When to Use a Bedwetting Alarm

When should my child start using a bedwetting alarm?

The best time to begin treating bedwetting is when it starts to become an issue for your child.  The timing depends on what is right for your family.

Signs that your child may be ready include:

• your child is about 6 or older,
• making comments about wanting to be dry
• still wetting most nights and wearing disposable pants to bed
• beginning to notice that younger siblings or peers no longer wet
• reluctance to stay outside of your home

Deciding when your family and your child are both ready to work on achieving nighttime dryness is very individual.  

Some things to consider are:

• your child’s temperament - if they can be compliant and consistent
• 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.