WHO INVENTED THE BED WETTING ALARM?

Let's now have a look at another invention from the past — something that's designed to stop children from wetting the bed.

INVENTOR, ON VIDEOTAPE: Well, a full-size pad will be 18" by 24", which we think will be quite adequate. Now, a teaspoon of moisture tipped upon the pad will set the alarm unit off. And that noise, hopefully, will wake the child up. In some instances, it may not wake the child up, but it still doesn't matter, because subconsciously, the trigger mechanism will still be...will still work within the child.

INTERVIEWER, ON VIDEOTAPE: It sounds a fairly cruel sort of way to cure a child of this.

MAN: Well, it is much more effective than, say, using drugs. There are some machines around which use shock therapy, which isn't very good. Um...it is...

INTERVIEWER: This machine, though, it appears to be a form of shock therapy. You wake the child up. MAN: Only audible shock. Normal children wake up anyway, when they go to the toilet, without any prompting.

JAMES O'LOGHLIN: Yes, and if you were a child on whom that invention was tested, you can send your therapy bills to the inventor.