Hi Antoinette, firstly, my apologies for the delay in responding … The most successful form of bedwetting treatment is the conditioning or bedwetting alarm. Enuresis alarms have two basic parts: a wetness sensor that detects urine and an alarm unit that buzzes after your son wets the bed. It can mean lots of broken nights sleep for both you and him but it is certainly worth the effort. Some alarms have different settings that allow you to vary the sound – sometimes a louder alarm will raise a particularly deep sleeper. Others include a vibration option, which your son may respond to more easily. Treatment can take between 3 and 6 months and it is not uncommon for children to experience one or two relapses before achieving permanent continence. When this happens you need to re-introduce the alarm and proceed as before. The selection of an alarm is best done in consultation with a medical professional so do not try and do this on your own. Some parents prefer to manage children’s bedwetting by waking them or lifting them to the toilet throughout the night. While this may reduce the number of wet beds you have to change (and that is certainly a big positive) it does not help train the bladder nor does it teach children to learn to wake on their own. Children who have achieved nighttime continence are either able to wake-up independently in response to a full-bladder or have developed the bladder capacity to store urine until morning. When you wake him or carry him to the toilet he does not get the chance to get used to these signals nor does his bladder have the opportunity to stretch and develop.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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