Bedwetting Alarms: Night One

by Nicki Bradley | More from this Blogger

01 Mar 2006 08:04 PM

A little history: My husband's children from a previous marriage are all genetically predisposed to nighttime bedwetting, known technically as nocturnal enuresis. Both of their parents wet the bed throughout childhood and eventually outgrew it during adolescence. It wasn't a big surprise that two of my husband's three children wet the bed past the preschool years.

Failed Attempts: During our oldest son's childhood, we tried a variety of different things to help him stay dry at night. We had a full physical done, tested him for juvenile diabetes, took him to a urologist and multiple other doctors for second opinions. He wore pull-ups, he wore no pull-ups, and he was on a variety of different medications, including some with dangerous side-effects requiring pretty constant monitoring (we saved these for very important social situations like overnight school trips). We tried to limit his fluids; we tried to wake him before we went to bed, ourselves, only to find that he had often already wet the bed. He was such a heavy sleeper that he slept right through the multiple wetting incidences through the night. We felt like we owed it to him to continue trying to solve this medical issue and, to be honest, diapers for a 10 year old were never in the projected budget so we had health and financial concerns as well. Our family physician suggested a bedwetting alarm and we researched it but never pursued it. It was probably the only thing we never tried. Now, at age 12, he is mostly dry at night, outgrowing the condition at the same rate his parents did.

One Last Try: Recently I spoke with a friend who claims to have had great success using a bed-wetting alarm with her 6 year old son. My husband's other bed wetter is six and now above the age that is considered still age-appropriate to be wetting the bed. He is officially following in his brother's footsteps although we knew from pretty early on that he would be since he could not even stay dry during naps and still needs doubled-up diapers at night because a single diaper won't hold the number of accidents he has on a typical night. In other words, his condition is even more extreme than his brother's at this age and we have been mostly resigned to a long wait before nighttime dryness is even on the radar.

But this friend's suggestion has been niggling on our minds and we finally took the plunge and bought an alarm: the Wet-Stop 2. It wasn't a huge investment - $40 from a local enuresis specialist. And it couldn't possibly hurt. Everyone has told me that the new alarms are a totally different creature from the old-fashioned alarms that failed so miserably when we were children. We shall see. I remain skeptical.

Night One: Last night was our first night with the alarm. We explained to our child what to expect and that he would earn reward stickers for both staying dry all night and even for being wet but stopping the flow of urine and finishing up in the bathroom. We followed the instructions to the letter; we don't want to leave any room for doubt about the efficacy of this tool! This means no fluids for two hours before bed. It also means waking the child up a few hours after he goes to bed, for another potty break.

He managed to remain dry up through the first potty break! Considering our past experiences with our older child, this felt like a victory in itself. However, it just so happens he is also battling a cold at the moment so he slept restlessly last night. He had a coughing fit so bad that it woke him up sometime after midnight and he came out for comfort and used the bathroom at that time. He went to bed and remained dry.

I will say this is the first night in his life that he stayed dry all night. He only had two trips to the bathroom which seems like a hopeful sign. The alarm, on night one, did nothing at all since he never urinated to set it off! However, I would say that the combination of the cold and the enthusiasm he had for the alarm made this first night a success!!!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's recap of Day Two with the bedwetting alarm!

Learn more about Nicki Bradley

I live in the suburbs of Detroit and I'm happily re-married with six children (3 his, 2 mine, 1 ours) ranging in age from 3.5 to 12.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

Julie Gentry (5915) 22 May 2007 12:38 PM

Nikki, our pediatrician recommended something else. At first we thought he was out of his mind, but it worked. We started giving my son a LOT to drink. Seems counterintuitive. His ped said that most kids wet because (a) they have small bladders, or (b) their bladders are sensitive. Giving him a lot to drink (as in a minimum of 64 oz a day; usually more) meant that his bladder stretched, and his urine became less concentrated so his bladder could tolerate it. If the urine is really stinky when he wets, it may very well be a concentration issue. Took my son about two weeks to become completely dry. We had occasional lapses for another few months, usually when he was dehydrated. But the simplest solution was the best!