Bed wetting alarm?

[scareyt]

Has anyone tried one of these? My 5yo frequently wets the bed, we've tried reminding him to have a big drink at 4pm and limiting drinks after that but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It doesn't seem to bother him and the alarms sound quite brutal / weird / uncomfortable but I would like to solve the problem before it starts upsetting him. I don't really want to put him in those pyjama pull ups but I'm currently washing his sheets every day and I don't want it to drag on. Has anyone tried an alarm? Or have any other ideas? Thanks!

[goldilocks]

I think 5 is a little young for the alarm. Up to around 7/8 is still considered in the 'normal spectrum' for dry overnight I think although you could speak to your gp /hv for advice.

I would get pull ups / pyjama pants and try again later. Overnight dryness is linked to some hormone response so can be later in some kids. The only thing to consider is whether he is constipated as this can affect overnight dryness. If not he might just not be ready. If there are no other issues I would just make all your lives easier and use pull ups until they're dry on a morning and then try without again

[etta166]

Also it us worth noting that limiting daytime drinks can actually contribute to night-time bed wetting. The bladder needs to be trained to hold a larger volume in some children, so drinking lots by day can actually help.

Definitely see your GP or HV, especially if your child has been dry at night and then returned to bed wetting. But as goldilocks said, it is very common not to be dry at night by 5, particularly for boys or if there is a family history.

[edanna]

I had one of those alarms as a child and I remember very clearly the horrific jolt out of a deep sleep. I would only use one as a last resort. As etta166 says, training the bladder to hold more is the first thing specialists would recommend. We have a bladder training chart from St Thomas's, which has 8 drinks on it and each is supposed to be 150-200ml. It would be worth keeping a note of how much he is drinking on one day, just to see if it is within the recommended range. As others have said, 5 is pretty young to be dry through the night. Maybe you could try pull ups or those absorbent mats?

[scareyt]

Thanks everyone. Dean a that sounds like a horrible memory. He drinks plenty of water during the day so I don't think it's that. He's been out of pull ups for over a year and seems to go brought phases of being dry and phases of just sleeping through it. We'll try pyjama pants for a while and see how we get on.