Is Your Older Child Still Wetting the Bed? You NEED to Read This.
Let’s talk about bed wetting.
Bed wetting is something many parents & kiddos are often too embarrassed to discuss, so I’m putting my family’s experience out there to help those of you who are struggling. ❤️ I’ve been there and know just how difficult it is.
Commonly referred to as enuresis, bed wetting can be a real struggle for both children and parents, and it can be so disheartening for everyone involved.
I first shared these personal struggles about 7 years ago when I was going through this with one of my kids. While it’s thankfully no longer an issue, I wanted to open the dialogue again to help any readers who may be struggling with bed wetting in their own household.
Bed wetting, while not uncommon for toddlers and children under 7, can still occur as children get older. In fact, 10% of 7-year olds and 5% of 10-year olds are still wetting the bed. Some common causes include genetics, difficulties waking up from sleep, stress, slow development to the central nervous system, hormonal factors, UTIs, abnormalities, or simply a small bladder.
I remember back to those difficult years when we thought we had tried everything. 😕
When my older child was struggling with bed wetting, my husband and I had tried all sorts of methods from limiting liquids at night to waking up our child throughout the night to use the bathroom with absolutely no success.
It was disheartening, frustrating, and very expensive.
We were spending tons of money on GoodNites BedTime Underwear (which most of the time were getting peed through anyway) and washing sheets literally every day. Plus, the heartbreak we had for our child dealing with this stressful & embarrassing situation was really difficult for all of us. 😞
It wasn’t until I tried the Malem Ultimate Bedwetting Alarm that we finally found success!
And no, this is not sponsored, I am just super passionate about this product and I’m confident it will help others struggling with the same thing.
I realize this product is on the pricier side, however, it truly works!
It wasn’t easy, and it definitely requires a commitment, but the bedwetting alarm was well worth the time and investment. Our child (well, adult child at this point!) has now been bed wetting-free for over 7 years!
This success allowed our son to confidently go to sleepovers with friends and summer camps. As a parent, it sure made my heart so happy for him! ❤️
Check out my throwback bed wetting alarm video (circa 2014) using the Malem Bedwetting Alarm & the incredible results we got from this little gadget!
So how does the Malem Bed Wetting Alarm work?
You simply clip the small device onto your kiddo’s underwear and it will alert them at the first sense of wetness so they know when to get up and use the bathroom.
Please do not get discouraged if the alarm doesn’t work on night one for your Child!
My child was and still is a SUPER deep sleeper and sadly the first night he slept right through the alarm. For a moment, I felt very discouraged that, yet again, we had tried something that wasn’t going to work. 😞
However, we came up with a better solution for night two.
As I mentioned above, this process might take some extra patience and commitment on your end, but it will absolutely be worth it! 🙌
So for night two, we used our old baby monitor (really any that work will do) and set it up in our son’s room and the other in our room. Then, to help keep his bed dry while we navigated through this process, we laid down some Goodnites Disposable Bed Mats. I specifically love these ones because they actually stick to the bed so when your kiddo moves around at night it will stay in place and keep their bed dry if any accidents do happen.
Now comes your shining moment, parents!
If your kiddo is unsuccessfully waking up from the bed wetting alarm on their own, you’ll be responsible for waking them up when you hear the alarm go off. I know, I know…this could be tiring and our first night I was up 3 different times (midnight, 3 AM, 5 AM, etc.) 😓. I’m not going to lie guys… it was HARD! Plus, making your half-asleep child go to the bathroom is a hurdle in and of itself, but with persistence, they’ll get there!
After they go to the bathroom, it’s key to make sure everything is dry from their underwear to the bed wetting alarm itself because it’s very sensitive so you want to make sure everything is ready to go when they lay back down.
After about 2 weeks, my child was used to getting himself up and going to the bathroom. Then 2 weeks after that of being consistently dry, he was able to ditch the bedwetting alarm altogether! 😱👏
Hip Tip: Be sure to have your child wear real underwear when going through this process so they can experience the wetness and become aware of the discomfort.
I’m so glad I gave the bedwetting alarm a shot and stayed consistent with it so my son could become bedwetting-free! It was seriously life-changing for all of us and he’s been thriving ever since!
Some of our readers have also shared their tremendous results with the same bedwetting alarm! These comments make me so happy.
