My 7 year old STILL in pull-ups at night...ugh, any advice???

[twowhat?]

Subbing! DD2 is still on the young side at not quite 6, but she has started expressing a desire to not be in pull-ups. Does the Malem alarm basically train the body to wake when she has to pee? Is that right? It doesn't train the body to hold it all night, right? Because with the amount that she pees, there's no way she can hold it all night.

[zukeypur]

I have an 8 yo DD that still has issues. She was very upset this morning that her 4 yo sister had a dry pull-up and she didn't. We have tried the pills but they didn't work, and she doesn't like the alarm. I guess we are just waiting it out,

[cilantromapuche]

DS is 11 and still isn't dry. We have tried everything and just hope it goes away eventually. The pills only work for every one in ten. We did send him off to camp this year and it was stressful for him but it was time to stop letting it get int he way.

[marymoo86]

I recall reading a few discussions here that the incontinence issues were caused by constipation problems. There were backups even though there were daily BMs. Perhaps a doctor check to ensure there's no pressure on the bladder from this issue?

[wendibird22]

I swear by the Malem alarm. Best $100 ever spent. EVER. DD1 was 5 turning 6 when we used it. Took about a month to really take hold. Yes, it trains the body to recognize when the bladder is full and signals the body to either wake up or hold it. Many nights DD1 will wake up to go to the bathroom at least once. But she's also not waking up multiple times a night (she was when we first started using the alarm). So I'd say it helped her in both ways...the waking and the ability to hold longer. Once we quit the alarm (you are supposed to continue using it until you've had 14 consecutive dry days) I think she had 1 or 2 random accidents and then has been dry ever since.

Yes a parent can wake their child but IMO this just trains the parent to wake the kid and not the kid to recognize the urge/need and wake themselves. We used the basic alarm that sounds and vibrates on just one setting. DD1 is a very VERY deep sleeper and we found the basic model enough to wake her (and us!). We were very low pressure with it. We explained it to DD1, let her decide if she wanted to try it, and gave her permission to let us know if she wanted to quit it at any time. She tends to be an anxious child already and didn't want her to feel like a failure. She stuck with it and was really proud of herself.

[twowhat?]

I swear by the Malem alarm. Best $100 ever spent. EVER. DD1 was 5 turning 6 when we used it. Took about a month to really take hold. Yes, it trains the body to recognize when the bladder is full and signals the body to either wake up or hold it. Many nights DD1 will wake up to go to the bathroom at least once. But she's also not waking up multiple times a night (she was when we first started using the alarm). So I'd say it helped her in both ways...the waking and the ability to hold longer. Once we quit the alarm (you are supposed to continue using it until you've had 14 consecutive dry days) I think she had 1 or 2 random accidents and then has been dry ever since.

Yes a parent can wake their child but IMO this just trains the parent to wake the kid and not the kid to recognize the urge/need and wake themselves. We used the basic alarm that sounds and vibrates on just one setting. DD1 is a very VERY deep sleeper and we found the basic model enough to wake her (and us!). We were very low pressure with it. We explained it to DD1, let her decide if she wanted to try it, and gave her permission to let us know if she wanted to quit it at any time. She tends to be an anxious child already and didn't want her to feel like a failure. She stuck with it and was really proud of herself.

Thank you for this!!!! We have an anxious DD2 too and my biggest concern is simply the alarm scaring her to death. Great idea to keep it very low pressure with permission to quit. Thank you!

[cilantromapuche]

we have the alarm but we were exhausted after the alarm going off several times every night and it didn't change anything. maybe it is time to break it out again.

[BunnyBee]

Rule out medical issues too. Constipation can cause bed wetting, and many people don't realize their kids are constipated. For my DS, it was sleep apnea. When he had his tonsils and adenoids removed, he never needed another Pull-up. Also improved his mood!

[lcarlson90]

DS is 9 and we bought the Malem alarm about a month ago. The first 2 nights he wore the alarm it woke him up because he had wet himself. After that he had been dry for a few weeks. There was one night this week that he had a lot to drink later in the evening and he had an accident but for some reason the alarm didn't go off.

The thing I'm not sure I understand about the alarm is whether it is supposed to teach your body to wake up when you have to pee or teach you how to not have to pee in the night? I kind of think all the dry nights we have had are just luck and not the alarm working because the nights he has been dry it's not like he woke up in the night to pee he just happened to not have to pee that night. In any case we plan to keep using the alarm for at least 4 months to make sure it's really worked.

[kbud]

My dd was 8 when she finally started staying dry. One piece of advice we had that helped was to have them start going to the bathroom a lot late afternoon/evening. School age kids get used to "holding it" during the day. This causes the bladder to be tight and not fully empty. The bladder then relaxes when they are asleep. The dr suggested having her empty her bladder often after school and through the evening. This helped a lot. She would still we the bed sometimes but it did help. Then suddenly one day I thought, hummm she hasn't wet the bed in awhile. We also started wearing underwear and putting the pull up over the underwear. She would feel the wetness quicker that way and wake up when she started going. Having the pull up over the underwear though kept the bed dry Good luck. I know it is hard.