Bedtime bathroom alarms, better known as bedwetting alarms, do speed up that process of getting to dryness. For girls in her age group, we recommend the Malem Ultimate Wearable Bedwetting Alarm or the Rodger Wireless Bedwetting Alarm. Read a description of these alarms and why they are well suited to your daughter.

Bedwetting alarms sense wetness and sound exactly when your daughter needs to go to the bathroom. Some parents worry that this is “too late” and the wetting has already happened. This is how behavioral conditioning works. The brain begins to make the association between the sound/vibration and the bladder emptying. Over a few nights or weeks, the urine flow is quickly stopped at the sound of the alarm. This allows the remaining urine in the bladder to be emptied into the toilet, instead of the bed.

Your “sound sleeping” daughter will begin to be aware of what a full bladder feels like and what to do next. Using a bedwetting alarm is much different than setting an alarm clock or walking her to the bathroom when you go to bed. She actually learns the proper response so she can begin to do it independently. The average child takes 8-12 weeks to get to dryness so it is important to be patient. Having dry nights is well worth the effort, though.

That sounds like great news for your son. We recommend that he wear the alarm every night until he has 14 consecutive nights of dryness, then use the alarm every other night until he has an additional 2 weeks of dryness. Have him use the alarm until he achieves the 14 dry nights in a row. If he has a wet night, he should start the 14 night countdown again. By using the alarm long enough now, the chances of relapse after he stops the alarm are much less.

We’re excited to be able to answer your question with our unique Alarm Chooser. After years of experience and feedback from our customers, we help you pick the best alarm for your child, based on their sex and age. We tell you why we recommend that particular alarm, too. You can pull down the correct information for your child on this page.

Or you can view our selections by clicking on the following categories:

Alarms for Female Age 5-6
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It sounds like you and your son are very motivated to solve his bed wetting. I know he sleeps through the wetting episode and would like to know when he should get up and go to the bathroom. Some children develop this ability quickly, when they are getting day toilet trained. Others, like your son, need some help in getting that brain-bladder connection when they are asleep. Using a tool like a bedwetting alarm will speed up the process of learning how to wake up to a full bladder.

Bedwetting alarms sense wetness, and then sound at precisely the moment that wetting occurs. Initially, you may need to help him wake to the alarm and remind him to get up and walk to the bathroom. Over time, his bladder will stop the urine stream in response to the sound. Then you’ll notice that he has urine left to empty in the toilet. Eventually, he’ll learn to wake up before he wets or hold his urine until morning. The average time to dryness is about 8-12 weeks, so it is important to be patient. However, a few weeks is much better than waiting a few years for him to spontaneously learn how to wake up before wetting.

The best thing about using a bedwetting alarm is that it’s a permanent solution. Once he learns how to wake up if he needs to urinate in the night, he’s just like you and me. A full bladder triggers your body to wake up and walk to the bathroom, not let it out in bed. He can then stay dry, no matter how much or what he has had to drink.

Everyone starts like this. The alarm detects the first drop of urine and immediately sounds. It pinpoints the actual time that the bladder needs to empty, not a few minutes before or a few minutes too late. There is no way to know precisely the time of the wetting until it begins to happen.

Initially, the urine comes flooding out of the bladder, just as it has always done. Even though the alarm sounds at the first drop, your son has not learned to stop the flow yet.

Over time, his bladder and brain will work together to stop the urine quickly so he can get out of bed and walk to the bathroom to empty the rest in the toilet. This is a new conditioned response and takes some time to learn.

Eventually, his brain will begin to recognize what a full bladder feels like and that he must be awake before the urine is released. He’ll learn to get up before the alarm sounds.

The first few weeks are the hardest and the messiest. Using mattress overlays (waterproof pads on top of the sheet) make your job much easier. Put one on top of his sheet before he goes to sleep. When the alarm sounds, have him walk to the bathroom and empty any urine left into the toilet. Simply replace the wet pad with a clean one and he can immediately go back to a dry bed. In the morning, just wash the overlays. The Starter Kit has two overlays in it, as well as the bedwetting alarm and the book.

The missing piece for most children with bed wetting is the ability to independently arouse from sleep to the feeling of a full bladder. Some children can do this from the time they are day toilet trained; others take longer and might need a little assistance. Bedwetting alarms speed up this development and provide a long lasting cure to the bedwetting problem.

Bedwetting alarms sense the wetness and sound to alert you and your son that he needs to wake up and walk to the bathroom. Over an average of 10-12 weeks, he will develop the ability to do this by himself. The first two weeks are the hardest and he may not even respond to the loud alarm. You should go to his room when you hear his alarm, remind him what is happening and assist him to the bathroom. He may have no urine left to empty in the toilet in the beginning. Over time, he will start having smaller wet spots in his bed and urine left to empty out when he uses the toilet. Ultimately, his body will learn to wake up to the feeling of a full bladder or hold the urine until he wakes in the morning,

Providing your son with the right “tool” to permanently stop his bedwetting in a few weeks will be a step in the right direction. Most kids are cooperative and so grateful to have something that will make a difference. The Malem Ultimate alarm, which is a wearable alarm that sounds and vibrates, is popular with boys his age. The Rodger wireless is also a great choice. The sound unit is located across the room, which encourages him to get out of bed to turn it off. You might let him look at the different options, look at the alarm videos and select the color and style he would most like to use.

While bedwetting affects up to 12% of 6 year olds, it becomes less common as kids get older (2% of 14 year olds, 1% of 16 year olds). When your child is the 1 or 2 out of 100 that continues to wet, you can begin to feel very alone and hopeless.

The good news is that bedwetting alarms work as effectively in teens as they do in younger children. It usually takes teens a little longer to get to complete dryness, but a few extra weeks to change a behavior that has been going on for years is quite manageable. I’ve found that the key to success for teens and older children is to use an alarm that is easy to use and acceptable to them.

The wireless alarms (such as the Rodger and Malem Wireless) are my recommendation for teens. A positive feature of wireless alarms is that your son must get out of bed to turn off the alarm. Since the receiver is located in an outlet or on a dresser, it will continue to sound from that location until it is turned off. Many tech savvy teens quickly disconnect the sensor from alarms that are worn on the shoulder, then roll over and go back to sleep. They rarely remember this is the morning and wonder why their alarm is disconnected but their bed is wet and they don’t remember getting up.

Another reason that wireless alarms are recommended is that there are few steps to attach them. The Rodger alarm comes with two pair of specialized briefs. (More can be purchased). Your teenage son simply puts these on when getting ready for bed. The receiver stays plugged in the wall or on the nightstand. This alarm also has a bedshaker option, which is a vibratory cushion that lies on the bed and vibrates when the alarm sounds. The Malem wireless alarm fastens to underwear he already owns (close fitting, not boxers) and can be an advantage if your family doesn’t do laundry very often. If there is no wetting, the underwear go back in the drawer. If wetting occurred, the underwear is laundered with the sheets.

Even with teens, your role is important initially. Listen for the alarm and make sure that your son is getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom as the correct response. The quicker he learns how to respond to the bedwetting alarm, the more quickly he will be on the road to dryness. If your room is far away, either of the wireless alarms can be ordered with two receivers, one for your son’s room and one for your room.

One last point is to make sure the alarm is worn long enough. Having 14 consecutive nights of dryness is important before beginning to use the alarm every other night for 14 nights. Often, my teen patients are so excited to have 4 or 5 dry nights in a row that they stop their alarm use prematurely. Wet nights begin occurring sporadically and further progress is delayed.

