That was the route I chose however with the recent changes in my health status it is no longer a practical solution. Personally I think your way is a better approach for someone who does not have a nightly problem. But I also think the diaper companies want to hook you for as long as they can and thats why I think they want kids to wet for as long as possible. I think that if pull ups were around when I was a child my problems would have been much worse. Thats my two cents anyway.

Adam and all when bed wetting started tried to control it but as time went on more accidents came so to protect my wife and bed diapers were a last resort for peice of mind.

Hi,
My parents didn't believe in diapers on older kids so I didn't use them during my childhood. I hated waking everymorning to soaked PJ's however so when I moved out on my own, the diapers went on. I guess everyone has a different preference. I think the diapers were made to catch these nocturnal accidents, so why not use them. If you prefer not to, that's your peroggative.
Live and let live!
lildman53

Interesting. Very interesting.

In my opinion, when it comes to bedwetting, there are two "bottom line" issues.

1) Sleep or, disruption thereof (me, or others)
2) Avoiding mattress damage

Regardless of the solution, the issue is the same regardless of the measures one takes to manage it. Any device, cover, wearable garment, or absorbent product that achieves the above, is largely the same. Pharmaceutical prevention is much different, as are attempts at behavioral prevention. Those target upstream (no pun intended) problems as opposed to the end result.

In my own life, I don't wear diapers often, but do use them traveling (I travel 2 weekends per month or so) and when I have had an accident, or feel that enough triggers are present that I may have an accident.

You are fortunate that the person with whom you share your bed, accepts having to get up in the middle of the night to change the bed or relocate to the guest bedroom or the couch, while you are changing the bed and showering. In my house, sleep is sacred. My life partner and I, both need our beauty rest. If one of us doesn't get it, storm clouds loom on the horizon. For that reason, I try to do whatever it takes to keep our house as happy as possible, and at the same time I'm thankful that my LP does not ridicule me or make me feel bad for my overnight mishaps. In exchange, I offer my best effort to avoid making those mishaps noticeable in any way.

FWIW.

I go the non diaper route. I have had bladder problems since I was four years old, and my parents and I found that when we relied on using things like diapers, my wetting increased and daytime problems increased too. You actually train your mind and your body to rely on the diaper and other protective products to always be there, so you're really training yourself to wet more. Better to go without them in my opinion.

Hi Liter and all I'am not disgreeing but when you have accidents like I have with urge just can't go without protection did try it but not much luck.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies! Ron, I'm sure it's true for many people that their life and work situations would make it highly impractical to go without some sort of "protection" especially in the short run. Yet I also agree with what Liter8ure said -- and have experienced the same thing myself -- that you really can unknowingly "train" your body to rely on the protection, and as a result can gradually "forget" some of the control you have. I noticed exactly the same thing when I tried using Goodnites for my bedwetting while I was in college, and that's a big part of the reason why I've since decided to go without. It's true that it was very convenient, and comfortable, to sleep through the whole night and have the accident contained in the Goodnite, as compared to having to wash the sheets -- but I just couldn't bring myself to accept the situation of having to rely on the Goodnites every night, when I knew that my body was able to have more dry nights without them.

The point I was really trying to make was that it is a personal decision -- and of course everyone's body is different, and so are everyone's living and working circumstances -- and you have to take all of those factors into account in determining wich solution is the best for you.

Thanks again for your replies, and please feel free to share any other thoughts!

I guess, because my urinary sphincters have been surgically destroyed, leaving me totally diaper-dependent for the rest of my life, I really do not belong in this discussion.

Nevertheless, here goes: Although attempts to enhance or retain residual urinary control are commendable, making unrealistic or impossible demands on oneself can lead to depression, and making those same demands on children or adolescents can be worse. I guess the goal should be to be sensitive to the limits of the possible, and to the egos of incontinent individuals, including ourselves.

I am 18, and wet the bed perhaps a couple of times a month. I used to wet the bed most nights, and I have found that wearing a nappy ALWAYS makes me wet it.

The nappy may save the mattress, but it does nothing to help my bladder take control - it's probably something Psychological about having a 'safety net'. I never wear them at home, and am on the whole dry. When I go away I wear them just in case, and of course always wet them.

