Malem Body-Worn Alarms Information Advice Help on Bedwetting

Lots of children wet the bed. If they are ten years or younger, there is likely to be at least one other child who wets the bed in their school class. If they are between ten and fourteen there are likely to be at least eighteen children who wet the bed in their school. Wetting the bed does not mean that they are odd or babyish. Becoming dry at night is a skill like any other, such as learning to swim or learning to ride a bike. Some children learn later than others and some need a little bit of extra help along the way.

What is a Bedwetting Alarm?

A bedwetting alarm (sometimes referred to as a buzzer, bell and pad, enuresis alarm) is a machine that will teach the brain to hear the message from the bladder, so that he/she can "hold on" to their wee until the morning, or wake up and go to the toilet. The bedwetting alarm will work best if the child really does want to become dry, and is keen to try the alarm and that the family is right behind this.

There are two main types of bedwetting alarms :

1. Body-worn alarm - this has a small "noise box" which is pinned to the pyjama top (collar bone area), and a sensor which can be placed betweeen two pairs of pants/clipped to outside of pant. These sensors are replacemeable items, their lifespan can vary depending upon the amount of use (i.e. the number of times per week the child wets) and the method and regularity of cleaning. These sensors do require cleaning with warm soapy water and rinsed.

ERIC choice of body-worn bedwetting alarms are:-

2. Bedside or Bed Mat Alarm - this has a "noise box" which is placed beneath the lower bedsheet. These sensor mats are replaceable items and it is recommended they are cleaned frequently.

ERIC has the following bedside bedwetting alarm:-

Malem MO6 bedside alarm

Which Bedwetting Alarm should we purchase?

Both types of alarms are really clinically as effective. It is really down to the preferential choice of the child who uses the alarm. The child may prefer to have an alarm with just one single tone alarm e.g. Malem MO3 body-worn alarm as they may like to listen out for one particular sound. Alternatively others may prefer to have randomly selected sounds e.g. Malem MO3(8) which has 8 randomly selected different sounds. Vibration and sound alarms e.g. Malem MO4 and Malem MO4(8) body worn alarms can be quite useful, if at a later stage of treatment, the child may wish to switch off the sound and use the vibration only as a more discreet treatment method.

Should your child dislike wearing the noise box on their body then the bedside alarm e.g. Malem MO6 alarm may be preferred. This has a noise box which can be placed on the bedside cabinet. Linked to this is the mat which should be placed on the bed and covered with a sheet/thin towel.

Both types of bedwetting alarms i.e. body-worn and bedside require additional replacement equipment. With the body-worn alarms the sensor leads are replaceable items. There are two types of these sensors for the body-worn alarm i.e. the flat plate sensor placed in between two pairs of closely fitted pants and the easy clip sensor which clips on to the outside of close fitting pants. The choice of sensor is again a question of preference.

For the MO6 bedside alarm the replacement item is the mat linked to the alarm box. As alarm treatment can sometimes last several months, it is advisable to consider the purchase of a replacement sensor or mat in advance to ensure treatment is not interrupted.

Frequently asked questions to ERIC

We are parents of four children, two of whom have a bedwetting problem. We have struggled with day-time wetting with most of them, and soiling with a couple of them. We have tried the nasal spray and lifting them at night but nothing seems to make any difference. We have read on the internet about bedwetting alarms and would like to know more about how they work?

Bedwetting alrms are not "magic machines". It can sometimes be disruption of sleep for the whole household, so it is important that you and your child are very motivated. However a bedwetting alarm can be a very successful form of treatment. This is how it works. When urine touches the detector plate (be it a body-worn sensor or mat) the noise of the alarm causes two reactions in the sleeping child:- they can sometimes "jump" sightly and the muscles of the pelvic floor will tighten enabling the child to "hold on". Then they wake up and become aware of the signals that the bladder is full. If the child fails to wake, the parent may need to gently rouse them. Gradually, children begin to wake up to the sensation of the full bladder - so in effect, they "beat the alarm".

