The bed and pad enuresis alarms we use are biomedical devices, engineered to the highest standards after many years of research. The Ramsey Coote alarm is robust and reliable unlike many poorer quality alarms on the market available for purchase.
Ramsey Coote alarms all comply with British electrical safety standards. The alarm is never directly connected to mains electricity whilst the alarm is operational (only battery power is utilised at this stage).
Each child is unique but expect an average of 3 months to achieve 21 consecutive dry nights. However, some children do train successfully within as little as 4 weeks, whilst some can take 6 months. In a very small number of cases, the child may not respond at all.
As bedwetting is primarily an arousal disorder, it is common for some sufferers to sleep through extremely loud noises. In these cases the child must be woken by a parent and the child themselves must learn to turn off the alarm. In our clinical experience, the majority of children we see with bedwetting problems do learn to hear the alarm quite quickly.
The key is good preparation. Take time to involve your child from the start - we do supply a booklet which can help with younger children - and explain why the alarm needs to be used and how it can help. If the child is receptive from the outset and motivated to make it work, the chance of success is greatly increased.
Some children will hear the alarm from the first night, others will need help to wake. Parents should not leave the alarm ringing for a long period as there is no learning occurring.
If, after 3 weeks of regular alarm use, you find that your child is still completely unresponsive to the alarm sounding, and the volume of wetting is not reducing, discontinue the training for at least 3 months. When your child has matured more, and their frustration with their bedwetting increases, they will be more receptive to alarm training.
It is a reverse learning process for the other children. Just as the bedwetter learns to hear the alarm and respond, the non-bedwetting children learn to screen out the noise and remain asleep; although there is of course an initial period of disturbance.
Probably not - unless you want to blame your genes! Although it is important to rule out any physiological, psychiatric or sociological reason for bedwetting, most bedwetters have inherited their condition. Sometimes you cannot trace a family history of bedwetting, but it is probably there, hidden away in the past. If one parent was a bedwetter there is a 40% chance their child will be also and if both parents were bedwetters, this increases to an 80% chance their child will wet the bed.
Pull-ups or training pants have made life a lot easier for the parents of children who continue to wet the bed. Unfortunately there are some costs - both apparent and hidden.
Environmental Effect: As we are all becoming aware of the fragility of our environment, the accumulation of disposable nappies and pull-ups in our waste is a real concern.
Family Life: The continual changing and washing of bed linen each night can lead to an exhausting routine, without end, adding to the general stress of family life.
Financial Cost: Over years the accumulative cost of pull-ups, bed linen and washing can run into thousands of pounds.
Extension of Bedwetting: It is estimated that 1-2% of the adult population experiences bedwetting which is an extension of their similar childhood activity. We are yet to see if there is an increased risk of boys and girls failing to develop night time bladder control when insulated from the consequences of wetting by training pants.
Approximately 15% of bedwetters do become dry spontaneously each year. Your dilemma as a parent is that there is no way of knowing when, or if, this will happen for your child.
Approximately 1-2% of adults still suffer from childhood-originating bedwetting.
Yes, DRY nights!
Sometimes children (and parents) can initially become tired with sleep disruption from the alarm. In the first two weeks, the alarm may sound several times a night. However, frequency is the first thing to reduce and it usually settles down to 1-2 times a night on average. An advantage of the frequent alarms in the early stages is that there is rapid, associative enforcement within the child's brain to train their own bladder responses. This will usually ensure a faster progression through to dry nights in a vast majority of cases.
Desmopression is a synthetic, anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), which will have an effect on about 60% of bedwetters. It is more effective in bedwetters who do not produce ADH naturally, whilst sleeping and therefore do not concentrate their urine flow. Its affect varies from complete dryness each night it is taken, to patchy wet and dry nights. The response depends to a certain extent on how long it works in the body. For some children it will not work at all, for others it may work for 4 hours, and for others it may be effective for a full 8 hours. The drug must be taken each night at bedtime and fluid intake kept to a minimum.
Are there any side effects from Desmopression?
For some children there are minor side effects and in very rare cases a more serious one, normally associated with over-hydration. In all cases this must be a GP assessed and prescribed drug.
Day-wetting is a distressing symptom with a significant impact on self-esteem. It affects about 5% of children between 5-12 years of ages, girls more often than boys. Day-wetting often indicates a medical problem and a doctor's advice should be sought. Daytime wetting problems can be due to:
Other symptoms suggestive of medical problems include:
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