Wireless bedwetting alarms can be used for any age child but they are particularly well-suited for teens. Persistence and patience will help insure success.

You are describing most children. Even children who do not have bed wetting exhibit sound sleep patterns and are not easily alerted to sounds. In a study that was done by the fire department, up to 89% of all children tested (non-bed wetting) were not awakened to the sound of a smoke detector of 85 decibels. All of the adults in these households were awakened and the children were finally alerted by their parents’ voices.

This same phenomenon often occurs when using bed wetting alarms initially. Even though most of our bed wetting alarms sound at about 80 decibels, many children will not arouse independently when the alarm sounds. In the beginning, the alarm is for the parents. When you hear your son’s alarm sound, go to his room and remind him what is happening and what he should do. We know that children can be conditioned to respond to familiar sounds and eventually know how to respond to that sound. Over time, your son will understand that the sound he is hearing is important and means that he should stop the flow of urine and get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Of course, if he hears the alarm and knows what to do from the first night on, that makes your job a little easier.

Our wireless alarms, the Rodger and Malem wireless, can both be ordered with dual receivers, one for your son’s room and one for your room. This works well for homes where the bedrooms are far apart. Both of these wireless alarms have a volume control dial on the receiver so the volume can be adjusted to be louder than the shoulder worn models. Another feature unique to the wireless alarms is that your son must get out of bed to turn the alarm off and stop the noise. Wireless alarms are great for those older children who are good at reaching for the alarm on their shoulder, turning it off and rolling over.

The wearable alarms, like the Malem Ultimate or Malem auditory, have a strong constant tone of about 80 decibels. If you cannot hear this alarm from your room, you could use a baby monitor in your son’s room. The Malem Selectable alarm and the wireless alarms all offer a choice of 8 different tones. In some situations, one tone is more likely to alert your son than others. You could experiment with different sounds to see what works best.

(I get this question so frequently that I am re-posting some information from last year).

Yes, I have some great suggestions for this common problem. As you have noticed, urine odor is difficult to remove with typical household cleaners. The key to removing urine, whether it is human or pet, is to use an enzyme based product. The enzyme binds with the protein component of the urine so that it can be removed. Cleaners without this feature simply mask the odor but do not permanently remove it.

We carry two spray-on urine removal products, OdorZyme and the new DP. Lift up as much of the accident or stain as possible by wiping and blotting the affected area. Then saturate the affected area with OdorZyme or DP (de-pee) Stain & Odor Remover. Let it work for 5 to 10 minutes, then wipe away the accident or stain with a clean white cloth. OdorZyme can also be used as a laundry additive if urine smell remains in clothing. Presoaking in Odorzyme before doing regular laundry effectively rids clothing, bedding, and incontinence pads of urine stains and odor.

When using any urine removal product, remember to use as much of the product as the amount of urine that created the stain. If the mattress or carpet is affected, make sure the urine removal product reaches the source of the odor. A thick mattress or carpet with padding requires more product than a hard floor. Older stains may require the product to sit longer. The spray-on products also work well for cleaning vinyl mattress covers on a daily basis. Quickly spray the vinyl surface before remaking the bed with clean sheets.

For older, set-in stains on mattresses or floors, Urine Erase works well. Urine Erase is an enzyme based 2-step cleaner. The first step is to mix the enzyme packet with tepid water and saturate the stain for 8 hours. The second step is to use the special solution that comes in the bottle to saturate the stain and let air dry. The gallon size container can be used for large jobs, such as carpets or floors that pets have urinated on.

Once you get your mattress cleaned, be sure to protect it with a heavy duty 6 Gauge zippered vinyl mattress cover or a breathable Premium Mattress cover. These comfortable covers will protect your mattress from further wetting episodes as well as bed bugs and dust mites.

The components are:
1) The bedwetting alarm of your choice. You can choose a wearable alarm like the Malem Ultimate, or a wireless alarm like the Rodger wireless.
2) Two waterproof washable mattress overlays. These are essential for the children who are transitioning from disposable pants to cloth underwear. (Recommended when you begin using an alarm). Middle of the night clean-up is so much easier when you just remove the soiled pad and quickly replace it with a clean one. Morning laundry is just a pad or two, rather than entire sets of sheets. I recommend the overlays with the tuck in flaps, which stay in place even with a child’s movement.
3) The book “Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness”. This book guides you with using the alarm, what to expect, what the parents’ role is, and how long things take. Knowing what to expect makes using a bedwetting alarm easier for everyone. “Unrealistic expectations” is the number one reason that families fail to be successful when using an alarm.

Call us (800-214-9605) if you have any questions about the Alarm Starter Kits. If there is an alarm that you want, but it’s not offered in a Starter Kit, call us and we will create a Starter Kit just for you.

How Common Is Bed-Wetting in Children

Yes, bedwetting is common in children. As many as 1-in-10 7 year olds continue to wet every night. That means in your child’s second or third grade class, at least 1 or 2 other kids are affected. As children get older, bedwetting does decrease so that only 1 % of teens are affected.

What’s “Normal” When It Comes to Bed-Wetting

There is a wide range of normal and we don’t exactly know why one child continues to wet while another quickly gets dry. It could be due to development and having a bladder that can’t store urine for the entire night. Sometimes the ability to recognize when the bladder is full and get up has not developed. Often a parent or other family member was similarly affected so heredity does play a role. Since the majority of children have achieved dryness by school age, children who are 6 or so and still wetting are considered to have bedwetting. Before this age, nighttime wetness can be a normal pattern.

When Should We Talk to our Health Care Provider about Bed-Wetting

If your child is school age and continues to wet most nights, it should be discussed with your doctor or health care provider. Research has found that many parents of 9 year olds with bedwetting have not mentioned it to anyone. If your doctor does not ask about nighttime wetting, bring it up yourself. Remind your child that this is no different than mentioning other conditions like constipation or diarrhea. Even though it is embarrassing, a confidential office visit is the perfect place to seek help. Many parents assume that there is nothing that can be done or that their child’s wetting has to do with their parenting skills. These assumptions are not true!

Treatment

Most pediatricians and urologists recognize that bedwetting alarms are the most effective and long lasting way for kids to become dry in a few weeks. Although bedwetting alarms take effort from the parents and children in the beginning, the results are worth it. If your health care provider does not recommend any treatment, it may be because they haven’t learned much about bedwetting alarms. Bedwetting alarms sense wetness from the underwear and sound and vibrate to alert the user that wetting is occurring. Over time, the child’s brain begins to recognize when the bladder is full and coordinates the waking and walking to the bathroom. The biggest benefit is that the time to get to dryness can be shortened from a few years to a few weeks.

Each year, 15% of bedwetters spontaneously become dry. The other 85% will continue to wet for another year or until parents do something to speed up the progress. It sounds like your 8 year old is ready for that help to stop her bedwetting. It is frustrating for kids who sleep right through the episode of wetting. In the morning, the bed or pull-up is wet and she doesn’t know when it happened.

Bedwetting alarms are the solution! The moisture sensor detects the wetness and lets you know when the wetting is occurring. The alarm sounds and/or vibrates to alert you to make sure your daughter gets up to walk to the bathroom. Over time, her brain begins to make the connection of the loud sound, a full bladder and walking to the bathroom.

