Posts Tagged ‘girls’

Sweating and Alarm Use

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

“I am considering the Malem Wireless Bedwetting Alarm System for my 7 year old. My problem is my daughter sweats a lot at night. Her hair is the main area affected, but she also has sweat around her underwear as well. Does anyone else have a child that sweats and has used the alarm successfully? I’d assume the alarm won’t know the difference between urine and sweat!”

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.

Daytime Wetting Solved

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

I recently saw an 11 year old girl with a history of wetting daily for most of her life. Any urologic testing that had been done was normal and she had never had a urinary tract infection. She wore an adult woman’s panty liner every day to school and both she and her mother felt this was something she would just have to do the rest of her life. They did not know there were options available to help her.

An important piece that was identified during taking her history was that she had infrequent bowel movements, 2 or 3 times a week. She was reluctant to go at school. Constipation often goes along with daytime wetting so we worked hard on correcting this. A high fiber diet, increased water intake during the day and Miralax every morning quickly made a huge difference in the frequency and consistency of her bowel movements.

Along with this, we instituted a timed voiding program, using the Vibrowatch set to vibrate at convenient intervals, about every two hours. We made sure the right times were set so that she started PE, lunch and the bus ride to after care all with an empty bladder. A 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm time made sure she voided while her mother was busy preparing dinner and doing evening chores.

Although a little skeptical at first, both parents and daughter were willing to cooperate with the instructions. At two weeks, stools were much improved and her panty liner was no longer soaked. When I described our goal of getting rid of the daytime panty liner, she expressed nervousness about doing that. We implemented a plan of going without a panty liner on weekends first so that she could prove to herself that she could stay dry with the timed voiding program in place. During a follow-up call one month later, mom described her success at staying dry during the day, no panty liner and a huge boost to her self-confidence. She can continue this regimen for the next few months, until her body is able to do the alerting.

Right Age

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

DW writes: I have two children who struggle with bed wetting. My son is 7 1/2 and my daughter is 4 1/2. My son is not the least interested in trying to stay dry right now. He simply DOES NOT want to be woken at night. Last summer, I tried the Malem Ultimate with him, paired with bribes for dry nights, but he cries and gets very frustrated over being woken up. My daughter, however, now wants to stay dry and is cooperative when I get her up at night. I am considering using the alarm for her, but am concerned that she may be too young. Are there any guidelines for what may be too young? And any words of wisdom for my son?

I think you have identified an important piece in getting to dryness–wanting to do so. At some point in time, your son will indicate that he is ready to tackle getting to dryness. You can wait until he is ready without any untoward effects. As far as your daughter goes, I certainly do have families where one sib has used an alarm and now a younger sib really wants to use it, too. You know your children better than anyone
else. If your daughter wants to try the alarm for a few weeks, you should begin to see progress by then. If it becomes a source of frustration for her, you can delay it a little longer. I will tell you that in families where a younger sib becomes dry, the older ones take note and do what they can to get to dryness as well.

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