Posts Tagged ‘vibratory watches’

Vibrating Wrist Watches for Nighttime

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

ST asks, “My 8 year old son can stay dry in the night if my husband or I wake him up 1 or 2 times. If we don’t wake him up, he wets. Can I set the vibrating alarm wrist watch for a couple of times a night so it can help his bet wetting and remind him to wake up?”

ST, I do not recommend this for a couple of reasons. First, how do you know what time your son will need to go to the bathroom? It’s difficult to predict when the bladder needs to empty, which can change from one night to the next. Because you are picking an arbitrary time to alert him, he will not be able to put together the signal of a full bladder and getting up at that precise time. This is also why setting an alarm clock for a specific time each night does not cure bedwetting. Moisture sensing bedwetting alarms are superior, because the alarm does not sound until your son physiologically needs to go to the bathroom.

The second reason is that a 20 second vibration on the wrist is typically not enough stimulation to wake a soundly sleeping child. Because the vibration stops after 20 seconds, most children will sleep through or ignore it and wake up wet and frustrated in the morning. Because you have no idea when the watch is vibrating, you cannot be available to help. With a sound making bedwetting alarm, you can be available to alert him when it sounds. Vibrating watches work great to remind children in the daytime when they should be using the bathroom. Because daytime wetting and nighttime wetting have some different causes, different products are best for each condition.

School Wetting

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

EP writes about her 7 year old daughter who will be starting 2nd grade soon. In first grade, there were times that she waited until the last minute and didn’t make it to the bathroom in time. This resulted in wet pants, sometimes requiring a complete change of clothes. She has been checked out by her doctor and there does not seem to be any associated problems. Mom wonders what she can do to prevent this from happening this school year.

Urologists around the country agree that this can be a common and frustrating problem that is best handled by frequent urination on a regular basis. Emptying the bladder regularly eliminates the urgent messages that sometimes result in urine leakage. The difficulty arises when children get busy with other activities and lose track of time. Telling a child to go potty every 2 or 3 hours is a hard concept to grasp. Even remembering to go to the bathroom before lunch or recess can be difficult. A discreet vibrating wrist watch is a reliable tool for providing a reminder to go to the bathroom.

We carry several vibrating wrist watches that are perfect for this purpose. Our top selling watch is the Vibrowatch. Up to 12 specific times can be programmed to coordinate with your daughter’s schedule. The watch vibrates for about 20 seconds and is difficult to ignore. It comes in several different colors and has a durable plastic band. Vibrating watches are generally a little larger than time telling watches to accommodate the larger battery.

Starting the new school year off with a reminder watch is likely to eliminate many of the embarrassing accidents she had last year. You can consult her teacher about the best toileting times and make sure she has free access to the bathroom when her watch reminds her to go.

Daytime Wetting

Friday, January 9th, 2009

I want to share some effective strategies for school aged children with daytime wetting or leaking.  Daytime wetting is a little more common in girls, and nighttime wetting is a little more common in boys, but both sexes can be affected. The children often describe that they don’t feel like they need to go to the bathroom until the last minute. Then it’s too late and urine begins to come out in their underwear. Parents describe the frustration of noticing that their child is fidgeting or reminding them to go to the bathroom, with their child responding “I don’t have to go”. Five minutes later, urine is leaking out or they are urgently trying to find a bathroom.

Making sure that the urine/urinary tract is normal is always prudent when noticing this behavior. You can consult with your pediatrician about this. Also, constipation and infrequent stools can contribute to daytime wetting problems. Address these factors first. If neither of these things is found to be contributory, you can move on to some behavioral techniques.

It seems that when these children’s bladders become overly full, they sent a very urgent message to the brain and begin contracting before the child has a chance to get to the bathroom. Parents describe this as “waiting until the last minute” or being so interested in play that they “ignore needing to go to the bathroom”. You and I receive messages from our bladder well in advance of actually needing to use the bathroom. We have time to finish what we’re doing and leisurely make our way to the toilet. Children with daytime wetting often don’t have this luxury.

We know that “timed voiding”, which is emptying the bladder on a schedule, rather than waiting for internal messages, is very effective in preventing overfull bladders from sending urgent messages. It’s almost impossible for a child, who has little comprehension of time, to remember to “Go to the bathroom every 2 hours”. A discreet, independent reminder can make all the difference.

Using a vibratory wristwatch is a great way of fostering the independent behavior of going to the bathroom on a regular schedule. Usually around every 2 hours is a good amount of time to begin with. For school age children, I prefer watches in which you can set specific times. That way, you can coordinate with the teacher the times that would be less disruptive but allow him/her to start p.e., recess or lunch with an empty bladder. Voiding at the end of the school day allows your child to begin the trip to home with an empty bladder, eliminating accidents on the bus or running to the bathroom when entering the house.

The Vibrowatch offers 12 independent times and vibrates about 20 seconds, making it difficult to ignore. The Medose and WobL watch each offer 6 independent alarms, and vibrate for 20 and 5 seconds, respectively. You can watch these videos to get a better idea of how these watches work. Most of my patients are amazed at how well their children do once they’re given a simple tool to help.