Take time to read a few of the reviews that other parents have written about their experience with the Malem Ultimate or the Rodger wireless or Malem wireless alarms. Many of these parents commented that they wished they had tried the alarm sooner or that they were skeptical, but the alarms worked so well. Bedwetting alarms are an effective type of behavioral conditioning and work well for even the heaviest sleepers. The best part is that this is a permanent solution with a low relapse rate. Once your daughter learns to wake up when she has a full bladder, she can walk herself to the bathroom and be free to accept sleepover invitations whenever she wants.

Since you’re writing to ask this question, I assume that both you and your son are ready to tackle this problem. I will also assume that he wets most nights and now wears disposables or that you do daily laundry. Since invitations to sleepovers with friends will most likely be popping up in the next year or so, this is a great age to help him stop wetting.

The equipment that you need consists of a bedwetting alarm, some waterproof bed protection and some guidance. There are many bedwetting alarms to choose from and they all function to sense moisture and alert your son (and you) that wetting is occurring. Our most popular alarm is the Malem Ultimate, which sounds and vibrates both in response to the wetness. The small sensor fastens to the outside of his underwear and the sensor cord goes under his shirt. The alarm unit fastens to his shoulder and stays put while he moves about in the night. The Malem alarm series also features a wireless model, in which the sound unit sits on a bedside table across the room. This is a great choice for kids who roll over and go back to sleep at the sound of the alarm. The Malem wireless alarm requires that your son walk over to the alarm to turn it off. It can be ordered with an optional receiver for your room as well. If these alarms don’t seem to be the best fit for your son, look at the many others that we carry. Choosing a dependable and comfortable alarm that he will easily and reliably wear each night is important.

The next piece of equipment is waterproof bed protection. When he begins using the alarm, he should transition out of disposable pants and wear regular underwear to bed. You will now be alerted when he wets and you want him to quickly go back to a dry bed after he has walked to the bathroom. My patients love waterproof mattress overlays, which are absorbent waterproof pads that lie on top of the sheet. The ones with the tuck in sides stay in place and protect the sheets from getting wet. In the morning, only the pads need to be laundered. Encasing his mattress in a zippered vinyl cover further protects it from any leaking or wetness.

Lastly, guidance to know that you are doing things correctly is important. Children with bedwetting are all very sound sleepers and many do not hear the alarm by themselves. Your role to wake him when you hear the alarm is important to his success. The first couple weeks can be difficult for parents but knowing what to expect can make it easier. My book, Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness, describes the process and what to expect at each phase.

The equipment that I’ve described can be purchased individually or bought together, as a Bedwetting Starter Kit. The Starter kit includes my book, and you can decide which alarm and overlays you would like included. This kit saves you money over buying the components individually and includes the bed wetting equipment that your son needs to be successful.

This question brings up an important point. When using a bedwetting alarm, the type of alarm and correct positioning are very important to achieving success.

I have successfully used several types of alarms for girls. One recommendation is the Malem Ultimate or the Malem wireless alarm. Both of these alarms use a small easy-clip sensor which is comfortably placed on the outside of underwear in the crotch area. Because this sensor is small (1/2 by 1 inch) and on the outside of the underwear, the girls can easily position it where they expect the first drops of urine to come through. The advantage of the Malem alarms with the easy clip sensor is that your daughter can use her own underwear at night. The Malem Ultimate alarm unit sounds and vibrates and is located on the shoulder. With the wireless Malem alarm, the receiver is placed on the dresser so she would have to get out of bed to turn it off. Over time, she would become adept at exactly the right placement for her. (In girls who have gone through puberty, the correct sensor placement during menses would be beyond the edge of the sanitary napkin. During this time of the month, the overflow urine would be detected and the teen alerted that she needs to get up). If you begin using the right alarm for your 7 year old daughter now, though, I doubt that you will have any worries by the time she’s a teen.

Another recommendation is the Rodger bedwetting alarm, which comes with two pair of specialized briefs. These briefs have moisture detecting threads woven from the front to the back of the briefs. The briefs are comfortable cotton and feel no different to the wearer than their regular underwear. No matter what position your daughter is in when the urination begins, the briefs are there to detect the first drops of moisture. Once moisture is detected, a small transmitter on the waistband sends a message to the receiver that is plugged into the wall. The receiver sounds to alert the child and parents that wetting is occurring. Your daughter would have to get out of bed and walk over to turn off the alarm. (If your daughter wets more than once a night or you are not able to get laundry done every day, I recommend that you purchase extra underwear so that clean, dry pants are always available. Either a white or turquoise color is available.)

LoveToKnow Kids recently had the pleasure of speaking with Renee Mercer, a Nurse Practitioner with more than 25 years of experience in pediatrics. Her book, Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness, offers valuable advice for parents who are working with their children in order to achieve nighttime dryness. In conjunction with using a bedwetting alarm, this book provides the tips to have your child waking up dry in 10 to 12 weeks.

LoveToKnow (LTK): What sparked your professional interest in bedwetting?
Renee Mercer (RM): After many years of working in a primary pediatric practice, I saw the frustration that parents and kids felt when they came back for annual check-ups, with bedwetting continuing to be a problem. The response, “Don’t worry, they’ll grow out of it,” wasn’t enough. They wanted solutions. My book, Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness, was designed to provide solutions, based on experience that I’ve gained working exclusively with bedwetting children.

LTK: Which cases in your pediatric office inspired you to write your book?
RM: Teens who felt that they could not go to camp or on school trips, younger kids who did not see a way out of wearing pullups to bed, and plenty of frustrated parents were individuals that I saw on a regular basis. Many families were embarrassed and felt hopeless that there was no cure for bedwetting.

Bedwetting Basics

LTK: Why do some kids wet the bed?
RM: Bedwetting has several causes: decreased sleep arousal, small bladder capacity, high nighttime urine production, constipation, and heredity all can play a role. Often, a child will have a combination of these things. Children with bedwetting have not developed the ability to wake up when their full bladder needs to be emptied.
Children who still wet the bed are great kids: smart, athletic, great personalities, and no different than other children their age. They do not wet the bed on purpose and usually sleep through the wetting episode.

LTK: What percentage of children wet the bed?
RM: If your child wets the bed, he is certainly not alone! 13 percent of 6 year olds wet the bed, 5 percent of 10 year olds, and 1-2 percent of 18 year olds.

LTK: How long can bedwetting go on?
RM: 15 percent of bedwetting children will become dry each year without intervention while 85 percent will continue to wet the next year. The incidence of bedwetting decreases as kids get older so we believe there is a developmental component that helps with this. Sleeping less soundly, having a larger bladder capacity, and being able to recognize body signals may play a role. Bedwetting can certainly persist into the teen years, however, and there is no guarantee of an age that bedwetting will stop. Treatment can decrease the length of time families have to deal with bedwetting by years.

Achieving Dryness

LTK: What can parents do to help their children?
RM: If your child is over six and wets every night, using a bedwetting alarm can speed up the development of learning to wake up to a full bladder. Using an alarm requires cooperation from child and parents, so choosing a low stress time, without a lot of family obligations, is best.
If your child is younger than five or six and has nightly bedwetting, using disposables to help with the laundry burden is fine. Also, there are other temporary solutions which are appropriate.
Make sure your child is well-hydrated during the day so he isn’t so thirsty in the evening. Water should be the preferred beverage after dinner. Urinate twice before bed, about 20-30 minutes apart. Observe that your child has a regular bowel movement most days. If not, increase daily fiber intake because constipation can contribute to wetting.

