Hi Dr Catherine, my 5 year old son is wet most nights, emptying his bladder completely, and doesn't wake. We tried an alarm for months, the very first night we used it the alarm woke him and then never again, not once - the alarm woke us and we got him up. Eventually he started to have some dry nights because he was starting to hold on until morning and we all felt very positive. We went on holiday and forgot the alarm so while away we lifted him every night and he was dry each morning. We continued in this way after the holidays but eventually he went back to being wet every night. None of us wanted to go back to using the alarm or nappies (none will hold a whole bladder's worth anyway), and knowing that he is physically able to hold on all night I am tempted to try hypnosis, my only hesitation is whether it could be bad for him in the long run - ie if it's more important to get there by himself for developing motivational skills etc in the future. But I can't see other viable options.
Hi H. C. – it can be incredibly frustrating when you feel you have given your all to a treatment and it still doesn’t result in a positive outcome. It is worth keeping in mind however that it can take up to 3 months for conditioning alarms to work and even then you sometimes need to reintroduce them one or two additional times. Conditioning alarms do take a great deal of commitment on behalf of the whole family and it can be terribly disruptive to family sleep patterns so if your heart is not really in it then you should certainly consider another approach. Hypnotherapy has been used successfully to help train children’s subconscious to either hold their urine overnight or wake up and go to the toilet. This can be used on its own or in combination with the conditioning alarm. It does not have the same research support as more commonly used treatments such as the conditioning alarms or medication. If you would like to talk to someone some more about this form of treatment your best point of contact is the Australian Hypnotherapists’ Association http://www.ahahypnotherapy.org.au/, which has branches in each state. When it comes to children’s sense of self and self-confidence – it has more to do with how their bedwetting was managed throughout the process and less to do with when and how they become dry. As bedwetting is largely subconscious, in that it occurs when children are asleep, motivational factors come less into play. If you continue to reassure your son that you understanad that this is in no way his fault and that you love him no matter what – he will ultimately feel good about himself and the situation. All the best!
Regards,
Dr Cathrine
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