Fran,

Thanks for the reply... I've never heard of such a stark contrast between your frequency of wetting with vs. without wearing protection... but it makes complete sense to me! In my case (back when I was using protection on a semi-regular basis) I ranged from maybe 2-4 wet nights per month without the protection, to about 4-5 wet nights per WEEK while wearing it, after my body had taken a couple of weeks to adjust to wearing it (the same was true in reverse when it came to reducing my wetting when I switched from wearing it to not).

One difficulty I had with wearing protection was what to do when I did wake up during the night needing to pee -- I usually have to go pretty urgently (and am REALLY tired) when I wake up, and while I would never simply choose to let it go in the protection on purpose, it did create the temptation to just roll over, go back to sleep and let nature take its course -- and more than once I remember debating this in my mind while meanwhile my bladder continued filling up beyond the breaking point and I started to go involuntarily while still debating what to do. Without the protection on I would definitely have been up to use the bathroom before that happened, because I would have been much more afraid of the consequences of a soaked bed. This didn't happen all that often but enough to make me think about it, and was one of the reasons I decided a permanent switch to protection probably wasn't the best thing for me.

Anyone else experience anything like this?

Adam77,
Before my surgery, I was getting myself up so often each night that, in order to keep my bed dry, I was perpetually sleep-deprived. That made driving hazardous, and interfered with many other activities which require alertness. If the choice is between using diapers and sleep deprivation, for safety's sake, please choose diapers.

Paxton,

If it were even remotely a "safety" issue for me (or Fran or any of the others who have posted on this thread, I am sure we would consider that. I don't believe that getting up once, maybe twice a night to use the bathroom qualifies as "sleep deprivation", by any stretch. Annoying sometimes, granted, but it's not like it has such a disastrous impact on my life that I can't drive a car or anything.

Obviously wearing diapers does have the advantage of not having to get up during the night. I think we all realize that. I think the whole point of this thread is that each of us individually has to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each particular option (which will be different for each person) and then make the decision we can best live with. For me, it's pretty clear-cut -- I would MUCH rather get up once or twice a night, and wake up dry 95% of the time, than wake up in a wet diaper every morning even if it did mean sleeping through the night. Obviously if those percentages were changed, or the number of times waking up at night, then my weighing of the pros and cons of each option might be different. But... this is where I am now.

I also realize that someone else in my exact same situation might also choose that they would prefer to wear diapers as a precaution so that they didn't have to get up. That's completely fine with me, as it's their body and their choice. All I'm aiming for here is the recognition that for some of us, not using diapers is also a valid choice. I think too often on these forums it is presented (tacitly if not overtly) as though diapers are the only possible or rational choice for any form of bedwetting, and this can sometimes be intimidating (or at least off-putting) to those of us who choose to manage it by other means.

What I'm hoping to do here is send the message that, if you've weighed the pros and cons and choose to manage your bedwetting by some means other than diapers, that's OK, and you don't need to feel bad about yourself or your choice. If that's gotten across to any others here who are in a similar situation to mine, then my intention has been accomplished. For those of you who, by either choice or necessity or both, do use diapers, I intend no offense at all and am simply hoping we can agree to "live and let live". Fair enough? :)

adam77,
If getting up once or twice a night keeps your bed dry and does not interfere with your sleep, wonderful. That was not my case, so diapers became necessary. Incontinence is so variable that no one solution will fit all, and no one solution will continue to fit an individual over time. The goal is to choose the management modality that works, and always be prepared to change it when the situation changes.

I don't, and never used diapers. Well, I have tried to use them, but I seeped right through them and was useless for me. I just use a mattress cover under my sheets, that protects my mattress. And, just get up and clean myself up and wash my covers and change my bedding. It's like a ritual. If I had the choice, I'd have two beds in my bedroom. So when it happens, just change my clothes and crawl in the other bed, and take care of it when I'm not half asleep. But, unfortunately my bedrooms not that big! :)

Oh, and I would wear them...just to bed...if they would hold my urine like they should, but like I said it just seeps right through when I did try it. Be nice not to have to change the covers every night. :(