LTK: How can bedwetting be stopped?
RM: Temporary solutions include wearing disposable Pull-ups, walking the child to the bathroom when parents go to bed, using an alarm clock set at an arbitrary time (there is no way to know exactly when the child needs to go to the bathroom) or using medication. Medication works by decreasing the amount of urine produced during the night. It does not provide a permanent solution because the wetting restarts when the medicine is stopped, unless the child has learned to wake up to a full bladder.

A permanent solution is to use a moisture sensing bedwetting alarm. This sounds at the first drop of urine to alert the user that they should get up. This behavioral conditioning is very effective in helping a child’s body begin to make the nighttime brain-bladder connection. The feeling of a full bladder means wake up and walk to the bathroom.

Nighttime Training

LTK: How long does the training period for achieving dryness with an alarm typically last?
RM: It takes about 10-12 weeks for the average child to achieve dryness while using a bedwetting alarm. Without the use of a teaching tool, such as a moisture sensing bedwetting alarm, it can take years.

LTK: What should parents do when the alarm goes off during the training period?
RM: When the alarm sounds, go to your child’s room to ensure that they are responding. They must learn to turn off the alarm, get out of bed and walk to the bathroom.

LTK: Isn’t it easiest to just wait until a child grows out of bedwetting?
RM: It might be easiest to ignore wetting but having years of missed sleepover invitations, multiple loads of laundry every day and hundreds of dollars spent on disposables make it beneficial to tackle bedwetting sooner rather than later. Research shows that bedwetting negatively affects children’s self-esteem, and stopping bedwetting allows self-esteem to rise. Would you tell your teen with acne not to worry, she’ll outgrow it, when there are effective treatments available?

LTK: What is the most important piece of advice you would offer parents whose children occasionally wet the bed?
RM: Observe for factors that may play a role in the wetting. These include: being overly tired, over drinking beverages other than water, being sick, medications, stress, forgetting to urinate before bed, urinary tract infections, among others. Do your best to limit these situations. If wetting occurs, be accepting, help change bedding and know that your child is not wetting on purpose.

If you’d like to give your bedwetting child a boost of confidence, and the freedom to attend sleepaway camp and slumber parties at friends’ houses, pick up a copy of Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness from an online bookstore or bedwettingstore.com. Both your child and you will be reaping the benefits in a few short months.
Author: Rachel Hanson

I can honestly tell you that my patients do not describe this alarm as being uncomfortable. Some of the kids mention that wearing a smaller, closer fitting shirt is best so the alarm unit doesn’t move around as much when they move in their sleep. The sensor cord is attached to the alarm unit with a plastic “phone jack” and does not pull out with movement. Since the sensor cord is situated under the shirt, it moves as your child moves, with little chance of it being tugged on with movement.

If your child is concerned about the placement on the shoulder, a wireless alarm, such as the Rodger wireless or Malem wireless would be a good choice. With the wireless alarms, nothing is situated on the shoulder. The transmitter is snapped on the waistband (Rodger) or magnetically clips to the waistband (Malem). The alarm that sounds is located across the room. With the DRI Eclipse alarm, a small wafer like transmitter is placed inside a pull-up or pantyliner. Again, the alarm is across the room, not on the shoulder.

There are so many comfortable bedwetting alarm options that you and your child should be able to choose what will work best for your situation. If you have additional questions, call our helpful Customer Service team at 800-214-9605.

Congratulations to your son on the great progress that he has made! Readiness for sleepovers often depends on the child, the comfort level with the family he’ll be staying with and the child’s confidence. If he wants to give it a try, he’ll probably do just fine. Often the kids are more careful about the fluid intake, double voiding before bed and don’t sleep as long or as deeply as they do at home. (You can gently remind him of those things before he goes). Some kids take their own sleeping bag with a waterproof pad pinned on the inside, or use a waterproof sleeping bag liner, as a back up. Have you ever seen him get up to urinate on his dry nights, before the alarm sounds? Once he can do this regularly, he will be totally dry.
After he is successful at the sleepover, I would still recommend that he wear the alarm until he has 14 consecutive nights of dryness.

The parents of a total of 6147 children aged 6 to 11 years completed a questionnaire about sleep-related symptoms, family and medical history. Those children with a high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (about 400 children), along with a chosen low-risk group (about 200) underwent overnight sleep studies. They found that about 9 kids out of 100 in each group wet the bed. Children without obstructive sleep apnea wet as much as children with sleep apnea. They also observed that about twice as many boys as girls wet their beds.

Sleep apnea is suspected when children have loud snoring, large tonsils, mouth breathing, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Allergies and being overweight are contributing factors. Children suspected of obstructive sleep apnea should be evaluated by a Pediatric ENT specialist and may be tested using a pediatric sleep study. This study confirms the presence of sleep apnea, where breathing stops temporarily during sleep. About 2% of children are affected. Although snoring is a common symptom in children with obstructive sleep apnea, it is important to remember that between 10-20 percent of normal children snore (primary snoring) on a regular or intermittent basis.

So it seems that a combination of snoring and bedwetting is not enough to recommend removing tonsils without further testing to confirm sleep apnea. Treating allergies with nasal steroids and losing weight are conservative treatments for some children with continuous snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Treating sleep apnea may or may not make any difference in the frequency of bedwetting. Bedwetting alarms continue to be the treatment of choice, even in this group of children.

As you’ve experienced, your son cannot make progress getting to dryness when he is doing the wrong behavior in response to the alarm. He’s not alone; tech savvy kids can pick up on quickly unplugging the cord to turn off the sound (sometimes in their sleep).

I do have some tips to correct this:

1) Review with him that the purpose of the alarm sounding is to remind him to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. He won’t be successful in staying dry if he doesn’t learn to do this.
2) Make it more difficult to turn the alarm off. Use electrical or masking tape to secure the sensor cord into the alarm box.
3) Have him wear two pair of underwear to bed. The alarm sensor should be attached to the underwear closest to his body. Then put on a second pair of briefs over the top. This makes it more difficult to remove the sensor and causes the alarm to sound a little longer.
4) With the alarm sounding longer, you will have more of an opportunity to hear the alarm and go to his room to remind him of the right response. Use a baby monitor so that you can help him with his response.
5) Know that for the next couple weeks, your job will be important. Enforce the response of your son getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom when the alarm sounds. Be persistent, remind him, “That is your alarm. You have to get up and walk to the bathroom.”
6) Review the proper way to turn the alarm off. First lift the sensor tab that attaches to the underwear, and then push the reset button on the side of the alarm. The phone jack should not be touched.
7) If these tips don’t give you results, you may consider getting a wireless alarm. With the Malem wireless or Rodger wireless alarms, the sound comes from across the room. Your son has to get out of bed to turn of the alarm.

By insuring the right response to his alarm, your son should resume making progress toward having dry nights.

These waterproof sheets are superior for several reasons. First, they are comfortable and breathable. Unlike vinyl mattress covers, these sheets feature a polyurethane waterproof layer. That means that the heat that your body produces during the night will flow through the cover, and not be reflected back to the user. This feature allows the user to forget that there is a waterproof sheet under her. The terry cotton top layer is comfortable enough to be slept on directly, but most people choose to put a regular set of sheets over the top.

A second feature is the choice of styles, either fitted or zippered. If you expect to be washing the sheet very frequently, the “easy-on and off” fitted waterproof sheet is recommended. The zippered style is ideal for leaving in place to protect your mattress from occasional accidents. Both styles are simple to machine wash and dry, and can be laundered in the same load as your regular sheets. Because there is no cushioned or filled layer, the drying time is the same as a set of sheets.

