Customer Reviews

Malem Ultimate Selectable Bedwetting Alarm with Vibration - Royal Blue

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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My fingers hurts, so I'll keep it short this time:

My son is 6 1/2 (product does not recommend starting before child is 6) and we started alarm 10 nights ago. The first two nights he woke twice (around 12:30am and 5am) and was quite wet as he was just learning how to stop urine flow in midstream until I walked him to bathroom to finish. The next two nights he woke once (5am) and was still a bit wet. The next two nights he still woke once at around 5am but there was barely a wet spot. He did a great job of stopping his urine flow when the alarm went off. I was half asleep and thought the alarm malfunctioned until I really examined his underwear. The next 4 nights (where we are as I type this) he has been dry all night.



I can't stress enough parent participation and following instructions to the letter for success. Don't do it half way. Don't turn alarm off until both feet hit the floor, walk child to bathroom and let him finish urinating. Even if he has nothing left to urinate, take him to the toilet anyway--it is a learning process. Let him try to squeeze even a drop out. Change underwear and hook up alarm again. I put a night light in bathroom so he would stay in a sleepy state. I kept extra underwear in bathroom for quick changes. Even though they may not remember waking up at night they are still learning.



Even though my son has been dry 4 nights in a row, I am following the directions and I am keeping alarm on for 14 nights in a row (has to be 14 dry nights in a row). After that I will take alarm off every other night for another 14 nights in case he has a wet night again. The instructions say that if they have a wet night, then start the 14 night process over again. You have to follow instructions exactly for success.



Praise a lot when you see progress and don't ever criticize wet nights--just say nothing. If child has been wetting twice a night and then only wets the next night once, then that deserves praise as he is making progress. I also recommend using progress chart. Buy some fun stickers and boring stickers. Use the fun ones for good nights and the boring ones (just plain white round stickers) for wet nights. I told my son that if he is dry for 7 nights in a row (we have 3 more nights to go) then I would take him to Toys R' Us and he could pick out a nice toy for himself.



Good luck and be patient--the pamphlet states that it could take up to 3 months.

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Our 8 year old son had only had one or two dry nights in his life before buying this alarm. The pediatrician said not to worrry about it and that he would grow out of it. We just had him wear pull ups at night so he wouldn't feel bad about wetting the bed. We tried waking him up to have him go to the bathroom around midnight and restricting liquids but it really didn't matter, he still woke up with a very full pull up every morning.

Since he was starting to feel badly about it and wanted to sleep over at his best friends house without embarrassment of packing and hiding a pull up, we decided to consult a specialist. She met with us and recommended that we try the bed wetting alarm. I ordered it that day and we got started right away.

The alarm went off a couple of times a night during the first week and then once every other night or so for the next couple of weeks. After a little over a month, the results are just amazing. He has had 14 dry nights in a row and even started drinking water before bedtime to see if he could stay dry. We had a baby monitor in our room which helped us to hear the alarm right away so we could go in and make sure woke up (a couple of times he slept through the alarm at the beginning). The only advice I would give is to buy the pad to make the middle of the night easier while doing the training and have the child responsible for putting on the alarm each night and reattaching it when it does go off (with supervision). I think having to do those things forces them to wake up and be more aware.

I have never written a review on anything before but since we really struggled with this issue I want everyone to know that is does work and pretty quickly. It was so worth it and I wish we would have done this when he was six instead of eight. 5 or 6 weeks into the process, the issues has been resolved. We are going to keep having him wear the alarm for a few more weeks as we have read that there is some regression when stopping too soon.

I purchased this item because I was tired of buying Pull-ups and diaper doublers. My child is a very deep sleeper.

This worked at first, but we had a relapse, and now it won't wake him at all. All it does is wake us up, but it is too late. We are still stripping the bed 3 - 4 times per week.

Do not purchase this until you are really committed to following through. You might have quick results, but I would say hope for the best and prepare mentally for the possibility of a long haul.

The first week was like having a newborn again. We were up 3 times per night, stripping the bed and changing clothes. Our first dry night was on day 10. We bounced back and forth with one dry night and one wet night for weeks. Just when we thought this would never work, we had 4 dry nights in a row.

When you are ready to do this, make sure you have a waterproof cover on the child's mattress, and 2 or 3 changes of sheets ready to go. (And maybe a spare comforter). The real trick is making sure the sensor is on snug underwear. My other suggestion is to use a baby monitor. You want to wake up as quickly as possible after the alarm sounds to rouse the child.

