Bedwetting Alarm: A Good Bedwetting Solution

These drugs may well be prescribed by doctors, but would you prefer your child to be given drugs that alter the normal function of the body, especially Imipramine that is very dangerous to children if too much is taken, or a simple bedwetting alarm that wakens them when they start to urinate and stops it before the bed gets too wet. After a short period they get trained out of the habit.

The reasons for bedwetting are generally unknown, though some children wet the bed when under stress or are unhappy about something. In most cases, however, there is no apparent reason, and it is very common in children up to six years old. The cause is normally irrelevant to the cure, unless it can be identified to one specific occurrence in the child’s life. Otherwise, before you look at drugs, you should try a bedwetting alarm.

Bedwetting alarms have an excellent record as bedwetting solutions, and many medical practitioners recommend that they be used before anything else. They do not involve the use of drugs, and children find them much preferable to tablets or nasal sprays. An alarm will wake your child as soon as the first drop of liquid is emitted. A buzz or ring is preferred by most children, though one that vibrates is also popular. The child wakes and immediately stops urinating, but more importantly, is made aware of the feeling of a ‘full bladder’. The child then empties his or her bladder in the toilet as normal. This can be a problem if the child has to travel to the toilet in the dark.

Sometimes it can even be the cause of it. Many children would rather wet the bed than have to travel to the toilet in the dark. Not consciously, perhaps, but enough for the bedwetting to continue irrespective of what you do to stop it. Have a nightlight, and even a potty available, if your child has to travel a distance and you do not want the lights on all night. The objective of the bedwetting alarm is to wake the child, get him used to the feeling of a full bladder and to urinate normally, either in a toilet close by, or in a potty or ‘chamber pot’ that the child can empty himself in the morning. Eventually he will be conditioned to wake up when his bladder is full, or alternatively to sleep through the night without wetting the bed. It sounds unlikely, but it works. There are two types of alarm: the most popular is a net of conductive wire, normally copper, place under the sheet. As soon as a drop of urine hits the sheet the copper send a signal to the alarm which can be a buzzer, bell or vibrator, sometimes a combination of vibrator and buzzer or bell. The other, which some parents prefer, is a sensor in the pajamas which does the same thing, though can be regarded by children as being invasive. However, the fitting of the sensor could help in conditioning the child to stop.

Bedwetting should not be allowed to become an issue, and it embarrasses most children that wet the bed. A bedwetting alarm is a good bedwetting solution, and far preferable to drugs. There are things, however, that you can do to help your child feel less nervous and anxious about it. You can allow the child time to waken and put the wet sheet into the washing machine before you get involved. You can provide a clean dry sheet to change to in the night. You can provide a night light, or even better, a remote control light switch, that are easily available on eBay, to make it easier for her or him to urinate in the toilet, or a chamber pot or potty, in the middle of the night when it is normally very dark and frightening for a young child of six years or under. Finally, teach your child how to set the alarm herself. She will then feel a sense of responsibility that can work wonders for a child’s confidence.

Do all that and your child will have every incentive to stop bed wetting.