How do "potty pagers" really work?

Question

My 7 year old is a bedwetter. His pediatrician reccommended the potty pager which vibrates when it feels moisture. It wakes him up when he wets the bed but by that time it is too late. Its great that it wakes him so that he can change his clothes and sheets but how will this stop him from wetting the bed in the first place?

Answer 1

set an alarm clock every 1 for the first 3 hours he is in bed.  Then wake set it for 2 hours before you usually wakes up.  Adjust the times as necessary but that will help.

Answer 2

It can take up to six months to be fully effective.  The way it helps him stay dry is because it starts associating peeing and waking up in his brain.  Surely you've heard of Pavlov's dogs that learned to salivate when they heard a bell.  The potty pager works the same way.  Eventually your son's body will start to wake itself up when it feels the need to pee.

Answer 3

My sister had one of those for my nephew and all it did was wake him up and he would change his clothes and go sleep on the couch and pee there.

Answer 4

Really, all you can do, is have him go potty right before bed. Also don't give him liquids for a good while before bed. Tell him if he starts dreaming of a river, or any type of running water, to try to tell himself to wake up, cause he probably has to go potty.

Answer 5

I have a child who went through this same situation and we had her checked out by a pediatric urologist,  his suggestion was to remind her often through out the day to use the restroom and make her sit there for about 5 mins., bc often they are to busy playing throughout the day to slow down long enough to use the restroom and then at night the are fully emptying the bladder he has some great books that I would suggest. His is a highly respectable guy and great surgeon, I  recommend him to everyone who's looking for a great pediatric urologist!  I will give you some links below on where to buy his books.  There may be some underlying problem that your regular pediatrician has not picked up on schedule your child with a urologist who will further be able to help you decide on what is best for your child!

Answer 6

It probably will train his brain to recognize the signs that he needs to go to the bathroom, and then he will get up automatically.

EDIT - This is on their website:

The Potty Pager uses a SILENT alarm. Just like other silent pagers, it uses a mechanical vibration to alert the user. This means it wakes ONLY the bedwetter - not the whole house. This avoids not only embarrassment, but also squabbles with siblings who aren't deep sleepers. The silent alarm is hard to ignore, because the bedwetter is not used to tuning out a powerful vibration. And it cycles on and off every couple of seconds, so it won't lull the user back to sleep.

The Potty Pager is SELF-CONTAINED. Unlike every other bedwetting alarm on the market, everything is contained in a simple pager-style device that clips quickly and easily into the front of ordinary cotton briefs. This means there is no sewing to do, and re-attachment after a visit to the bathroom is quick and easy as well. Moisture sensors at the back of the pager trigger the alarm as soon as the first few drops of urine "wick" up to them through the cotton underwear.

The Potty Pager is COMPACT. There is no clunky elastic belt to wear. If the briefs get wet, a dry pair is all that is needed to get back to sleep. With some alarms, washing and drying a big elastic belt is the only option. For kids who wet two or three times a night, this is a big issue.

Answer 7

cuz he wont want to have to keep on waking up to do all of this.... so it'll teach him to look for the signs in the nite for wen he has to go potty..... at least thats wat i think