DIY Bedwetting Solution – Parenting Hack

 

If you have a child with developmental disabilities and special needs you might run into the problem of bedwetting.  Even if you don’t have a child with special needs you might have this problem.  However, it is definitely more prevalent in children with moderate disabilities and delays.  The way I see it, as a mom, we can hope that our child wakes up dry each day and they might wake up dry… or they might wet the bed.  We could end up changing their sheets every other day (or more often) or we can put them back in diapers.  What happens if your child is too big for diapers?  What happens when that child starts to realize that they are still wearing diapers but their siblings and other children are not? What happens if they regress once they realize that?

I have tried many forms of overnight diapers and bed pads for my son.  We want to allow him to grow in his independence while not having these same issues night after night.

 

Recently, while shopping for groceries, I came across Tru-Fit Underwear.  They are located in the diaper aisle.  They are real underpants that have an internal gusset and waterproof lining.  They come with 5 disposable inserts in the first pack.  The inserts are like large disposable pads that fit into this underwear.  The beauty of this product is that they truly look like real underwear from the outside.  They fit underneath PJs.  They allow him to easily use the bathroom if he does wake up while not flooding the bed if he doesn’t.  My son was very enthusiastic about using them and they do work very well.

The Good and Bad

One of the problem with them is they look so much like underwear and they are so thick they are hard for the child to tell that they wet. This is good and bad…they contain leaks, the bed stays dry.  I do want him to realize when he has had an accident, though. In the morning, he wasn’t sure if he had had an accident.  This was going well, until the one day when he by mistake put his underwear in his hamper without realizing that the insert has to be thrown away.  I didn’t catch it in time and it ended up in the wash.  If you’ve ever washed a disposable diaper in the wash, you know how bad this is.  It gets all over everything.  EVERYTHING.  I must have washed the load 15 times to get rid of all the remnants of the gel.  Also, these inserts can be slightly expensive.  A pack of 18 is priced between $9-$12.  I am partial to cloth diapers.  I’ve used cloth diapers since my oldest child was a newborn baby.  I truly love using them, so it was only natural for me to try to create a cloth diapering product for older kids.

 

DIY Bedwetting Solution

I decided to try an experiment. I decided to make my own inserts.  We already use cloth diapers on baby, so why not make some cloth inserts?

I gathered my supplies.

Birdseye Fabric (Like in some cloth diapers)

Microfiber Towels

Disappearing Ink Fabric Pen

 

This is so easy.  First, draw a template of what you are trying to make.  Then copy it onto your birdseye fabric.

Make sure the fabric is folded or doubled so when you cut, you are cutting two pieces.  Fold your microfiber towels the long way by thirds.  Place it in the center, sandwiched between both pieces of birdseye fabric.  Sew around the edge with a zig zag stich.  Then sew around where the microfiber towel is placed with a straight stitch (this is to hold it in place).

 

Voila: You have created your own insert! This one is more for a lighter bed-wetter.  If you have a heavy wetting child you might need to put two towels inside the cotton or follow the instructions below.

Start with a scrap piece of fleece and either two microfiber towels or an old prefold diaper.  I used a prefold diaper folded in thirds.

Cut two pieces of fleece the same side.  Roughly needs to be the length of the disposable insert.     Line them up and sew down one long side, one short side and continue sewing the length of the other long side.  Leave the other short end opened.

 

 

You’ve just created a fleece pocket.  Now turn it inside out so that the seems are on the inside.

 

 

 

 

Now you just need to stuff the prefold (or towel) inside the pocket.  The pocket can be placed inside of the underwear or inside of other waterproof pants. The fleece acts as a barrier that wicks away moisture from the skin.

 

 

I hope this helps you and your child sleep better and stay dryer!