The third reason that I recommend these is the durability. If you have used a vinyl cover in the past, you may have experienced a tear or crack that happens over time. Vinyl does lose it softness and becomes more brittle over time, making it necessary to replace frequently. The waterproof sheets (premium mattress covers) carry a 10 year warranty, which gives you an idea of how durable they are. The softness and comfort persist, even after being laundered many times. Although this product is initially more expensive than a vinyl cover, its durability ends up saving money in the long term.

Do yourself a favor and make clean-up in your bedroom easier. Using these waterproof sheets eliminates any worry you may have when unexpected accidents occur.

Occasionally, parents will forget to buy replacement batteries, forget to have the underwear laundered or their alarm unit will break or malfunction. These events can be frustrating, but a short interruption should not impact the overall progress. Just restart alarm use once the problem is corrected.

If it was an interruption of a few weeks, it would resemble starting over. Occasionally a long interruption will be necessary in a family. Just know that even if this occurs, restarting the alarm consistently will provide renewed progress.

On some occasions, a family’s out-of-town sleeping arrangements will be private. If this is the case, taking the alarm along is recommended. Using an overlay over the sheet would prevent any wetness on the mattress.

After your daughter has achieved 14 consecutive nights of dryness, followed by 14 nights of using the alarm every other night, she can discontinue alarm use. More weeks of dryness translate to more confidence about sleepover situations. You might do a trial sleepover in which she invites a friend to your home. She will begin to see that she can stay dry in any situation.

This is a very common concern of parents. The general consensus is that nighttime dryness can follow daytime dryness by months or even years. Here are 8 things that you can do to help with night time potty training:

1) Daytime dryness should be established first. Make sure she is reliably dry in the daytime, knows when she needs to use the bathroom and has soft, regular bowel movements.

2) Encourage drinking and frequent toileting during the daytime. Fluids after dinner should be water, not milk or juice, in a small quantity.

3) Double void before bed. This means making sure she tries to go potty 30 minutes before bedtime, then once more as lights go out.

4) Trial of no pull-ups. Especially if you have noticed that her pull-ups are less wet or dry in the morning, try having her wear underwear to bed. Protect the bed with a waterproof cover and protect her sheets with waterproof, washable overlay pads. The ones with the tuck-in sides are the best. If a couple weeks pass with no sign of progress toward dry nights, restart the pull-ups and know that there will be a better time to try this later on.

5) Don’t allow pull-ups to be worn while she is awake. Put it on last thing before lights out and take it off first thing in the morning. Some children will wet the pull-up as they are waking up in the morning, just because they know it is there.

6) Remind your daughter if she wakes up for any reason or if she comes to your room in the night, she should use the bathroom at this time, even if she doesn’t feel she needs to.

7) You can introduce a bedwetting alarm to help her speed up that brain-bladder connection if your daughter gets to 6 and is still having nighttime accidents.

8 ) Walking your daughter to the bathroom before you go to sleep probably does not speed up the development of dry nights but there is one less voiding in the bed.

In most cases, children do not have control over their nighttime wetting and this behavior is not reflective of your parenting skills. There is no need to feel parental guilt; being kind and supportive is much better. Punishment is not warranted and will not speed up the development of dry nights. Be patient and know that each child develops at a different rate.

I’m so glad that you are looking for a bed wetting solution now so he has time to stop bed wetting before summer comes. Since the average child takes about 10-12 weeks to get to dryness using a bed wetting alarm, starting now will most likely enable him to be dry by his summer campout. Bed wetting alarms speed up the ability of the brain and bladder to make their connection in the nighttime. Waiting without doing anything would probably find him still wetting by the time summer comes. As you can read in our product reviews, most families are overjoyed at the success that bed wetting alarms bring to their children and often wish they had used the alarm sooner.

The two most popular alarms for his age group are the Malem Ultimate Selectable alarm in the Camouflage or Royal Blue color or the Malem wireless alarm, if he does not wear a shirt to bed. The Malem Ultimate Selectable alarm unit fastens to his shoulder, where the sound and vigorous vibration come from. This alarm allows him to pick his “ringtone”, which many of the kids enjoy doing. If he gets used to one tone and doesn’t respond as quickly, he can select another of 8 tones. The small Easy-clip sensor securely fastens to the outside of his own underwear.

The Malem wireless alarm is well suited for kids who prefer not to have the alarm unit on their shoulder. The wireless receiver, where the sound comes from, should be placed on his dresser so that he has to get out of bed and walk over to it to turn the sound off. If your son has begun waking to an alarm clock to get ready for school, this might be a good choice. Since his brain has connected the importance of waking to his alarm clock, he should be able to connect the importance of waking to his bed wetting alarm sound. This alarm also allows the choice of one of 8 sounds, so he could choose one similar to his alarm clock. This alarm does not vibrate. Another wireless option that does have an optional vibrating cushion is the Rodger wireless alarm. The vibrating cushion is activated at the same time as the sound and would be placed near his body.

You may want to have him choose which of these alarms he is most likely to use. Any of them will be effective in helping him get to dryness before his summer camp out. The Starter Kit, with any of these alarms included, also features the book “Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness”, which walks you through what to expect when using an alarm and two waterproof overlays which lie on top of his sheet. Overlays make middle of the night changes quicker and save on laundering sheets every day. The best part is that you save over $20 when you order these essential items together.

Deciding when your family and your child are both ready to work on achieving nighttime dryness is very individual.
6 things to consider are:
• your child’s temperament
• family stressors-pick a low stress time to begin
• your child’s goals and motivators-wanting to work on becoming dry is important
• your child’s age
• whether they have had any dry nights-a 4-5 year old child with many dry nights may continue to get to dryness without much intervention, a 6-7 year old who has never had a dry night might need a little more help
• ability to be reliably dry during the day-day dryness should be achieved before tackling nighttime dryness

Parents know their own children and their own family dynamics better than anyone else. There is not an absolute “right age” for everyone so you will have to be the judge of that. Remember that you do not have to wait for your child “to grow out of it” because there are such effective steps you can take to end bedwetting within a few weeks or months.

You can compare treating bedwetting to treating acne in teenagers. When your teen is bothered by acne, you can intervene and begin some treatment. Products will not be consistently used when they are not motivated or bothered by their complexion. When your teen is concerned about acne, you certainly would not want to say, “Don’t worry, in a few years, this will be over. We don’t need to do anything”. You would provide the most effective products that are available to shorten the years that he or she would have to deal with it. Both children with bedwetting and teens with acne are thankful for parents who help them through these rough phases of growing up.

You’re smart to buy some coverings to protect your mattress. The most economical waterproof sheet is a vinyl zippered cover to encase the mattress. The 6 gauge vinyl cover is more durable than the ones you commonly find in discount stores and will last longer for a child’s bed. If your son’s pull-up leaks, simply remove the sheets and use a disinfectant spray to wipe the cover off. Because vinyl may not be the most comfortable product to sleep on, I also recommend a great alternative: a premium mattress cover. This premium zippered or fitted cover is breathable and waterproof. It is very durable, and has a 10 year warranty. If this waterproof cover gets wet, remove it and wash and dry it in your machine.

For extra protection and to prevent frequent removal and washing of sheets, I recommend tuck-in mattress overlays. These waterproof, washable pads with tuck-in flaps stay in place on top of the sheet. Since these pads lie on top of the sheet, any leakage is contained before it hits the sheet. In the morning, simply wash the pad instead of the whole set of sheets.