If a child has been assessed by a health professional, and where the bedwetting alarm is considered to be the most appropriate form of treatment, the success rate is reported to be around 72% If you do use an alarm, we suggest that you start with one of your children first - hopefully its success will help to encourage the other.

Customer Testimonials

We cannot be happier and express our thanks and satisfaction, especially our 11 year old daughter. It took us three years to decide on using the alarm, and within a month our daughter was dry! THANKS!!!!. The product and more importantly the results definately met the expectations. After over three years of nightly "accidents" we decided to try the alarm, which did the "miracle" within one month.

The alarm worked and within 6 weeks my daughter had stopped bedwetting. The product worked even better than I expected and helped my daughter overcome her problem.

The alarm was good - easy to use. Well it worked and it worked very quickly. We had a holiday and it was easy to take with us.

Effective within 5 nights for my 6 year old who had never been dry - he was delighted and so was I - A miracle!! The product had exceeded our expections as we had tried everything else. Thank you SO much!

When we received the alarm, we were a little surprised at how cheap it looked, given the price! The instructions were clear and easy to follow. We have been very pleased so far with the results. We are on week 15 now of the treatment. Our son has been dry for the last 18 nights. It has been worthwhile. We did notice the mat was quite sensitive to sweat, even on the lowest sensitivity setting, however a twin muslin placed over the mat helped a lot and doesn't create a lot of extra washing!

Excellent product that worked very quickly (4-6 weeks). Thank you very much for recommending it!!!

The M04S has worked very well which is fantastic.

The M03(8) lived up to my expectation - my child was dry at night after 1 month. Also my child liked the product and liked taking responsibility for it.

The M04S is easy to use very effective, our son is now dry after 9 weeks many thanks.

My son who has never had a dry night previously, was completely dry after using the alarm for only 2 weeks.

It exceeded my expectations.

The M03 is small and discreet, the fact that it could be worn on the clothing meant it followed him round as he moved in bed.

It exceeded my expectations he was dry within 2 weeks-amazing!!

The M03(8) worked well, the different ring tones meant that my son usually woke up quickly when it went off. He was dry within 6-8 weeks.

Thankyou we never would have anticipated that it would work so well.

The M03(8) the sounds were excellent because they cahnged each time and were loud enough to wake him. Within 2 weeks our son was wetting the bed less frequently from almost 3 times to just 1, and by the end of 4 week he was completely dry.

This has made a dramatic change in our lives and our sons, he has been dry for about 6 months. We didn't think the alarm would work as well as it did, I would recommend this to others as long as their child was old enough to understand how this works and how to use it.

The M03(V) alarm was small enough that it didn't get in the way, it was easy to attach and my sonwas albe to do it by himself which he liked.

Both myself and my son are very pleased with how well it has worked, he liked the fact that he had his own information booklet.

The M04(8) is excellent it was fun to use due to the different alarm sounds and the vibration. My child was happy to wear it.

It has had a dramatic impact and within 3 weeks she was cured, this had been ongoing for over 4 years.

The M04S has worked very well took several weeks but seems to have eliminated the bedwetting.

The M05 is very user friendly, my son is completely dry at night now after using the alarm for 3 months. Thank you.

The M03 is easy to use it seems to be working well, he only has a wet night once in a while. He drinks alot during the day to keep his bladder working well.

The M04(8) is very good ,the vibration and lights were useful additional stimulation to wake my son.

Although recommended by a friend I was rather sceptical about the idea. After about 3 or 4 rather traumatic nights, and the six year old sleeping through the alarm it began to have an effect.

The M04(8) is fantastic it has given me my sleep back and my little boy his confidence.

Very pleased we had results in 3 weeks, wished we had given it a go earlier as it saved alot of trauma , we have not looked back.

Very easy to use - good instructions and it worked within 6 weeks of using the alarm. My son had achieved 14 dry nights in a row (never done before) and he has been dry every night since.

Thank you for your help, the customer services I spoke to on the telephone were very helpful and the product arrived very quickly.

Took one month to totally cure the problem and 3 months later have not had another wet night.

Highly recommend the M03 alarm wish I'd bought one 6 years earlier.