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Should You Pause the Bedwetting Alarm While on Holiday?
Wondering if you should pause your child’s bedwetting alarm during the holidays? In this blog, we explore when to keep going, when to take a break, and how to support your child with travel-friendly tools like the Rodger Amigo Daytime Alarm and Rodger Buddy Vibration Watch. Plus, we answer the common question: how can I stop my child from bedwetting? Whether you're staying on track or hitting pause, we’ve got practical tips to help you feel confident on the go.
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10 tips to combat bedwetting…
Bedwetting can be hugely challenging, both for parents and their bedwetting child. The daily workload of washing sheets and pyjamas, the efforts to keep bedding and mattresses free from urine and not forgetting the frustration and often embarrassment caused from wetting the bed night after night. Remember, you are not alone. Although often not talked about, bedwetting is common amongst 5 and 6 year old's and up to 30% of this age group still wet their bed. Children reach milestones at different ages in their life and learning to control their bladder at night is another developmental milestone. Bedwetting is often hereditary and despite how you may sometimes feel, bedwetting it not your child’s fault. Almost all children want to stop, but simply can’t. Here are some tips to help you and your child combat bedwetting once and for all: Increase daytime fluids and toilet visits. Research suggests that children who drink water throughout the day and visit the toilet regularly will improve their bladder health resulting in improved night time dryness. Use a Vibrating Reminder Watch to remind your child to drink fluids and visit the toilet regularly throughout their day. In simple terms teach your child how their bladder works. Encourage him to ‘take his time’ and relax on the toilet. Children who rush often don’t empty their bladder completely. Rule out constipation. Even though you may not think your child is constipated, it's important to make sure it isn't a problem. Solving any constipation issues is your first step to dry nights. Don't offer incentives. Offering your child a new bike or toy to stop wetting the bed can result in frustration and disappointment. Encouraging your child is good, but don’t set him up to fail. If he could stop, he would stop. Don’t restrict fluids. While it is true that drinking too much before bed can contribute to wetting, it’s often not the cause of bedwetting. Avoid fizzy or caffeinated drinks but don’t go overboard restricting fluids, instead, encourage regular fluid intake throughout the day. Don’t lift your child to the toilet each night. Lifting is of little use, and may even prolong the problem. Your child has to get used to waking up when his bladder is full. Children often do not remember being lifted, and it usually does not help to achieve their own bladder control. Avoid nappies or pull-ups. If you and your child are ready to address bedwetting, then avoid using nappies or pull-ups. He needs to feel the wetness in order to engage his brain to recognise the sensation to urinate. Rule out medical causes. Check with your doctor to ensure your child has no underlying medical conditions which may be contributing to their bedwetting. This is especially important if you child has been dry at night and unexpectedly starts wetting. Don’t wait too long to address the problem. Many children simply grow out of bedwetting but if you get to the point where your child is frustrated or embarrassed, then take steps to address the bedwetting now. In combination with the above tips, a bedwetting alarm is the mostly commonly-used solution to bedwetting. Bedwetting alarms teach your child's subconscious reflex in the brain to recognise the sensation they need to visit the toilet or 'hold on' until morning. Bedwetting alarms are 100% safe and recommended by specialists. Our final piece of advice is to seek help & reliable information. Coping with a child who wets the bed every night is hard work. There is plenty of conflicting advice around this topic, so do your own research. We've put together a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide around bedwetting and solutions. You can download our FREE e-book on bedwetting here.
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One Mum's Relief Story...
I sometimes look back at the years since being a parent and much of it seems like a blur. At each age and stage, there’s a new challenge and with the years that go by I understand that each phase will pass and then there’s a new set of challenges to face. I have to say though, the bedwetting phase for us has been a biggie. People kept saying, “he’ll grow out of it”. But we kept waiting and waiting, and he just wasn’t showing any signs of growing out of it. We were head to foot in washing every morning, which is hard-going in the middle of winter trying to get bedding washed and dried. We were sick of it and so was our 6-year-old. He wet so heavily that the pull-up wouldn’t contain the wee. We seriously tried EVERYTHING to get him dry. We tried restricting his drinks at night, lifting him to the toilet. We even offered to buy him a new bike if he could stop wetting. But he still couldn’t stay dry. It wasn’t his fault. Like most mums, I started googling for answers. I came across a free e-book on the moosebaby website and it answered a lot of questions. I realised there were some proactive things we could be doing to end the bedwetting. Once we’d ruled out a few health factors (like no UTI’s or constipation), we increased his water intake during the day and set ourselves up with a bedwetting alarm, we felt we were on the right track. We opted for the Oopsie Heroes Bedwetting Alarm. It seemed to tick all the boxes and the reviews I read about it were good. When we were looking for an alarm there were lots that looked kinda scary, but this one seemed kid-friendly. When the alarm arrived, he was super-excited to get going with it. We were all desperate for some dry nights. It was easy to set up and he liked the idea of using the app. We had fun setting with the alarm sounds and recording our voice to use as a wake-up alarm. Our son is a deep-sleeper which we think was part of the problem. He sleeps through everything. At first he slept through the alarm going off, but because we’d read the e-book, we knew this was common and we knew we’d need to wake him for a while. By night 4 his brain clicked and he woke by himself. Each night the alarm went off we helped him wake up enough to switch off the alarm and finish off weeing in the toilet. At first it was like getting up to a newborn again. Hard-going! But we were determined and knew it would be worth the effort. We headed into our second week and we had our first dry night. When he woke in the morning, he was stoked and super-proud of himself. We were up and down a bit for another week, but by the third week we hit a turning point. Dry, dry and dry, every night! The relief! Why hadn’t we tried this earlier?!? We kept using the alarm until he had two full weeks of dry nights in a row. For any parent dealing with soaking wet sheets every day, you’ll appreciate the relief. It’s not only the wet bed, as they get older it was a problem for sleepovers and camping holidays. All that worry has now gone. I’d totally recommend this alarm. Jane from Moosebaby asked me to write a review and I was more than happy to do so. Honestly, if you were like us, and ready for a solution, don’t hesitate. Learn More about Oopsie Heroes Bedwetting Alarm
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How does a bedwetting alarm work?
