View Full Version : Going to use alarm for DS tonight- any advice or tips?
DS and I finally decided to get him the Malem bedwetting alarm. We are looking forward to helping him stay dry! Do you have any tips to make the nighttime wake-ups easier to deal with?
I am planning on having DS sleep in our room since he shares with his brothers and will use the sound/vibration since he is such a heavy sleeper. I read online (here and on other sites) that they used Goodnights over the underwear, which is our plan. Anything else we can do??
Ugh, kind of dreading getting up during the night, but overall excited to help him get through this.
okinawama
12-30-2014, 10:02 PM
No advice, but wanted to sub to the thread. We are on night 5 and it has been exhausting. He's setting the alarm off 3 times, but doesn't actually ever wake, so we have to wake him and getting him to a coherent and cooperative state is tough. We clip the alarm to underwear, and then put a pullup over that, which has done a good job of keeping the bed dry. It's been a lot tougher than I had expected, but the friend who we are borrowing the alarm from said her DS was very similar. About 2 weeks of setting the alarm of 3X a night, then another week or two of setting it off once or twice, and then it gradually lessened from there. All said and done, she said they used it for about 9-10h weeks on her deep sleeper but he's been dry for the last 5 months.
We are feeling a touch discouraged and tired, but hopeful that it will work. I look forward to hearing what others have to say!
I have read that it can take a while before you start to see results (a few weeks), so I am trying to prepare myself. Secretly I am hoping that we see results really soon though! We talked with DS about our plan to get him to the bathroom as soon as the alarm goes off, but I am worried that it will take him a long time to become coherent enough to physically get out of bed. I am heading to sleep soon, fingers crossed for smooth-ish first night. Sending mojo your way Okinawama! Keep me updated, I'd love to hear your progress.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy
roobee
12-30-2014, 11:58 PM
We used an alarm for a week or two and Dd has been dry every night since! It was the first week of 3rd grade and she had been wet 90% of the time prior to the alarm. It was crazy to me that the alarm didn't wake her and that she couldn't remember it the next day. But we'd rouse her and bring her to the bathroom and after a few nights she was waking on her own before the pee even reached her PJs! That alarm is amazing!
AustenFan
01-04-2015, 08:09 PM
How is it going? I totally swear by the Malem alarm. So glad people on here talked me into it after facebook friends talked me out of it (saying it was disrespectful?! to the kid or some such nonsense). We went ahead and left DS in his own bed so that it wouldn't be an additional nighttime transition once he finally stopped the wetting. I was worried about it waking his sisters who share the room, but it probably only woke the girls once the first night when it went off, and they went right back to sleep. They slept through it after that. And yes, pull-up over undies worked great for us. We dropped the pull-up after he'd had several dry nights. Hope that you're starting to see results!
How is it going? I totally swear by the Malem alarm. So glad people on here talked me into it after facebook friends talked me out of it (saying it was disrespectful?! to the kid or some such nonsense). We went ahead and left DS in his own bed so that it wouldn't be an additional nighttime transition once he finally stopped the wetting. I was worried about it waking his sisters who share the room, but it probably only woke the girls once the first night when it went off, and they went right back to sleep. They slept through it after that. And yes, pull-up over undies worked great for us. We dropped the pull-up after he'd had several dry nights. Hope that you're starting to see results!
Thanks for asking! So far, so good. The first 3 nights we got up 3x, the last 2 nights DS only woke up 1x. Hopefully this is a trend :praying: . DS is pretty positive about the whole thing, which helps when we are all getting up in the middle of the night. The company emailed us to ask if we had any questions which I think is great customer service. I am trying to figure out exactly how to clean the sensor- can you rinse it under water? I am so paranoid to ruin this $$ alarm!
Eventually we will move him out of our room. DS and his brothers are good buddies and I know they miss having each other in their room. I was worried that it would take us a lot longer to hear the alarm and get him out of bed. Most of the time he gets up right away but a few times he slept through it. I think I'll give DS a bit more time in our room before moving him out. Austenfan, glad to hear that the alarm didn't seem to bother your other DC since that is something I was worried about.
ZeeBaby
01-04-2015, 09:12 PM
DD1 had a set back with bedwetting over the summer and she just couldn't get past it. We decided to get the wet stop machine. It is about $50 and it must be the most annoying machine ever, but it is perfect for DD1 since she sleeps like a log and couldn't ever get up to use the bathroom. Now she gets up on her own and uses the bathroom and the alarm is only going off about once per night. I am sorry we didn't do this earlier. Good luck!
AustenFan
01-05-2015, 01:21 AM
I am trying to figure out exactly how to clean the sensor- can you rinse it under water? I am so paranoid to ruin this $$ alarm!
If I remember correctly, I wiped the sensor off with a wipe, but I'm sure that's something they get asked frequently, so I just now glanced at the FAQ from the place we got ours. They say to scrub it with soap and water (here (http://justbedwettingalarms.com/malem-alarm-faq#15)).