A good waterproof mattress pad is another option. Mattress pads have multiple layers, provide some absorbency and have a vinyl or breathable waterproof barrier. This type of pad can be washed and dried by itself and is easy to take off and put on. If your son is a “warm sleeper”, the Beautyrest breathable mattress pad is a good choice.

Lastly, if his mattress has already become soiled, Urine Erase is a great product for removing set in stains. This enzyme based product binds with the protein in urine (which is what causes the lingering odor) and removes it. Clean his mattress before covering it.

Flexible spending accounts can certainly be used for items such as bedwetting alarms. More families are setting aside pre-tax dollars for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) items that are not reimbursable by insurers. Using this money for a bedwetting alarm to stop your child’s bedwetting will save you many dollars in the long run. In terms of medical devices, bedwetting alarms are relatively inexpensive. The cost of disposable pants and laundry do add up over time, not to mention medication co-pays and your child’s self-esteem.

It is always a pleasant surprise to find that a product that your child needs is indeed reimbursable by your insurer. Bedwetting (Enuresis) alarms fall into the category of Durable Medical Equipment (DME). Your insurance policy should specify your coverage for DME or you can contact your insurer for this information for your own policy. If the customer service representative wants to know the code for a bedwetting alarm, the HCPCS code for Enuresis Alarms is S8270. (Enuresis and bedwetting mean the same thing). If your bedwetting alarm is reimbursable, submit your sales receipt to your own insurer and they send you the check. The Bedwetting Store does not participate directly with the insurance companies or do the paperwork involved. This allows us to keep our costs lower than going through a pharmacy.

It sounds like your son is very motivated to get to dryness. You have pinpointed several reasons why setting an alarm clock to sound at an arbitrary time is not an effective method for helping your son get to dryness. Because you are unable to predict exactly when your son will need to urinate, you are unable to set the clock to alert him precisely at the right time.

Because bedwetting alarms sense wetness, they do not sound until the precise time that wetting is occurring. If he doesn’t wet or need to go to the bathroom that night, the alarm won’t sound. If he needs to go twice, the alarm will alert him twice. This precise timing is what allows the brain and bladder to make that important connection. Your son will begin to be alerted when he is wetting and conditioned to wake up to a full bladder.

Parents often ask, “Isn’t it too late to be alerted if the urine is already coming out?” In the beginning, the bladder may completely empty before your son or you can respond. Over the first few weeks, however, the usual response is that the urine flow stops at the sound of the alarm. Instead of a large wet spot on the bed, the spot is reduced to a quarter sized spot on the underwear. Urine remains in the bladder and can be emptied in the toilet. Ultimately, his brain will alert your son to wake up before urination happens.

The children who consumed the largest amount of caffeine did not have the highest incidence of bedwetting but they did sleep fewer hours at night. In the older children, aged 8 to 12, the average amount of caffeine consumed was equivalent to three 12-ounce cans of soda per day. These children slept an average of 8.47 hours per night, which is less than the recommended 9 hours per night for this age group.

So it seems that telling your children that drinking caffeine/sodas will cause them to wet the bed may not be the truth. We do know that caffeinated drinks contribute to less hours of sleep per night, and sodas contribute to obesity and dental caries so it does seem prudent to continue to limit your children’s intake of caffeine for other reasons.

Link to see entire article, http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0022-3476/PIIS0022347610009935.pdf

Kids typically are not scared by the sounds the alarms make in the nighttime. Remember that kids are sound sleepers and often are not alerted by sounds that are not important to them. The sound the alarm makes should be loud enough for parents to hear from their room. Parents’ voices are often the best alert for children. When you hear the alarm sound, go to your son’s room and remind him to get up and walk to the bathroom. Over time, he will begin to make the association between the sound, wetting and getting up to walk to the bathroom. Two of our alarms, the Malem wireless and the Rodger wireless alarms can be ordered with 2 receivers, one for your room and one for your son’s room.

Play with the bed wetting alarm when you receive it. Let your son see how it sounds when it comes in contact with wetness. Have him turn it off and review what he will do in the middle of the night. Bedwetting alarms continue to be the most effective tool to help condition children to wake up instead of wetting in their bed.

Stock up on protective undergarments. Because they don’t require washing and drying, disposables are ideal for travel. It’s a good idea to take more than you think your child will need, just in case. In addition to what you can find in the grocery stores, we carry several styles of pull-ups available in sizes to fit larger or older kids. For example, the Tranquility Overnight Disposable Underwear, are available in an XS Adult (17-28” waist) and S Adult (22-36” waist) and absorb 2-1/2 cups, about a cup more than GoodNites.

Disposable underpads are also a great product to have when traveling. They have an absorbent layer and a waterproof layer and can be placed right on top of the fitted sheet. The most popular ones are the underpads with the adhesive strips on the back. These pads stay in place, even if your child is a restless sleeper. They can also be used with moisture-sensing alarms, so they’re a good option if you intend to use your alarm through the vacation. Again, it’s a good idea to pack more than you think you need, especially since these aren’t available in most stores.

If your child is mostly dry, but you want to ensure that your host’s bedding stays as clean as when you found it, take along a precautionary waterproof overlay. This can be discreetly placed on top of the sheet at bedtime and removed when the bed is made up the next day.

If your son has previous experience with a short-term medication such as desmopressin, he could use it during your vacation. This medication works by decreasing the amount of urine produced the night it is taken. Taking it enables some kids to have a dry night. When you return home and your son resumes using his bedwetting alarm, discontinue the medication.

Your son is exactly the type of child that bedwetting alarms work so well for. You don’t have to wait for years for his brain and bladder to make that connection. The alarm will sense the wetness and alert him and you that the wetting is occurring. Help him get up and walk to the bathroom, even though initially, most of the urine will come out in the bed. (Washable, waterproof overlays that lie on top of the sheet are very helpful at this stage). Over time, his body will begin to stop the flow of urine at the sound of the alarm and he will have urine left to empty in the toilet. Eventually, his body will alert him before the wetting occurs and he will wake up to urinate in the toilet or hold it until morning. Juice may trigger bedwetting in some children. The book, Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness, that comes with the Starter Kit (along with the alarm and
overlays), has a complete list of foods that may affect the frequency and amount wetting. Temporarily stopping the juice and restarting after a couple of weeks of using the alarm will help you see if it makes any difference in how frequently the alarm sounds.

Parents worry that the bedwetting alarm sound will wake siblings but this usually is not the case. Siblings quickly learn that the alarm is of no concern to them so they roll over and go back to sleep if they do hear it at all. The wearable and wireless alarms all stay attached to your child’s underwear so move as he moves in the nighttime. I would not recommend a pad type alarm because he could roll off of the pad and the urine wouldn’t be detected. I would recommend our Malem Ultimate alarm, with sound and vibration, or the Malem Wireless alarm, if he prefers not to have the sound come from the unit on his shoulder. The sound comes from a receiver that can be placed on his dresser. Both attach to the outside of his own underwear with a durable easy-clip sensor.

All of the bedwetting alarms that we carry work well to detect wetness and then sound and/or vibrate to alert the user that wetting is happening. The way that wetness is sensed varies with the style of alarm. The Malem wearable alarms, the Malem wireless alarm and the WetStop3 alarm have a small sensor that is clipped to the outside of the underwear. The position of the sensor clip is important so that the first drop of urine is detected. If the sensor is placed too high or low, it takes a larger spot of urine before the sensor gets wet. Paying attention when attaching the sensor is easy to do.

The Rodger wireless alarm detects wetness through the built-in sensors in the specialized briefs. The built-in sensor extends from the mid front to the mid back of the underwear so any wetting in this area will quickly be detected.

