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URINE ALARM STOPS BED-
WETTING IN CHILDREN
Most children occasionally wet their beds as they complete
their nighttime potty training (staying dry through
the night). It’s also common for older children
to wet their beds. Five million to 7 million children
in the United States ages 6 and over wet their beds
at night, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
Bed-wetting, also called nocturnal enuresis, is diagnosed
if a child 5 or older wets his bed at least twice a
week for at least three months. Boys are three times
more likely than girls to wet their bed. There is often
a genetic link to bed-wetting.
The method found to be most effective to cure this common
childhood problem is the urine alarm (Mayo Clinic, 2000).
Based on Pavlovian classical conditioning principles,
and sometimes referred to as the bell-and-pad treatment,
the urine alarm wakes the child the instant dampness
is detected on the child’s underwear or a pad
on the bed. Over time, the child becomes conditioned
to awaken at the feeling of a full bladder. The urine
alarm has a success rate of 75 percent after three to
four months of treatment. They are inexpensive, easy
to use and can be found in stores, catalogs and on the
Internet.
BABY MONITOR HELPS WITH BETWETTING My son uses a urine
alarm to help him get some control over his chronic
bed-wetting. I always try to assist him in getting to
the bathroom after the alarm goes off, but I often didn’t
hear the alarm because my bedroom is on the other side
of the house. I solved this problem by using our baby
monitor. We put the microphone part of the monitor in
my son’s bedroom and the receiver in my bedroom.
Now I always hear the alarm the instant it goes off.
-- P.H., Portland, Ore.
"STAY DRY" SURPRISE BOX My son had a hard
time staying dry through the night. I made a "stay
dry" box by covering a shoe box with wrapping paper
(contact paper would also work), and I filled it with
little toys and treats. If he stayed dry through the
night, he would get to select one prize. It kept him
dry for a month straight the first time we tried it.
A "stay dry" box can be a great motivator
if there is not an underlying physical problem. -- J.V.W.,
Centerville, Utah
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