Fingers crossed that tonight continues that good trend! :)
If I remember correctly, I wiped the sensor off with a wipe, but I'm sure that's something they get asked frequently, so I just now glanced at the FAQ from the place we got ours. They say to scrub it with soap and water (here (http://justbedwettingalarms.com/malem-alarm-faq#15)).
Fingers crossed that tonight continues that good trend! :)
Thank you, that's so helpful! Lots of good info on that page. I'll really clean the sensor today after I get home from work.
Last night was really good, DS only woke up 1x. That's the third night in a row he woke up around 2am. It's interesting to see a trend like that.
Update: DS finally had his first dry night since we started the alarm!
okinawama
01-10-2015, 10:17 AM
Update: DS finally had his first dry night since we started the alarm!
Wow! Yaaay! How old is your DS? We are on night 15 and still usually up 3 times a night. Maybe I should start another thread and ask if our experience is "normal." Is my DS too young ( hes 5yrs 10 months).Is your DS waking up when the alarm is going off? DS still sleeps right through it and completely empties his bladder so never actually pees at all on the potty.
Wow! Yaaay! How old is your DS? We are on night 15 and still usually up 3 times a night. Maybe I should start another thread and ask if our experience is "normal." Is ms DD too young ( hes 5yrs 10 months).Is your DS waking up when the alarm is going off? DS still sleeps right through it and completely empties his bladder so never actually pees at all on the potty.
Let me preface this by saying I pretty much read every review on Amazon before I bought this alarm. I think your experience IS normal. But I will also add that my Ped was not concerned about bedwetting until age 8 and even then he wasn't overly concerned. When I mentioned DS bedwetting at his annual physical, the Ped suggested an alarm.
Also, I could be wrong but I think the alarm was for ages 6 and up. Maybe your DS isn't ready? What I mean is, maybe his body hasn't matured enough to sense the bladder is getting full and it needs to hold it or wake up to empty the bladder. My oldest DS used sleep diapers until he was 6 (give or take a few months around his 6th birthday). It's his younger brother that we are using the alarm for, and he is 8.
My DS does wake up most of the time with the alarm, but we are still assisting him to get up. He can stop his urine and finish on the toilet. There has been a few times he has slept through it though. Before last night, he was setting off the alarm 1-2x a night. I anticipate we still have weeks to go before we get 14 straight dry nights.
okinawama
01-10-2015, 03:15 PM
Interesting. I went down the road of the alarm because my pediatrician brought it up. Since we are already two weeks in, I feel like we should stick it out for a while longer and see if we notice an improvement and reassess later.
Interesting. I went down the road of the alarm because my pediatrician brought it up. Since we are already two weeks in, I feel like we should stick it out for a while longer and see if we notice an improvement and reassess later.
I got tied up around the house, but I did read that the alarm is for ages 5 and up, so I was wrong about that sorry. I say keep going with the alarm! Malem did stress that the average length for training takes 10-12 weeks. I keep telling myself that, esp after reading some people had total success in just a few weeks. Getting up multiple times is so hard, it's like a having a newborn again. I am definitely getting a bit cranky with the interrupted sleep. Sending more mojo your way :)
OP here, DS just made it to 16 dry nights!! So happy for him and he is so proud of himself. Love the Malem, can't recommend it enough!
How are things going Okinawama?
okinawama
02-08-2015, 04:48 PM
Yay for you and your LO! I'm sure you're both thrilled! congrats!
Things over here are better, and I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but he is still no where near consistently dry. He's had 4 dry nights since we started, and none of been consecutively. He is usually only waking once a night, and isn't emptying his bladder completely in bed, he usually stops his stream and finishes in the toilette. More often than not, I'm still waking him from a dead sleep as the alarm goes off, but somehow the alarm is still helping him wet fewer and fewer times (when we started he was wetting at least 3 times, and now down to 1) One of his dry nights he not only stayed dry, he woke up and went to the bathroom on his own:bighand:. We are a little over 6 weeks into the alarm, and I suspect it will be a while until we have consistently dry nights, but I'm not feeling discouraged and DS is proud and excited to get to the point where he no longer needs the alarm.
He is usually only waking once a night, and isn't emptying his bladder completely in bed, he usually stops his stream and finishes in the toilette. More often than not, I'm still waking him from a dead sleep as the alarm goes off, but somehow the alarm is still helping him wet fewer and fewer times (when we started he was wetting at least 3 times, and now down to 1) One of his dry nights he not only stayed dry, he woke up and went to the bathroom on his own:bighand:. .
That's great progress!! DS had a similar transition, usually waking up once, being able to stop the urine and empty on the toilet. There were times I really had to work at getting him up-he was still in that sleep state where he would look at you but not really "see" you--while the alarm was going off. It really sounds like you are on the way to dry nights, sending mojo to your DS!
AustenFan
02-10-2015, 08:11 PM
OP here, DS just made it to 16 dry nights!! So happy for him and he is so proud of himself. Love the Malem, can't recommend it enough!
:bighand:
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