Why Consider an Alarm

After making sure the child has a case of functional bedwetting by ruling out any medical situations such as a urinary tract infection, constipation, or diabetes, Dr. LaRosa recommends the alarm route. She says there are perceptions that alarms are cumbersome or even barbaric as compared to letting mother nature take its course or other options.

"If children experience failure or what they perceive as failure in attempts to become dry, it sets them back. You want to go where the money is," she says. For example, a prescribed medication can bring short-term results, but wetting will likely resume when the medication is stopped "because you never addressed the underlying problem," explains Dr. LaRosa.

In her book, Mercer reports that using medication for three to six months, waiting it out, restricting fluids, waking your child, or using an alarm clock each have a success rate of 15 percent after one year. The success rate for alarms, one year later, is 70 to 80 percent. Mercer says alarms can cut several years off a child's bedwetting experience.

"The reality is we don't know why [alarms] work," says Dr. LaRosa. "Whether it's a well trained brain or a more capable bladder, this method is effective."

Best Practices

Dr. LaRosa talks to families about bedwetting during routine visits. "Ideally if you are doing your job right, parents don't have to say, 'Hey, guess what, I've been seeing you seven years. We aren't dry at night.'"

She urges parents to realize children take pride in staying dry and not to go overboard with rewards. If there is a reward, she suggests having children work toward a special family activity or filling a book of stickers. As for constant incentives, Dr. LaRosa warns, "Your kids just get trained in treats, and it makes you feel like you have to bribe them to allow them to accomplish things they should just do with encouragement and parental guidance."