Loudness of Alarms

My 9 year old son is a very sound sleeper. He even slept through our smoke detector going off. I think he needs the loudest alarm that you have. Which one do you suggest?

You are describing most children. Even children who do not have bedwetting 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-bedwetting) 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 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.