“We purchased a bed wetting alarm when our son was about seven years old. It was well worth the money — it helped him go from wet every night to completely dry every night in the matter of a week! We have also lent it out several times to others whose kids were struggling with bed wetting – so it really has paid off since at least half a dozen kids have been nighttime trained from one alarm!” – Jennifer
“This alarm has made all the difference for my 10-year-old son. I was really hesitant to buy it because it was expensive, but I’m so glad I did — it took him one week of waking up to the alarm. Now we are 7 months out and he does not need to wear it anymore. Not one accident! I am in the process of using this on my 7-year-old daughter. She is doing great so far but thinking it may take a little longer than a week. Overall great product and very accurate!” – Tiffany
“THANK YOU for posting this video! My son is 8 years old and has struggled with bedwetting every night! I decided to invest in the same bed wetting alarm hoping it would work for us! It took only 10 days! He has been dry every morning! I just wish I purchased this sooner! It is worth the $100 for sure!” – Kristen
“I swear this post is the exact replica of our story. My son was still wetting the bed at 11 and I finally spent the money on this alarm and it ABSOLUTELY WORKED! I can’t explain “how”, but it did. He, too, was a very deep sleeper. We even took him to a urologist and considered medication (for a millisecond). So happy we went this route instead. Awesome post — so happy you’re sharing your story! 🙂” – Sherry
“The alarm worked for us when my daughter was about 7 or 8 years old. She had been dry overnight for years and then developed bed wetting. The alarm ‘cured’ her and she’s been dry for over a year.” – Jodi
“We started using the bedwetting alarm with my 8-year-old during Spring Break this past year. It took all summer long, but he was finally dry at night. When school started again, he relapsed, but it is not as bad as it had been. In fact, last night, he actually woke himself up when he started to pee and was able to get up and use the bathroom without getting his sheets wet. It is definitely the best $100 I have spent.” – Rebecca
We’ve got some hot kids deals for ya over here!
I have 6 kids and most of them had issues with bed wetting to one degree or another. We didn’t use this particular alarm but we did use a pricier alarm and it worked. It’s a commitment for the parents, especially if the child does not wake up to the sound of the alarm but it works and it’s worth it for all involved, especially your child. Remember, it’s not their fault and they certainly don’t want to be dealing with this. A good alarm is the way to go! Worked with all of my kids
Great feedback – and I totally agree, it definitely requires a commitment, but it’s so worth it in the end.
I used this for one of my children and it works!!! Didn’t even have to use it for too long. Although, that first time the alarm went off, I wasn’t prepared for how loud it was in the middle of the night!
Yay! Happy to hear it worked for you too! ❤️
My sister and I were extreme. Still wetting the bed up until high school and college before our parents realized they needed to take us to a doctor. We got a prescription (a nasal spray), and after years of shame, embarrassment, avoiding slumber parties, wet sheets, stained mattresses, and bedrooms that smelled like urine, the issue was fixed just like that (insert a snapping finger lol). So please consult with your child’s doctor and urologist as well if you’re concerned.
To you & to others on this post…
Someone I know closely dealt with this condition up into college years. Like you, it disappeared just like that around their adult years. The root cause?
Trauma. Parents, understand that trauma can induce some awful conditions.
We used a different system after using a typical bed wetting alarm. My son slept through everything including one night when the security system went off and would have woken the dead. He struggled until he was almost 15 – it was so hard for him and he was so embarrassed and avoided sleep overs. He has been completely fine since he got through it. Our pediatrician was a bit old school and just gave us stats on how many kids at different ages still wet the bed so we tried this as a pricy last resort but would have gone to urologist next but in his case it appeared to be directly related to his very deep sleep. https://www.bedwettingtherapy.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cOEBhDMARIsAA3XDRhyL-G6GHX8rcKICm3KA1dyrE-LazniYrWn9oL4m2EFt2GPuAKXx0YaAgo0EALw_wcB
Elizabeth, I ordered this about a week ago for my daughter who is 9 and still struggling. Our pediatrician is similar and says there’s nothing you can do. He even says he wet the bed nightly until age 12! I’m not waiting that long and hope the system helps us like it helped you.