I wish I had looked at amazon a long time ago! The reviews for the Malem potty alarm convinced me to buy one, even though it seems expensive for such a little item! Let me just say that it's true - you get what you pay for. This is the fourth potty alarm we've used...and it worked!! My son just turned 11, and like many parents who've written reviews about the Malem, he never had a dry night. I had tried everything - waking him at night, wearing pull-ups, not wearing pull-ups, limiting fluids - we even had a bladder ultrasound done to be sure there wasn't any physical problem. Obviously this is a difficult issue, both for the child and the parents. I've washed sheets almost daily, we've both dealt with sleep deprivation, not to mention the emotional toll - no sleepovers (or hiding pull-ups), wondering what I did wrong as a parent...despite my pediatrician's advice that 'he will out-grow it' and not to worry. We first tried a potty alarm at the advice of our pediatrician at about 5 years of age. Oh, how I wish we'd known about the Malem then. We've tried three other kinds of potty alarms, all with different defects. The wireless one is a great concept, but we went through 4 of those because once they get wet, they break. What makes the Malem so effective is 1.) the clip on the underwear doesn't come undone and 2.) the sound and vibration is loud enough to wake up my son and 3.) the sound changes, so you don't become used to it and sleep through it. Here is my advice if you are struggling with bed-wetting: buy this alarm and commit to at least 2 weeks of sleep deprivation. It will take longer than 2 weeks (it took my son about 7 weeks - the instructions that come with the alarm say is takes between 10 and 12 weeks), but the first 2 weeks involves getting up sometimes 4 times a night. It's exhausting, but it does get better! My son has been dry for 2 weeks now and we are thrilled. He has gone from a heavy sleeper who was wet EVERY night, to getting up on his own once or twice a night to use the bathroom. I hope my review will help other parents and perhaps save the heartache we endured. I also will tell my pediatrician at my son's next appointment to recommend this particular potty alarm to any parents' struggling with bed-wetting. Thanks Malem!

Product:

The alarm is generally made well and durable. Batteries last a long time. The sensor is slightly difficult to install, but you get used to it fairly quickly. The volume is appropriate.

Device appears to be reliable... no false alarms and always rings when wet.

Results:

It has been about 8 weeks and we use it every night for a child who enters an extremely deep sleep. Prior to this alarm, we were unable to wake the child.

We put conventional underwear on the child, clip on the sensor, and then put a pull-up on top. This allows for a dry bed after any accident.

Also, we use two shirts... a tank top style which the sensor gets clipped to and a second pajama shirt on top to keep the wire between the alarm and the sensor contained. It keeps the wire off the childs skin and allows for safe operation.

The first week was torture (for the parents)... alarmed 2-3 times per night. It did not appear to wake our child... we felt like it was just an alarm for the parents and did not have high hopes.

By the second week, the alarm still did not wake the child, however, there were only a few drops of urine on the underwear now and the frequency was reduced. The ringing alarm must wake the child enough to stop the flow.

Over the next 4-6 weeks, frequency reduced to only one event per evening, then to some evenings with no alarm at all. Child is awakened by the alarm about 50% of the time. There is rarely more than a few drops of urine now.

We are not through with the entire program yet, but it appears to be working as described.

Edit-
Just following up... it took a total of 12 weeks but problem was solved completely and never recurred after 3 years! Great product!

My 8 year old daughter has wet the bed every night since she was born. We've tried medication, limiting liquids, getting her up to go at night, nothing worked. I bought the alarm, even though it was more than I would've liked to spend, because of all the good feedback. I researched using the alarms before purchasing and they were advised on many medical/bedwetting sites. Well, quite simply, it worked literally like magic. My daughter sounded the alarm once or twice a night for the first 5 nights and then perfect silence. She has been dry for 3 weeks now. After 2 weeks of being dry using the alarm regardless, in case of an accident, I unplugged her and this last week she's continued to get up on her own. I can't explain how it worked so very quickly, it just did. 5 DAYS of training after years of messes! They say the older the child the faster it works (typically of course). I wonder how many months I might have saved myself from the horrible smelling sheets if I would've looked into this sooner. I hope the rest of you parents try it and hope that it works just as well for you!

I will not write much, but I can say that this bed alarm really works. We have only been using it for a few weeks, and were able to finally get rid of the diapers/Goodnights etc. My son still has to wear it every night; the instructions say he needs to use it for at least 4 weeks every night, then every other might for 4 more weeks, then depending on progress. Even though it sounds every now and then still, even when the alarm goes off meaning he is bedwetting, only a drop makes it go off and the result is that he never actuall wets his bed. I do not know yet if we will be able to get rid of the alarm and just sleep, but it seems to work so far and the doctors recommend bed alarms as one of the best ways to treat bedwetting. Very happy so far.
By the way, once it goes off, you need to push the button AND disconnect the wire from the body of the alarm, otherwise it will not stop at first.