The pad style alarms, such as the Malem Bedside or WetCall, feature pads that the child lies on to detect the moisture. The more quickly the urine comes in contact with the sensor pad, the more quickly the alarm will sound. A wetting episode when your child is sleeping on his stomach may trigger the alarm more quickly than one in which your child wets while sleeping on his back.

The wearable and wireless alarms detect moisture most quickly but all of the alarms do sound to provide an alert when wetting occurs. Over time, the brain-bladder connection develops so your child can wake up to go to the bathroom or hold it until morning.

This section of the Post is geared toward the young readers. In his article today, Dr. Bennett makes several great points for kids.
• Millions of kids have bedwetting, it’s just not talked about that much
• Bedwetting is hardly ever caused by a serious medical problem
• Kids who wet just don’t get the signal to wake up when they have to go
• The process of learning to stay dry can be sped up, and there’s no reason to wait
• A small device (bedwetting alarm) wakes you up when you start to pee when you’re asleep
• No one wets the bed on purpose

You might want to share this article with your child. I also encourage you to buy Dr. Bennett’s book. When checking out on bedwettingstore.com, enter the promotion code SVWAK to save $2.00. Expires 11/30/2010.

I want to share this feedback from a mother of a child with special needs. I am happy that she chose the right alarm for her son. The reason that we carry such a wide variety of bedwetting alarms is that one style of alarm may work better than another, given your child and family’s situation.

Malem has designed two types of Recordable alarms. One is the wearable model and one is the pad style model that this mother describes. A recorded message, instead of an alarm, is a gentle solution for those who are frightened by loud sounds.

The Malem Bed Side alarm comes with a plastic mat that lies under the child. It should be covered with a towel or sheet to hold it in place and make it comfortable to sleep on. When the pad senses moisture, it plays a sound or recorded message to alert kids and parents that wetting is occurring. A pad style alarm works well if children prefer no clothing at bedtime or if the feeling of an alarm attached to clothing would not be tolerated.

If your child has a special situation and you want advice on the best products for him/her, please call (800-214-9605) or email us. We want to help and we know alot about the different solutions available.

JL, many kids like your daughter feel frustrated on their wet nights. I assume you have already tried the logical methods of making sure she drinks a lot during the day and little in the evenings, double voiding before bed, making sure she has regular bowel movements and limiting sugary and dairy products before bed. If you haven’t looked at those things, see if those changes make any difference.

In spite of any of these changes, it is often difficult to predict when wetting will occur. In most kids with intermittent wetting, the dry nights occur when her bladder can hold all the urine produced that night. Wet nights occur when her bladder needs to empty. She has not developed the ability to wake up and walk to the bathroom when this occurs. Using a bedwetting alarm (monitor) can help her to develop this ability.

Any alarms will work, but the wireless alarms, such as the Rodger and Malem wireless, are particularly well suited for those with intermittent wetting. Once her underwear becomes wet, a sound is emitted from the receiver unit placed across the room. She must get out of bed and walk over to the unit to silence it. Over time, her body will learn to wake her when her bladder is full before the alarm sounds. Once she can do this, she will be dry 100% of the time.

This same phenomenon often occurs when using bedwetting alarms initially. Even though most of our bedwetting alarms sound at about 80 decibels, many children will not arouse independently when the alarm sounds. In the beginning, the alarm is for the parents. When you hear your son’s alarm sound, go to his room and remind him what is happening and what he should do. We know that children can be conditioned to respond to familiar sounds and eventually know how to respond to that sound. Over time, your son will understand that the sound he is hearing is important and means that he should stop the flow of urine and get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Of course, if he hears the alarm and knows what to do from the first night on, that makes your job a little easier.

Our wireless alarms, the Rodger and Malem wireless, can both be ordered with dual receivers, one for your son’s room and one for your room. This works well for homes where the bedrooms are far apart. The wearable alarms, like the Malem Ultimate or Malem auditory, have a strong constant tone of about 80 decibels. If you cannot hear this alarm from your room, you could use a baby monitor in your son’s room. The Malem Selectable alarm and the wireless alarms all offer a choice of 8 different tones. In some situations, one tone is more likely to alert your son than others. You could experiment with different sounds to see what works best.

There may be several factors at play here.  The extra sugar and tasty flavor may encourage him to drink more than he would if it was plain water.  In some children, the red and blue coloring agents cause the bladder to be more irritable and need to empty more urgently or frequently.  Also, chances are that his body is more fatigued on the nights that he has sports activities.  It may be more difficult for him to spontaneously wake up when he needs to go to the bathroom.

Sports are important and your son will eventually learn to stay dry every night, in spite of his evening activities or fluid intake.  Until that time comes, rehydrating with water or a clear sports drink is preferable.  Drinking before the practice or game will allow his body to process the fluids as the evening progresses.  If he feels thirsty, allow him to drink after his practices.  Encourage him to void twice before bed, about 20-30 minutes apart, so that he starts the night off with a completely empty bladder.  Being well rested is also helpful.  Having his homework done earlier in the evening should allow him to have a regular bedtime.

Many families have similar concerns.  After adjusting to the new school schedule for six weeks or so, this should be a fine time to begin using an alarm.  Having a regular nighttime routine, as most families do during the school year, is good when beginning alarm use.  You could start the alarm on a Friday night or over a long weekend so you can see what his initial response will be.  Even though his sleep will be interrupted by the alarm when the wetting occurs, most children go back to sleep immediately after getting up to go to the bathroom.  Many have little memory of this in the morning.  Using the waterproof mattress overlays (that come in the Starter Kit or can be purchased separately) on top of his sheet make middle of the night clean-up very easy and quick.  Because the alarm goes off only when his bladder needs to empty, it’s actually less tiring than setting an alarm clock or parents walking their child to the bathroom.

The parents are the ones who may feel a little sleep deprived during this initial phase.  Because your son may need your assistance, you should respond when the alarm sounds.  Insuring that he responds correctly by getting out of bed after turning off the alarm helps him to make faster progress.  Once he can do this independently, you no longer have to respond.  Some parents find that it can be difficult to go back to sleep.  Knowing that the worst will be over in two or three weeks is helpful.  Some parents take turns getting up to the alarm or alternate nights.

Getting to bed on time and being well rested is as important for doing well in school as it is for learning to become dry in the nighttime.  Remind him to double void, about 20-30 minutes apart, before bed and help him to get homework done early so he can have a regular bedtime.  He can be successful in school as well as in conquering bedwetting.

I think the Malem Wireless system would work fine for your daughter. The sensor for the wireless system is exactly the same as the wearable system and I can honestly tell you that we have not had complaints from parents that the alarm is sensing sweat instead of urine. You can experiment with placement of the sensor. If she sweats the most between her legs, you could fasten the sensor a little higher in the front of her underwear. It usually takes an actual drop or two of urine to set off the alarm and I don’t believe that overall moistness would be sensed in the same way.

I think your idea of restarting an alarm is a good one. For some reason, he is now sleeping through the signal that he needs to wake up and walk to the bathroom. Finding an alarm that is acceptable to him is important. Both the wireless models are popular with kids in his age group. The Malem wireless and the Rodger wireless have multiple sounds to choose from. He can pick a tone that he likes (kind of like picking your ring tone for your phone) and that he most easily alerts to. The Malem wireless attaches to his briefs and the Rodger wireless comes with two pair of special briefs with the sensor built in. You might ask him which style he would prefer. Remind him that the sound will be coming from a unit across the room and not from a unit on the shoulder. This will require him to get out of bed to turn it off and he can walk to the bathroom at the same time. This should enable him to re-develop the ability to wake up and walk to the bathroom when he needs to.