Highly recommend the wet-stop3. Works exactly the same for 1/3 the cost 👍🏻
That one worked well for us also, and yes a fraction of the cost.
So interesting. Thanks for sharing this product! Here’s a link to it for those of you who are interested as it is so much cheaper!! So awesome if it works well. 🙌
https://amzn.to/3aZ7uPi
I also recommend the wet stop 3! We are using it now. My biggest issue is a stubborn girl who doesn’t want to wear an alarm 🤣 but it does work!
What works for us is not allowing the kids to drink after 6 at night and making them go to the bathroom every hour before bedtime. I have even gotten them up before I went to bed to make sure they are dry in the morning. It is a habit now so not hard at all.
Not hard at all but not good for their systems to be dehydrated. The alarm worked well for us!
We tried limiting drinks in the evening in addition to waking our daughter up to go before we went to bed and when it didn’t work our daughter refused to drink anything even with dinner. That method just didn’t work and led to big concerns about dehydration. The enuresis alarm (though a much cheaper brand than the one mentioned here) worked great for her.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for all kids.
I would HIGHLY recommend as well! Worked wonders for our kids!! Saved them embarrassment and worry over going to friends’ houses for the night😁
Awwww… yay!! Makes me happy to hear that. ❤️
If you child is wetting the bed at an older age, you should also have them checked for Type 1 Diabetes. This is the prime age for onset and frequent urination is one of the early symptoms.
I was going to post this. Especially if they had been dry for a long time and suddenly have accidents at night again. It’s better to get them checked than to end up in the hospital. My 3 yr old is type 1 and had been getting up to go to the bathroom at night for months before his diagnosis. He didn’t actually wet the bed until the week before his diagnosis and hospitalization. Wish I had known it was a sign of type 1!
I definitely recommend it as well! I tried it after reading about it here and Colin’s story. My son was still wetting the bed at night in first grade, it took about 2 weeks for him to be dry all night but so thankful for Colin sharing her story and for the product!
That is SO great to hear!! I’m so glad that your son had the same success as mine. ❤️
We have used this exact device and it didn’t work for my son. He is an extremely deep sleeper and would sleep through the vibration and alarm. He would even take it off in his sleep. We have yet to find a solution that works. He is almost 8 and it is a daily or nightly issue for us. 🙁
GoGo band is another option and newer on the market. It is a biometric identifier so it works differently than alarms.
We tried one of these alarms a few years ago with my one daughter an it scared the crap out of her I sent it back an it wasn’t long after that she stopped wetting the bed !
One word…CHIROPRACTOR! seriously! We tried everything with no success. One day I was sitting in the chiropractor office and I read this article that if their Body isn’t aligned things don’t send signal to the brain to wake up. I was so skeptical until after three short visits and my daughter literally never peed the bed again. Kids body can get out of line so easy with playing, etc. Our daughter was in gymnastics
Wow! Thanks for sharing; I would have never imagined that could help but totally believe it!
We tried an alarm years ago with my daughter and hated every moment of it. She was terrified of missing the alarm or even having the alarm go off. It was an awful experience for us. The only thing that worked was time and working with a patient and understanding doctor.
A Facebook friend of mine just posted how her 7 year old has been struggling for years and they recently had success with TheraPee. Says it’s pricey but the only thing that has worked.
Oh my goodness…we used the same brand. It worked. We used it in the summer. It totally worked.
There are so many more alarms to chose from. We tried this one – https://chummiebedwettingalarm.com/ and it worked wonders for us. Brilliant system and great support also. Had issue with the sensor once and they promptly helped us.
We used an alarm and it was a miracle and then my child reverted back and never worked again. For those that are struggling we ended up using two medications Imipramine and DDAVP. One works on the kidneys and one on the bladder. I happened upon this in my research and talked with a urologist that agreed to prescribe the two together. So for those that have lost hope I just wanted to put this out there. We dealt with it a looong time and it is discouraging for child and parent to say the least.
I don’t see this mentioned here, so I just wanted to add one more thing to consider: A LOT of kids who wet the bed are constipated. Like, colon-packed-full-of-poop constipated. Even kids who poop every day can still be constipated, and the poop that makes it out may be runny like diarrhea. (Sorry for such a graphic comment! 🤢) This site has lots of good information and help: https://www.bedwettingandaccidents.com/