This product is definitely worth the $. I have purchased two similar alarms in the past with no results--one of them vibrated and didn't wake my son up after the first few times, and one was a pad that you put on the bed that kept going off even when not wet. This one worked perfectly--you could pick which alarm sound you wanted, and best of all, it was easy enough to put on that my son, 6, could do it himself.

It took about six weeks, but my son is now fully potty trained at night. I am SO glad we bought this product!! He feels so good about himself, and is looking forward to finally being able to sleep over at his best friend's house.

I would recommend this product to anyone having trouble potty training at night. My son NEVER had a dry morning before this. We had tried every other trick in the book & I am convinced that he would not have been night-trained any time soon had it not been for the Malem.

The only piece of advice I would give is to start this either on a school break or during the summer. I was so glad we did this in July--he was REALLY tired the first couple of weeks as the alarm woke him up a couple of times a night. After about 3 weeks, it only went off once a night and sometimes not at all, though. Lastly, an incentive (in my son's case Darth Vader sheets) is a great way to finish out the process. We told him he could have the sheets when he was dry for 7 straight nights. He got them just before he started first grade.

Overall, GREAT product and highly recommended!

--mom of Jack

My son is 9 and will be turning 10 in 7 days. As of about 5 weeks ago, he had never had a dry night. His pull ups were always soaked. We had tried doctors and medications which did not work. This problem affected him socially very much.

I was Amazon and came across this alarm. It was $120. This was a lot and I had heard that these were not effective. I bought it and told my son it was on the way. He cried and said that it wasn't going to work because nothing had every worked. I told him that we were going to give it our best shot and that it was better than doing nothing.

The alarm came. My son hooked it up and took care of everything himself. I PUT A RUG AT HIS BEDSIDE AND TOLD HIM THAT WHEN THE ALARM WENT OFF THAT HIS FEET NEEDED TO HIT THE RUG IMMEDIATELY. (It was a Minnesota Gopher rug) The first week was a lot of work. He took care of the alarm, but there was a lot of changing of sheets. The alarm went off 2-3 times per night that first week. He would get up and finish going to the bathroom in the toilet. Every night the amount of clean up was smaller and smaller. Gradually the frequency of the alarm sounding also decreased. It went from a giant puddle to just a little bit in his underwear.

It took a couple of weeks until he had a dry night. Tonight is night 14 of dry nights and I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I am so incredibly happy for my son. He now gets up on his own to go to the bathroom. If you buy this alarm just make sure you follow the directions.
I STONGLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT AND DEEPLY REGRET NOT TRYING IT SOONER.

Prior to using this product I could have counted the mornings that my 10 year old son woke up dry on one hand. Our pediatrician had advised us to limit liquids, take him to the bathroom in the middle of the night, blah,blah,blah- which didn't help. He said my son would eventually grow out of it. It wasn't until a friend of mine mentioned that his son had had success using a bedwetting alarm that I even knew that such a thing existed. After looking online and reading the reviews I knew that I wanted the Malem alarm. When I told my son about it he was very excited to know that he could be cured of wetting the bed and he asked me everyday when it would be arriving.

We have been using this for three weeks and while he isn't dry every night yet, we are definitely getting there. This week he has had four dry nights in a row-quite an achievement for someone who had been waking up with a fully saturated good-nite every morning. Even on the nights that he does have an accident (a very small amount of urine) the alarm wakes him right up and he goes into the bathroom to finish his business. I am fully confident that in the next few weeks he will be dry every night.

He started out sleeping on the floor in my bedroom and we used regular underwear with a good nite over the top of them to keep from having wet blankets. After the first few nights he was able to turn the alarm off, change into dry clothing and reset the alarm without any help.

I wish so much that I had known about this great product years ago. It has been such a blow to his self-esteem knowing that his six year old sister could stay dry at night but that he had to wear a good-nite. I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about bedwetting alarms, but this great product has made me a believer.

8/19/08 My son has not wet the bed in over three weeks and has stopped using the alarm altogether. I think it took him longer than a lot of the kids mentioned in the other reviews because he was older (he's almost 11). There is no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't purchased this alarm he would still be wetting the bed. (My sister, my mom, and my MIL all wet the bed until their early teens.)