Having tried unsuccessfully a couple of times to do overnight training, we thought this method would be a lot more painful than it was. In the past when we’ve taken off the pull-ups and just buckled down for some sleepless nights, that’s exactly what we got. Changing sheets every night and worse, our son waking up cold and upset after hours in wet sheets.
Having the alarm changed that, in that as soon as the bed got wet, we could change the sheets, take our son to the bathroom, and know he was dry and comfortable again. Having the ‘star’ chart was really motivating for him, and the fortnightly videos from Dr. Sagie definitely helped our son feel more a part of the process. We were told it could take up to 6 months, and we expected it to based on his history, but once we began we were thrilled to see progress right away. There were probably 2 or 3 weeks of once or twice nightly sheet changes, but then came the first star (dry night) and a few more spotted through the next fortnight. After about a month he was having stretches of 4-5 dry nights, and then after about two months, it was rare for him to pee the bed. We were just working up to the coveted gold star by that point – which took a surprisingly thorough 45-ish nights by the end! At least we knew he’d graduated without a doubt! Our son was only 6 which is probably not too old in the scheme of things, but we didn’t want to wait until he was older and feeling more self-aware. It feels awesome going into summer and knowing that camping, sleepovers, and life, in general, will be so much simpler for him.