If your child is around 5 or 6 years of age and still wetting at night, bedwetting alarms aim to help your child wake when recognising the sensation to urinate. An alarm teaches your child's brain to respond to a full bladder, even during sleep. When exposed to wetness (urine) the alarm makes a loud noise to wake your child. The sound needs to be loud enough and quick enough to wake your child prior to complete bladder emptying. When beginning your child will wet and the alarm will sound. Your child (and you) will wake up and you will need to take him to the toilet to completely empty his bladder of any “left over” urine. Initially your child is likely to empty his bladder before reaching the toilet, but with practice this should improve. Using the alarm every night and waking up just after wetting should eventually teach your child's brain to wake up prior to wetting. With time, wetting will happen less frequently and eventually your child will stop wetting altogether. Once your child establishes a consistent pattern of waking during the night prior to wetting then you will no longer need the alarm. Some children stop wetting within days or weeks, other children and can 2-3 months to stop wetting. Bedwetting alarms are the most commonly used tool to help children stop wetting the bed. They are recommended by Continence Nurses and they're 100% safe. Which alarm is best for my child? "My 6yo daughter is such a heavy sleeper we couldn’t get her out of overnight nappies, despite being out of day nappies extremely early. We’ve been using your Rodger Bedwetting Alarm for about 3 weeks consistently and she is now waking herself up once a night (beating the alarm essentially) to go to the toilet. The progress seemed to have come in stages from the alarm going off while she did a pee then she learned to hold most of the pee in when the alarm went off until now finally she is beating the alarm and getting up to pee herself before she lets any go in bed. It’s been such a success and we’re so proud of her. Of course it was a little scary for her at first, a gadget she wasn’t familiar with. We spoke to her about it, tested the alarm together so she knew what to expect and what it sounded like and let her know that there was no pressure and we could just give it a try without expectation. Well we are so happy now it’s been 4 nights of beating the alarm and will now take the alarm away to see how she goes….keeping it close to use again if she slips backwards. Thank you again for the great product and very quick postage." Learn more about the Rodger Wireless Bedwetting Alarm
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Help, my son sleeps through the bedwetting alarm
My 7 year old son is a very deep sleeper and for the first 3 nights of using the alarm he has slept through the sound. It is very loud and we can hear it. What should we do? Firstly, this is very common when beginning to use a bedwetting alarm. Many bedwetters are deep-sleepers. At first, your child’s brain isn’t familiar with the alarm sound and doesn’t realise that an important response is required. Our children are also conditioned to allow their parents or caregivers to deal with loud or unusual noises during the night. Interestingly, research conducted by manufacturers of smoke alarms also reflects this phenomenon. The research discovered, many children sleep through the extremely loud sound of a smoke alarm and it’s not until their parents go to their room and say their name that they actually wake up. At the start, the alarm is for the parents or caregivers. Initially you will need to respond to the sound by going to your son's room, waking him and helping him turn off the alarm and walk to the bathroom. By doing this every time the alarm sounds, over time his body will begin to relate the alarm sound with a full bladder and the need to walk to the toilet and release his bladder. Within a few weeks, you should see him waking to the alarm, sitting on his bed or trying to turn off the alarm. You will also begin to see smaller wet patches in his bed with more urine left to empty in the toilet when he reaches the bathroom. It is important that you can hear the alarm. If your room is far away, using a baby monitor or getting a second base unit for your room is a good option. Another option is to share his room for a short time. Some children need to urinate once a night, others more often and the need to urinate can occur any time in your son's sleep cycle. When in deep REM sleep and in the first few hours of falling asleep, children can frequently be disoriented, crying or saying funny things. At first you’ll need to lead him gently in the direction of the toilet and give him instructions. He most likely will not remember any of this in the morning. Do not be discouraged by this. He will still make progress even without a clear memory of the night before. As your child learns to respond to the alarm sound on his own, your role will be less significant. You can listen from your room and make sure he is getting to the toilet. If you don't hear him responding, remind him what to do. Make sure he does not turn off the alarm and go back to sleep without walking to the toilet as this will delay his progress. A good guide is to have your child wear the alarm until he has 2 successive weeks of dry nights, then every other night until he has 2 more weeks of dryness. The average child takes around 10-12 weeks to achieve this. As long as he is making progress, continue to use the alarm. Learn about our Best-Selling Alarm
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