Stop bedwetting

Through a learning process called conditioning, the alarm teaches the child’s subconscious reflex system in the brain to become aware that the bladder is full and they should wake up and go to the toilet, or hold on for the night whilst asleep by contracting the sphincter muscle.  Conditioning is learning to react to a feeling without thinking.  Practitioners across New Zealand have used this bedwetting treatment for many years due to its high level of success.  It is important that the child is motivated, fully understands the process and has the support of their family.

1. Set up the alarm before going to bed
2. When your child wets the bed the alarm will sound
3. They will turn the alarm off and go to the toilet. They need to be fully awake to learn.
4. They clean up the bed (some with parents help), reset the alarm and hop back into bed.
5. After 21 consecutive dry nights (14 nights with the alarm and 7 without) they are considered dry sleepers.

5We use the Ramsey Coote Bedwetting alarm with our training programme, these are available for rent only.  In our shop we also offer 2 different DRI Sleeper Bedwetting Alarms (wearable and wireless) for sale.

The Ramsey Coote Bell-Pad Bedwetting Alarm is the ‘Rolls Royce’ of bedwetting alarms, backed by clinical research.  The alarm consists of a rubber mat with embedded sensors (the ‘pad’) and an alarm box (the ‘bell’). The mat is placed on the bed under the child and is connected by a cord to the alarm box which is operated by a battery.  When the child begins to urinate and wets the mat, the alarm will ring, simultaneously a light in the alarm will switch on.  The alarm has been designed to ring at a high frequency which will help wake even the deepest sleeping child once the bed-pad has been wet. The aim is to get the child awake as soon as possible and get them to switch the alarm off.  All of our alarms have a timer to measure the time from when the bell starts to ring to when the child switches the bell off – this is motivating for some children as they try to beat their times.

This is the alarm used by Enuresis Teams in District Health Boards throughout New Zealand.

We recommend this alarm for children aged 6+ who are very deep sleepers and who want to move around with no restrictions (including no sensor in their underpants).  The bell is very loud and parents can usually easily hear it in their bedroom, which is important if the child needs help at first to wake to it.

Due to the high cost of these alarms they are available to rent only; $170 for the initial 4 week hire period and $35 each week thereafter.

If your child is still wetting the bed more than once a week and they are older than six this is a good time to start the programme.  Other reasons include: Your child is really keen to stop bedwetting; Their self-esteem and/or social participation is affected (dreading school camps and avoiding sleepovers); It is causing stress in the family; A younger sibling has stopped bedwetting.

It is important that you meet with your doctor before starting the programme to ensure your child has no underlying medical condition.
You must discuss the programme with your child, so they fully understand it and are motivated participants – the more motivated they are, the more successful the process will be.  The programme can be started at any time (subject to an alarm being available), however, as your child needs to be motivated for the programme to work we recommend not starting around a significant event such as starting a new school.

It takes from as little as 6 weeks for any age of child to become dry, although some (especially older children) may take a lot longer.  The average time for those using our ‘Stop Bedwetting’ programme is 8 – 9 weeks.  Success is considered to be 21consecutive nights (14 nights with the alarm and 7 nights without) or more waking in a dry bed.