Bed wetting - soooo sick of all the laundry

[Mrsacemay]

Can anyone offer practical advice for how to manage the laundry that comes with nightly bed wetting? Is there a special trick I'm missing to minimise laundry?

With 2 older children wetting the bed at least once per night, and pull-ups being advised against by the medical team, I just don't know how I'm going to keep up with the laundry. It's been hard enough this summer washing bed pads and thin fleece blankets with 1-2 loads per day on top of usual washing, but I just won't be able to keep up if I'm having to wash duvets every day too.

I've previously bought waterproof duvets but they were so plasticcy and horrible they were no use. Maybe there's a brand that is better quality? I'm more than happy to spend some money on a solution that works.

Any suggestions gratefully received 🙏

Sorry, I think this is terrible advice. I get where you're coming from, but surely listen to the professionals who do this for a living.

£75.99?! For the Kylie duvet!

My 8 year old stopped over the summer, shortly after I told her she could start changing her own bed. Hopefully a coincidence, or that’s bit galling to think she kind of had a choice all along and just couldn’t be bothered !

You can get washable incontinence pants, some have an extra washable pad that can be put in to boost the amount that can be absorbed. I have continence problems & have found that restricting fluids actually makes things worse. I now drink at least 2 litres a day so my bladder gets properly full but the urine isn't concentrated. Have you tried pumpkin seed oil capsules? They really do help. What about setting alarms through the night to get them to wake up & go to the toilet? Start at every 2 hours & gradually move up to 3 hours then lengthen the intervals.

Are you aware of the charity ERIC their helpline is staffed by continence experts and may be helpful to you. More practical perhaps than the health team.
I used something called Peapod pads. Similar to kylies used in care homes ( which are cheaper but very synthetic) - you just wash the pad not the whole bedding.
Also if their beef is because of the child needing to feel the wetness, cloth night nappies might be better as they don't wick away.

We use a waterproof duvet cover - it feels like paper, but doesn't rip and keeps the duvet dry. It doesn't seem to absorb anything/much, so I only wash the waterproof duvet cover every couple of weeks

Still leave you with bed pad, sheet and duvet cover every day though. But a massive relief not to be washing the duvet daily!

@Mrsacemay wake them for a wee at 11 ish when you go to bed perhaps ? Cap fluids at 5pm no juice at all later in the day

Thanks everyone. I've ordered the Asda coverless duvet recommended and will see how we get on.

Great point about making sure he changes his own bed, I will do this more consistently.

I have looked on the Eric website but good idea to give them a call and see what they recommend.

We also found it wasn’t the last wee he had before bed that was the most important, but rather the couple before that. checking he went at 6,7 and 8 made a difference

Expensive but still preferable to having to wash and dry a duvet every day particularly in winter.

@Blowitout I'm amazed at the price point, but if it works for you good, I think it's unachievable for a lot of people which is a shame

I was in the same boat with two bed wetters. I feel your pain, I did pants with pull ups over the top so they felt wet. That way I only had pants to wash… tried everything. I used washable bed pads Medoris pads saved kids mattress. Alarms didn’t work, medication didn’t either. Eventually they grew out of. It was a very process!

Echo the pp about getting the children to change their own beds - be firm and consistent.

also, highly recommend getting them to wash the wet bedding - every day if necessary

I agree, these things should be accessible cost-wise . But I was also spending £5/10 a week on nighttime pull ups so it soon paid for itself

@Blowitout I'm not disagreeing with you, I've spent a fortune on mobility aids and try to look for similar/same items under different guises.

We used hippychick waterproof sheets, which are a lot nicer than cheaper ones. They do duvet protectors too. You are allowed to tell me I'm disgusting, but while we washed the cotton sheet every time, we just let the waterproof sheets dry out most days - they really didn't smell too bad.

Following as my 7yo is here too... it's breaking me

To try and save the duvet we put an extra blanket under the duvet, so at least if that got nailed it would fit in the washing machine and the duvet might stay dry

Can I ask did your 8yo wake wet, or did she just sleep in wet clothes even if she has an accident?

I was starting to think it was laziness with my 7yo DD so took the the pull ups away a fortnight ago but we're not really getting anywhere (so much laundry) and she will sleep through an accident entirely - so I end up getting up in the night to check on her so she's not sleeping wet and dirty. I'm exhausted.

My DS was the same. It's absolutely exhausting and awful for all of us. He was under the care of the enuresis clinic at our local hospital and they started him on desmopressin tablets. It was life changing and stopped the bed wetting the night he started it. He took it for a while then we gradually, slowly weaned him off it and he never has a problem now.
I would try this if you haven't already OP.

To add to this - my son is nearly 8 and is in nappies at bedtime (full Tena slips because pull ups aren’t absorbent enough) and his medical team have advised this. The issue isn’t that your DC isn’t waking when they wee, it’s that they have a small bladder capacity and you’re working on that…so in the mean time, go back to pull ups. When the bladder capacity issue is dealt with, then remove the pull ups to help them wake at night.

My son is in Desmopressin and Oxybutynin and is still wetting at night - I’m so glad it worked for your DC! It has made a small amount of difference here (in that if I forget to give it to him, his nappy will leak) but they’re still pretty full most mornings.

This was specifically advised against last time I was looking into it. It had made our child worse when we were doing it. He went to two wet beds a night. Might work for some though.

This kind of mattress protector (not necessarily this brand but the ones that are soft (towelling?) on top and rubbery on bottom) are good, but only if you wash them at 40 or less degrees and never tumble dry them. I've had some for years and others that got tangled up in the washing pile and were rendered unless instantly. The thick incontinence bed protectors are good too, as they are smaller area to only cover the main area, so can prevent having to change the whole bed in the night and way easier to wash/dry. Get the child on board too, get them to strip the bits off the bed that need it and take them to the washing machine. Sounds cruel but will help them appreciate the impact (I'm sure they already do but it's worth a try) and perhaps help them wake up around the time they need to go? Also, it's worth knowing that along with many many other reasons, bedwetting with older children can be associated with emotional abuse (I'm trying to be careful here but if one parent is emotionally abusive to another this can definitely be a factor). It's tough, I sympathise.

Silentnight Waterproof Mattress Protector – Deep 30cm Fitted Skirt and Soft Touch Quiet Rustle Free Cover – Machine Washable and Hypoallergenic – Single 90 x 190 x 30cm, White : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Also, I was told absolutely no blackcurrant type drinks ever. No science, but kind of like when the nurse whispers that you should add salt to your bath 😂