe it won't come without side effects. I can't take the pill because it sends me loopy so I have a bit of a fear of synthetic hormones.

OP posts:

fortyplus · 06/12/2006 23:58

We used it for ds1 and he was fine, but we had got a bit desperate - he was flooding the bed every night.

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 07/12/2006 00:02

fortyplus, good to hear that it worked well. Will definately consider it if the alarm doesn't work.

Thing is I would be happy to leave him well alone if all it meant was a wet pull-up most nights but when he wees he does it big style and the pull-up rarely contains it.

OP posts:

fortyplus · 07/12/2006 00:12

Yuk! We had the same problem. Good luck with the alarm - they do sometimes work.

fussymummy · 07/12/2006 00:28

We used the bed alarm for my son.

It also kept going off with sweat!!!

I tried putting it inside a pillowcase, thinking it'd be easier to change in the night!!!

Was eventually told to place a small towel over the mat.

None of the above worked, and not once did he wake to the alarm!!!

Then we tried the spray and also tried the tablets, but neither worked and he started getting really bad headaches, which is a side effect.

Also tried the other alarm that clips to the childs pyjamas, and the other piece has to go between two pairs of pants.

Very difficult to keep in place!!!!!!

He's now back wearing dry-nites and still sometimes soaks through them!!!!

Have been told he could have hormonal problems and have to see doc to have this checked.

Any advice greatly received.

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 07/12/2006 14:06

fussymummy, that's a pain . How old is your DS?

OP posts:

fussymummy · 07/12/2006 19:51

He's 8.8 years

Original poster

MrsSpoon · 07/12/2006 22:12

fussymummy, hope everything is OK with your DS. As I mentioned earlier my DH wasn't dry at night until he was 12 and that happened without alarms or meds so it might just happen. It is a pest though.

OP posts:

fussymummy · 09/12/2006 18:31

mrsspoon how did you deal with it until the age of 12?????

It's driving me nuts already!!

notagrannyyet · 09/12/2006 22:45

It's many years ago now but we tried 2 different alarms with DS2. One had a sensor that fitted between two pairs of pants. The other was a mesh mat that fitted under the sheet.
Neither were of any use. DS2 managed to sleep through the alarm. It would go of at least once every night... sometimes twice. I always woke up. Dragged still sleeping son out of bed. Changed bedding and PJs. We sometimes had 3 lots of wet bedding in one night and broken nights for me. DH never heard the alarm go off! In the end we gave up. DS eventually stopped BW at 13! Until this point he had never had a dry night except when we used nasal sprays for school trips/ holidays.

My DB was also a bedwetter until he was 11 it does run in families.

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