In must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening when you feel like you have tried it all and still your son continues to wet at night. While medical causes of bedwetting are less common it is important that you do meet with a paediatrician to rule these out. The time it takes for children to achieve dryness when using conditioning alarms can be anything from a few weeks to a few months with about 10-15% of children experiencing some relapse – when this happens you need to reintroduce the alarm treatment although you will find that he becomes dry much quicker the second time around. For some children it can take up to 3 cycles of treatment so it is important not to give up if it at first it does not seem to work. It may be helpful to get your son to practice setting the alarm off during the day (with a drop of water) so that way he will become familiar to the sound of the alarm. Some alarms have different settings that allow you to vary the sound – sometimes a louder alarm will raise a particularly deep sleeper. Others include a vibration option, which your son may respond to more easily. It would also be worthwhile speaking with a continence advisor before re-introducing the alarm as the more support and guidance you receive the greater the chance of a successful outcome. There are some more alternative methods that have met with different degrees of success. Please keep in mind however that these have not received the same level of research support as conditioning alarms or medications. Hypnotherapy has been successfully used to help children 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. Your best point of contact for hypnotherapy is the Australian Hypnotherapists’ Association http://www.ahahypnotherapy.org.au/, which has branches in each state and territory. In the meantime reassure your son that none of this is his fault, promoting self-confidence and positive self-esteem is particularly important at this time. All the best.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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