Posts Tagged ‘pull-ups’

Bed Wetting Mat

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

My daughter is 4. She has been dry in the daytime for over a year but she isn’t completely dry at night yet. She wears pullups but the majority of the time, they are dry in the morning. I am reluctant to stop the pullups until she is dry every night because I don’t want to have to change sheets several times a week. But I think the pullups might be a crutch for her. What about a bed wetting mat?

It sounds like your daughter is making great progress toward achieving dryness in the nighttime. Often getting to nighttime dryness is a process that may take a year or two after daytime dryness is achieved. Since your daughter is having many dry pullups, this is a good time to take the next step of having her wear underwear to bed. I recommend using a waterproof, washable pad (overlay) on top of the sheet. These are soft and comfortable and can be ordered in a pretty print. If she does have an accident, it’s easy to remove this type of bedwetting mat and replace it with a clean one. In the morning, you’ll just have a small pad to wash.

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.

Alarms and Pull-ups

Friday, June 4th, 2010

I am looking for a bedwetting alarm for my 6 year old daughter, and am wondering if any of these alarms can be used with a pull up. We do plan to move her to panties during the process, but was hoping to start out in the pull-ups she is used to.

First, this is the perfect time to transition to cloth underwear. There are a few children who are aware that a disposable back-up is in place and use this as a “crutch”. Using waterproof washable mattress overlays over the sheet make middle-of-the-night and morning cleanup easier and still allow your daughter to wear cloth underwear. Once wetting occurs, you can simply remove the wet overlay and replace it with a clean one. In the morning, just the overlays require washing. Overlays, in sizes that fit a twin, full or queen bed, are available on the bedwettingstore.com. These are specially made for us and are not readily available in retail stores. The ones with the tuck-in flaps on the sides are best for children who move around a lot when they sleep.

Secondly, the alarms are all designed to be used to detect a small amount of wetness from cloth. Most of you know how quickly disposable pants wick moisture away from the skin. Alarms sense the moisture more quickly and your daughter will become more aware of the feeling of wetting if disposables are not used in conjunction with the alarm.

In special situations, such as lack of laundry facilities or working with a special needs child, using a disposable pull-up with the alarm may be the only option. The Malem alarm company does make a Standard Sensor that can sense moisture from a disposable product. A small slit is cut in the pull-up and the flat sensor is slid into the pull-up at the spot where you expect the first drop of moisture. This sensor can be purchased as an accessory with any of the Malem alarms. Another option is to use a pull-up over the Rodger underwear that come with the Rodger wireless alarm. The pull-up should not cover the transmitter that is attached on the waistband. The underwear would still need to be laundered once it becomes wet.

Lack of Motivation

Monday, May 24th, 2010

TT writes, “We have been using the Malem Ultimate alarm for 8 weeks. My 8 year old son does not hear it and my husband or I have to go to his room each night to wake him when the alarm sounds. The wet spots are smaller and the wetting is just once a night now, around 4 am. That’s getting better. I think the thing that bothers us most is that our son could really care less. He would be happy just to wear a pull-up every night and doesn’t seem to be very motivated. It seems like it is my husband and I doing “all the work”. We don’t mind this but we wonder if our son’s lack of motivation is hindering his progress”.

I do believe that motivation plays a role in children successfully getting to dryness. When given the choice of using the alarm or going back to pull-ups, if your son chooses pull-ups, I would agree that this isn’t the right time for him to be using an alarm. It’s okay to take a break and remind him that when he’s ready, the alarm is there waiting to help him. The trigger that changes motivation is different in each child. Sometimes it’s an upcoming sleepover or a comment that they overhear. Sometimes, it’s just getting older and a little more mature.

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