Reply from Tom, Child's Age N/A - 6/4/03 - IP#: 159.39.16.xxx   parbb-c1358

Laura, Your situation is not unique, the same story has been posted here numerous times before. Here are a few ideas that might help: I use ddavp myself and my doctor says that it slows urine production for about 6 hours. That is usually enough to get through the night without needing to get up and use the bathroom, but may not be for a small child that sleeps longer than 8 hours. If you think it is effective but doesn’t last long enough, you might ask the doctor about a larger dose, or a different form that might last longer – I use tablets, not a spray, the spray begins acting immediately but the tablet may last longer. I have never tried an alarm but have read some suggestions from those who have. If the alarm is going to work you should see some results within 3 months, waking up at least some of the time before wetting. Don’t use the alarm with the medication, that will defeat the purpose; in fact, some suggest that you give your daughter extra liquids before bedtime for a few days to make sure the alarm will go off and help her get used to it. Bedwetting is almost always a sleep problem and not urinary problem, the bedwetter just doesn’t wake up when they need to urinate. Some wetters can even sleep through the alarm, so it should be situated so another family member can hear it and wake her up if she doesn’t wake up herself. That still has the effect of being awakened right after wetting so the association of wetting and waking can be made, although it may take longer that way. As Nikki said, there are kids that don’t respond to either medications or alarms. If all else fails, you might go back to pull-ups for a while. There was a lively debate over the merits of diapers, alarms, and medications here a few months ago, and there are those who believe diapers should never be used because that amounts to giving up on solving the problem, while others believe that if nothing works, then you should at least keep the child comfortable and dry. Making too much fuss over bedwetting before the child is physically capable of becoming dry at night might cause some anxiety or frustration for the child.