Tried & True Recommendation

[Shanna-like-Banana]

I am looking for tried & true recommendations from parents who have first hand experience successfully using a bed-wetting alert.

We have been struggling for Y E A R S with our now 10 year old and his bed wetting. We have used all the tricks, tips, and medications known. We have been talking with his pediatrician about it for years, and she is very supportive that eventually this will end, and it can go on for several more years. I mean, I feel like we literally have tried every single tip or trick that's ever been thrown our way. He is a VERY deep sleeper, you can bang pots & pans, jack-hammer, or bounce a ball on the wall and he just zzZZzzZZzz through it all

But, he has become of the age where it bothers him. We are about to go on winter break and this would be a great time to try a bed-wetting alarm, so we're not so miserable with all the waking up during a regular school week.

One of my mom friends had a recommendation of one that she used with her own children, but it's no longer manufactured.

 

[jvz82]

We've considered this option too!

My son is 8.5 and we're in the same boat. Not only does he wet the bed pretty much every night but he actually soaks out of his pull-up too, so it's like crazy amounts of pee. We obviously have him go to the bathroom before bed and limit fluids, and we wake him up at 10:30 before we go to bed to have him use the bathroom again but he still has accidents. He's been medically checked for everything and is fine. Like your son, he's a heavy sleeper. But he's very embarrassed and doesn't want to have friends in his bedroom in case they see his pull-ups.

We've been looking into the bed wetting alert systems but I'm not sure if it would work or not. I'm worried it would just frustrate everyone more and he'd be sleep deprived.

I've recently been seeing some links between sleep apnea and bed wetting. I don't know that my son has any other signs of sleep apnea, but my husband has it so there is a family history. We are thinking about doing a sleep study for him sometime. Just thought I would throw that out there too in case it was something that you knew anything about!

 

[goodeats]

Does he snore at night? If so, you might want to see an ENT.

My daughter had sleep apnea due to enlarged adenoids/tonsils (lots of snoring, waking up tired, mouth breathing). She was much younger (age 5), but still not nighttime potty trained. I always attributed it to age, but almost immediately after the removal surgery she didn't need pull ups at night anymore.

 

[DISfam2401]

I highly recommend the Nytone alarm. My son was 6 1/2 and would wake up with absolutely full pullups in the morning - he had NEVER had a dry night before using the alarm. We bought the Nytone for $49 online and wish we had done it sooner - worth every penny.

Here are some tips that worked for us:

We watched the video (just Google nytone video) with our son which gives a very brief description of how it works and read through the instruction before use. He was motivated to use it because he was tired of wearing pullups every night.

It says just to clip it to their underwear and then put on PJs but we put pullups over his underwear that so we didn't have to keep changing the bed, just the pullups and underwear each time

We printed out a progress chart online and filled it in each morning to keep track of progress. The first 3 days he had 3 accidents a night, the next 4 nights he had 1 accident each night and that was it. None ever since. We kept putting the alarm on for about 3 weeks just in case but switched to just underwear at around a week of being accident free.

The worst part was that we had to sleep in his room so we could help him get up and to change when he had an accident. The alarm itself didn't wake him the first few nights but I'd hear it go off and get him up, help him to the bathroom, try to finish going (he always went all the way in the pullup before we got to the toilet,) get changed and hook it back up. We just brought in an air mattress and slept on the floor. Be prepared to be tired, it's like having a baby and getting up 3x a night.

He and we were both frustrated after the first few days but just keep reminding them and yourself that it can take time. We also had to make sure not to shame him and stay positive to not stress him out. I was skeptical but it actually worked!

Good luck! We are happy to not have to pack pullups this year and stress about accidents!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Thank you for the replies! I was getting nervous that nobody had any suggestions.

He does not snore at all, and that is one of the things his pediatrician addressed. He is the KING of sneaking into our room, our bed, or in with his siblings. Not to sound harsh, but oh my gosh, that kid sleeps like a ninja, stabby toes, finger pokes hard, star-fish position, a while back I really had to put my foot down and finally just flat out tell him, NO more, I was getting up and sleeping on the couch or in his bed...so now, he tries to sneak in and make a pillow pad on the floor and we take him right back to his bed..

He seems perfectly content and peaceful in his sleep, it's those around him, that "suffer" lol

We have been buying pull-ups since daycare years. when all the other kids were phasing out of pull-up at nap time and he was still wearing them. He will have an accident free streak every blue moon, I *think 3 days is about the longest he's ever gone, and every now & then he'll have a dry one. It has lightened up a tiny sliver, where at least now it doesn't wet through the pull-up, because I had been getting the wet-pads to put under him, in addition to the wet-mattress protector.

I will say, he is very small for his ages. He's always been much smaller than most of his peers. Neither my husband or I are tall, I'm what would be considered short, but even so, he's always been slim but proportionate weight to his weight. He's 10 and still wears mostly size kids 6 or Small.

As I said, he's getting to the age where he is self-conscious about it, and just the same as above, he doesn't want any of his friends to look in his closet, and he has never been to a non-family sleep-over, because he doesn't want anyone to know. I've thought about getting him a set of the boxer underwear style pull-ups, so he can be confident to have a sleep-over, but they are all too big size for his waist.

I will look into the one suggested, thank you all.

 

[katie111]

We are in the exact same boat. Our son is also 10 and wears pull-ups. He is wet almost every night. He is also a very restless sleeper and does not like to sleep alone. He only sleeps with us on vacation & it is awful. He kicks and pokes you all night long. He now sleeps every night on his sister's floor. They both seem to like it so it works. He is also very skinny for his age. He had a feeding tube when he was younger because he refused to eat and is on growth hormones because his hormone levels were so low. He weighs 55 pounds and is 10 and a half. I've spoken to his GI and endocrinologist and both say that the feeding tube and hormones would not effect his bladder. His brother is also on the hormones & has no issues. He had his adenoids out for a different reason but that made no difference. He does seem to have a small bladder and can go from not having to pee at all to being about to wet his pants in a matter of minutes. He never wets himself during the day but does have a lot of close calls, especially in the car. He was soaking through the pull-up a lot a few months ago but lately he hasn't been and occasionally he actually wakes up dry.

I think I'm going to try that alarm as well. Please post back and let me know how it worked for you.

 

[ilovebassets]

At 10 years old, I'd consider seeing a pediatric sleep specialist. There's more to sleep disorders than just obstructive sleep apnea. He may benefit from a sleep study or at least an evaluation.

 

[Mary Walker]

Get a bedwetting alarm from One Stop Bedwetting - https://onestopbedwetting.com
They have a large variety of alarms to stop bedwetting in children, teens and adults. They also have specialists who can help you choose which alarm is best for you.
Good luck!