Night Underwear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out Tony and Ava reusable incontinence underwear. They sell some sizes/styles on Amazon. This was a life saver for us for overnight school trips and sleepovers. The underwear looks just like regular underwear (maybe a little bulkier, but NOT like a diaper). I would just send my DS's pajamas and a pair of these in a gallon sized ziplock (which is a trick lots of people use for keeping outfits together in summer camp trunks, I learned), and then when he changed in the morning he would stick the underwear back in the ziplock, seal it, and throw it in his backpack. Honestly, OP, if I could somehow connect with you I would be happy to send you the (multiple) pairs that I bought for my son. I was so concerned he would never outgrow his nighttime wetting, but our wonderful ped ruled out all physicall issues and encouraged us to be patient. Sure enough, right before he turned 11, my son magically was dry at night. It's hormone related and I believe there's no way to speed it up. It will happen though. Good luck!

Was he mostly just having an occasional small accident? I know it’s a hormonal thing and it just takes time for kids to outgrow.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t say “occasional.” Really, he was wet pretty much every night until at some point he just…wasn’t! It really felt miraculous. I will say that a pull up or Tony and Ava’s fully captured the output, so maybe he wasn’t emptying a full 10 year old bladder’s worth of pee…but he was wet most of the time, and the Tony and Ava’s handled it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t say “occasional.” Really, he was wet pretty much every night until at some point he just…wasn’t! It really felt miraculous. I will say that a pull up or Tony and Ava’s fully captured the output, so maybe he wasn’t emptying a full 10 year old bladder’s worth of pee…but he was wet most of the time, and the Tony and Ava’s handled it.

Did he have any preference about what he used at night? Did he ever want a regular pull-up instead of the reusable ones?

[Anonymous]

At home he didn’t really seem to care, and we often used the disposable ones because it was easier. He strongly preferred the reusable for sleep overs and overnight school trips - they really just look like regular underwear and there’s essentially no chance someone would glimpse it and know that it is for nighttime incontinence. That’s very different from a Goodnite, which looks like a diaper (as hard as they try with the stripes instead of Winnie the Pooh or whatever as decoration).

[Anonymous]

Did any of his friends ever know he still had accidents? My nephew went through this same thing, but he never seemed bothered by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For older kids who still have occasional night accidents (heavy sleeper) do you have any preference for what nighttime underwear you get them? Not looking for advice on wetting alarms or medication, our doctor has ruled out any underlying medical issues.

No advice on what you ask.

Have you tried stopping liquids a couple of hours before bed and making sure to get the bulk of hydration before 5/6pm?

What about urinating immediately before bed? Sometimes they feel like going after they’ve gotten all cozy, and don’t get up. Maybe reinforcing that it’s necessary to get up at that moment.

+1. Limiting fluids after dinner and going to the bathroom right before lights out made a huge difference for us.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, OP, in case you have tried all the very sound and well-meaning advice folks are offering here, I want to be a voice to say we tried it all - limiting fluids before bed, peeing TWICE before going to sleep, etc. etc. and none of it really worked until one day he just...stopped having nighttime incontinence. There is a small percentage of kids (more boys than girls) for whom it just takes what seems like a VERY long time. Our ped encouraged us early on to take a really nonchalant, non-judgmental approach to the whole thing, which we did. Your brain has to emit enough of a particular hormone for your body to be able to stay dry through the night, and in some kids it takes longer for the level of that hormone to get high enough. It always gets there. The beauty of this is - it's true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, OP, in case you have tried all the very sound and well-meaning advice folks are offering here, I want to be a voice to say we tried it all - limiting fluids before bed, peeing TWICE before going to sleep, etc. etc. and none of it really worked until one day he just...stopped having nighttime incontinence. There is a small percentage of kids (more boys than girls) for whom it just takes what seems like a VERY long time. Our ped encouraged us early on to take a really nonchalant, non-judgmental approach to the whole thing, which we did. Your brain has to emit enough of a particular hormone for your body to be able to stay dry through the night, and in some kids it takes longer for the level of that hormone to get high enough. It always gets there. The beauty of this is - it's true!

So how did you manage it until then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, OP, in case you have tried all the very sound and well-meaning advice folks are offering here, I want to be a voice to say we tried it all - limiting fluids before bed, peeing TWICE before going to sleep, etc. etc. and none of it really worked until one day he just...stopped having nighttime incontinence. There is a small percentage of kids (more boys than girls) for whom it just takes what seems like a VERY long time. Our ped encouraged us early on to take a really nonchalant, non-judgmental approach to the whole thing, which we did. Your brain has to emit enough of a particular hormone for your body to be able to stay dry through the night, and in some kids it takes longer for the level of that hormone to get high enough. It always gets there. The beauty of this is - it's true!

So how did you manage it until then?

He wore nighttime incontinence underwear, mostly disposable, but sometimes the Tony and Ava's stuff (sleepovers etc.). We bought the goodnites at Target when buying toilet paper and toothpaste. We never made a big deal about it and then one day he said "I haven't been wet in a long time. I'm not going to wear that tonight" and that was it! No shame, no embarrassment.

[Anonymous]

My suggestion is to get a mattress protector - they make some that you can just throw in the washing machine and some that are disposable. It may help them to feel wet.

[Anonymous]

For girls, I wonder if heavy flow period underwear would work. The brand I use has a stretchy fabric that would probably fit a tween if a size XS is purchased. It holds 5 pads worth of liquid.

[Anonymous]

The mattress protectors that are flat (w/o the fitted corners) are much easier for this.

[Anonymous]

There’s been a few times when we’ve been out of the Goodnites Underwear and had to make do with a regular baby diaper for overnight. They stretch pretty good and can fit even a taller kid pretty good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, OP, in case you have tried all the very sound and well-meaning advice folks are offering here, I want to be a voice to say we tried it all - limiting fluids before bed, peeing TWICE before going to sleep, etc. etc. and none of it really worked until one day he just...stopped having nighttime incontinence. There is a small percentage of kids (more boys than girls) for whom it just takes what seems like a VERY long time. Our ped encouraged us early on to take a really nonchalant, non-judgmental approach to the whole thing, which we did. Your brain has to emit enough of a particular hormone for your body to be able to stay dry through the night, and in some kids it takes longer for the level of that hormone to get high enough. It always gets there. The beauty of this is - it's true!

So how did you manage it until then?

He wore nighttime incontinence underwear, mostly disposable, but sometimes the Tony and Ava's stuff (sleepovers etc.). We bought the goodnites at Target when buying toilet paper and toothpaste. We never made a big deal about it and then one day he said "I haven't been wet in a long time. I'm not going to wear that tonight" and that was it! No shame, no embarrassment.

Did you ever check on him during the night? I’ve tried waking DS up before but it really didn’t make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For girls, I wonder if heavy flow period underwear would work. The brand I use has a stretchy fabric that would probably fit a tween if a size XS is purchased. It holds 5 pads worth of liquid.

Never tried period underwear