Wish us luck with the bedwetting alarm: Final update #25

[wendibird22]

Just another quick update because I'm so excited about this one. Night 5, alarm goes off at 11:45pm, not surprised given pattern, only in my semi-conscious state (I went to bed at 10:30) I can't figure out why the mattress protector looks dry. So I hesitantly start running my hand around the pad and the sheets expecting to get a wet hand and yet, I can't find a wet spot. So now I'm looking at the top sheet and her blanket wondering if she was asleep on top of one of those. Still confused. So DD1 comes back from the potty and I'm asking her if her underwear is wet and she's says yes and I'm like, really, your bed isn't wet, and she says, just drops mommy. Sure enough her underwear is just barely wet. She started to go, the alarm woke her up, she held it and went to the bathroom, just like it's supposed to start to work!!!! (for those who've never used one, the alarm over time is supposed to help the brain wake the body earlier and earlier in the wetting process). She was so proud of herself. It's great to see this progress in just 5 nights.

[hillview]

Wow that is awesome go DD!! I have to say I was not someone who'd have been a fan of an alarm but your posting has changed my mind -- it sounds like a great solution for some folks. Thanks for posting!

[wendibird22]

Wow that is awesome go DD!! I have to say I was not someone who'd have been a fan of an alarm but your posting has changed my mind -- it sounds like a great solution for some folks. Thanks for posting!

Thanks hillview. I think of the alarm this way...it isn't much different than a parent waking their child up to use the bathroom except for the alarm is helping the body learn to recognize the urge and wake up whereas the parent is more likely getting to the kid before the urge happens. I wouldn't need the alarm if I was willing to sleep with DD1 and keep my hand on her underwear and wake her when my hand feels wet, but well, I'm not gonna do that.

The only downside is I'm now a parent who doesn't sleep through the night...again. Even when DD wakes up on her own, she comes to tell me first that she's woken up w/out help of the alarm. Gee thanks kid.

[anamika]

that's great! We used the alarm with great success too. I was initially against but after reading and talking to people, decided to go for it. DD's progress was exactly the same. For us it took 2 weeks or so before she was done. I could not believe it!
Good luck!

[wendibird22]

Night 9: A dry night all night long!!!! Woooo hoooo!!!!!!!

Of course she woke up like 5 times to pee and woke me up each time to report on her goings on so I'm dog tired. But, that's a very small price to pay for such an accomplishment. I'm sure there will be more wet nights ahead but this is her very first dry night and I'm so proud of her.

[hellokitty]

That's awesome! I was really nervous, DS2 (who is turning 7 soon) went to sleep away camp for a wk and I had to send him with goodnights. Usually we wake him up around 11-midnight to pee again, but obviously we couldn't do it at camp. He said he only had one wet pull up at camp, but last night he wet himself (not full blown, just in underwear) again. We are going to have to try an alarm. I've always wondered about the constipation issue, but he is also a very deep sleeper, and that probably doesn't help either. Thanks for, "blogging" about your experience here at BBB, lol!

[hillview]

whooo! wtg!

[karstmama]

i think this sounds like it went perfectly. thanks so much for sharing - i know it will help other people on the fence make a decision.

[wendibird22]

So, we're just a few days shy of the 3wk mark since starting the alarm. Right now she's on a 3 day dry streak. Last week she had a 4 day in a row dry streak. And overall she's dry more days than wet (last week dry 5 out of 7 days). If she has an accident it's just once a night, usually in the first 4hrs when she's in deepest sleep. We had a couple rough days during week 2 when she was up like 10x's a night to pee and would wake me each time to tell me. I was soooooo exhausted! Thankfully, that was a brief phase. She's in a great mood about the alarm still and DH and I are really pleased with the progress. The instructions say to wear it for 2wks after being dry or else there could be a relapse. Every time we hit a dry streak I keep hoping it'll be the start of the 2wk count down.

Definitely confident in saying it was the best $100 spent on a kid product. I can't get over how something so simple is so effective.

[wendibird22]

We are now at the 1month mark. Had quite a few set backs this week sadly. She did have a 6 day dry steak after my last post and then the last 4 or 5 days have only had 1 dry night. The other nights have had 1 accident and one night had 2. She hasn't pooped in like 4 days, so I know that's contributing (she was on miralax for 3 mos and has been off for the past month...may need to revisit that). She's not frustrated by it, but I am. Last night she was soaked at 1am and again at 3am. She only woke up once she was wet and the alarm was sounding. It feels like a giant leap back. And I'm worried about the next few weeks because she's starting kindergarten, which is full day, and I know she's going to come home EXHAUSTED and that coupled with her being a sound sleeper I know is a recipe for peeing disaster. We started this 1 month ago hoping that was a good chunk of time to get her more consistently dry before starting school.

Here's hoping a)she poops today and b)we get her back on a solid dry streak.

PS: thanks for following my updates. I figured it might help someone down the road who tries an alarm.