Enuresis is the medical term for bedwetting and is defined as the involuntary passage of urine in the night by children older than 5 or 6 who should have developed nighttime dryness. About 90% of children have always had bedwetting, also know as primary enuresis. The other 10% have had at least 6 months of dryness, then resume wetting, which is known as secondary enuresis. We know that bedwetting is inherited and that the chance of a child bedwetting is 44% if one parent had bedwetting, up to 77% if both parents had bedwetting.

There is no single, simple cause for enuresis. Some factors that play a role in bedwetting are:
-Decreased arousal from sleep in response to a full bladder
-Small bladder capacity
-High nighttime urine production
-Constipation
-Other factors, such as evening fluid loading, medications, attention problems, urinary problems, sleep apnea

Since there no single cause, looking at multiple factors is important. Bedwetting alarms address the decreased arousal from sleep by helping your child to develop the ability to wake to a full bladder. Small bladder capacity may change as your child grows older but bladder “stretching” exercises do not seem to speed up this process. High nighttime urine production may be adjusted by drinking earlier in the day. The other factors listed above can be looked at by your health care provider if you have concerns for your child.

The biggest thing to remember is that your child is not wetting on purpose and primary enuresis is seldom due to emotional or psychological issues. Being supportive and offering a solution such as a bedwetting alarm when your child is ready is a good way for parents to help their child stop bedwetting.

When some people ask about a bed wetting mat, they are inquiring about a moisture sensing alarm mat that their child sleeps on. This type of bedwetting mat is plastic or vinyl with a moisture sensor that sounds an alarm when it gets wet. Your daughter probably doesn’t need this type of mat alarm yet. If she is still wetting in a year, using a moisture sensing alarm is a good way to help her achieve complete dryness.

SJ writes, “My 9 year old needs help! I even offered to buy him a favorite Lego set if he didn’t wet for 7 nights. He stayed dry one night but has wet every night since then. I don’t know what other motivation he needs”.

Offering a reward for something your son has no control over can be counterproductive and very frustrating. I’m sure your son would love the new toys but he doesn’t know what steps he can take to get there. Even if he cooperates with limiting evening fluids and empties his bladder before going to bed, he does not have a method for getting up if he needs to in the nighttime.

Introducing a tool, such as a bedwetting alarm, to help him to make a change is very effective. Instead of sleeping through the wetting episode, now both your son and you will be alerted that wetting is occurring.

Initially, I recommend rewarding cooperation, something that he does have control over. By cooperation, I mean hooking up the alarm before bed, getting up as a response to the alarm (it is ok if mom and dad help him with this part) and double voiding before bed. Double voiding means urinating twice, about 20-30 minutes apart, before going to sleep-even though he doesn’t feel the need to urinate again. Your son can easily accomplish all of these things and earn a sticker or token as a reward for his cooperation. The important thing is that all of these things are necessary steps on the road to dryness and you’re helping to condition him to do these things. Dry nights will follow. Initially, he does not have control over whether or not that night will be a dry one. Once he does begin to have dry nights, if you want to add two stickers or tokens for dry, that’s fine. If a certain number of tokens equals a new toy, he does have the ability to earn that just by cooperating and trying to do his best.

You’re not alone with this situation. Other parents also report that they sleep soundly, with their door closed or a distance from their child. We’re happy to have a NEW solution. The Malem Wireless Alarm System is now available with two receivers, one for your son’s room and one for your room.

Once the sensor, which is fastened to his underwear, detects moisture, it transmits wirelessly to both receivers (up to 50 feet). Both are programmed to receive the same frequency. You can turn your receiver off while getting out of bed to make sure your son is waking up and walking to the bathroom. It is important that one of the receivers be in your son’s room. He has to begin to make the association that the sound happens when his bladder is full and he needs to get up to use the bathroom. This is sometimes a subconscious response. Once he no longer needs your help, you can stop turning the second receiver on. It’s important to turn the receivers off when you’re not using them to preserve the battery life.

The Rodger wireless alarm can also be ordered with two receivers, one for the child’s room and one for the parent’s room. This alarm comes with two pair of specialized briefs, with built in moisture sensors. The two receivers use the same frequency so both sound at the same time and can transmit up to 50 feet. When the wetness is detected on the special underwear, both the parent and child are alerted.

Other solutions are to use a baby monitor in your child’s room or to temporarily have your son sleep closer to your room. As you begin to see his response to his bedwetting alarm, you can decide when to move him back to his own room.

This is a common question this time of year. I am re-posting some suggestions that I wrote last year about this time. Parents wonder what to do??

First, if your child is currently using an alarm, we would not expect him or her to take it to camp with them. They can interrupt usage and restart when they come home.

Secondly, a back up plan should be in place, even for kids who wet intermittently. There are a few choices:

• Wear disposable pants, with a plan for putting them on discreetly and disposal in the morning. Disposables come in all sizes, even small through extra large adult sizes. If your child has outgrown traditional children’s pull-ups, there are still many options. Disposable male guards or women’s incontinence pads can be secured to regular underwear to catch a small amount of urine. Disposable underpads that lie on a sheet or in a sleeping bag have tape strips to hold them in place.

• Use washable bedtime pants to preserve dignity. These can be a nice back-up for kids who are dry most nights but want to make sure there is no leakage onto bedding.

• Waterproof sleeping bag liners fit into a regular sleeping bag. They provide a comfortable, waterproof surface for sleeping without raising questions from other campers.

• Mattress overlays can be used on top of a sheet or used inside a sleeping bag. The overlays can be discreetly pulled into place when your child is ready to go to sleep. The new blue cloud overlays are colorful and look like a regular piece of bedding.

• Make arrangements with the camp counselor to have toileting twice before bedtime and to continue a lifting routine if this is used successfully at home. (Lifting is when a caregiver walks the child to the bathroom at a designated time.)

• Medication, such as desmopressin, can be used temporarily to decrease the amount of urine produced that night. The correct dosage should be determined a week or two before camp begins. Only a small amount of liquid (2-4 ounces) should be ingested once this medication is used. It is best dosed shortly before actually going to sleep.

Lastly, make sure that your child knows that they are not alone and most camps are very helpful in discreetly handling any wetting episodes. Fluid of choice after dinner is water. Double voiding before going to sleep is helpful. Staying well hydrated during the day is helpful so the kids are not so thirsty later in the day.

Taking calls from the listening audience was interesting because you didn’t know what question would come in next. Although many of the questions centered on toilet training, one concerned parent of an 8 year old daughter with nightly wetting called in. To listen to the broadcast, simply click here.

I highly recommend listening to 98.1 KISS-FM, in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sundays from 7-8 am or you can listen to any of the past shows by going to the website, http://www.childhoodmatters.org/index.html.

What you are describing is perfectly normal in the beginning. In the first night or two, the alarm is new and your son may not have been sleeping as soundly. It’s quite common for the kids to sleep through the alarm and have no memory of what happened when morning comes. You should go to his room when you hear the alarm sound and make sure he is turning it off, then walking to the bathroom, even though it looks like all the urine has been wet out in the bed. If you can’t hear the alarm from your room, put a baby monitor in his room. After a couple of weeks of consistently doing the right response, his brain and bladder begin to make that association and work more independently. Making it more difficult to turn off in his sleep, by doubling up on the underwear or the shirts is also a good strategy for right now.