@wafflethewonderdog
I agree that some children take longer than others but what drove me to take action was that it was really bothering my daughter and affecting her confidence. My nephew is still not dry at 12 years old and so I felt like this was something I had to try. I didn’t expect such good results so quickly to be honest and the positive impact on her confidence and happiness has been amazing.
If you decide to go this route, you should be prepared for some tough nights to begin with. You will need to be on hand to wake your child (if they haven’t woken up - this only happened a couple of times for us) and to wipe the mat down thoroughly, replace the wet sheet and pyjamas, and plug the alarm back in. I would add that your child needs to be very motivated to get dry. The child takes an active role in the treatment and this is why this system is so effective - it is cognitive behavioural therapy.
The system works by engaging both the conscious and subconscious brain to either train the bladder muscles in order to keep the bladder closed or to wake the child up to go to the toilet if the bladder needs emptying. The objective is to get dry however that happens. The conscious brain is engaged through the online tutorials and the progress charts. The subconscious brain learns to anticipate the alarm which is linked to the sensation of needing the toilet. A sort of subconscious Pavlovian response, if you know what I mean.
The embarrassment factor is also eliminated as the tutorials are driven by algorithms based on the charts. Nothing is live but accurate advice is given because of your inputs.
As I say, it is not the cheapest alarm on the market but it has really worked wonders for us and will soon pay for itself in terms of pull-up costs saved!
I hope this all makes sense and I am happy to answer any specific questions you may have. There is also a lot of info in the reviews online. If you want more reassurance from others.