Bed wetting mats

[Robostripes]

DS is 5 and has never had a dry night. I’m not particularly concerned about this, he’s still young. He’s perfectly happy to wear a nappy or pull up at night but for the last couple of months he seems to leak through them almost every night! I’m exhausted with the sheet washing.

I’ve tried switching from nappies (he still fits comfortably into size 7 nappies) to the dry nites pyjama pants in case they have greater capacity, but it’s made no difference. We have been lifting him for a wee when we go to bed, but although it helps with the nappy not being quite so full in the morning, it hasn’t helped with the leaks. It seems he must just wriggle around a lot at night.

So I’m looking to get some bed wetting mats in the hope that I won’t need to do a full sheet change every time. Does anyone have any recommendations for reusable ones, I’d rather not be adding more to landfill. I keep getting adverts for PeaPod mats which look great but are very expensive (I’ll need at least two to keep up with the washing!)

Or any tips to stop leaks!

www.brollysheets.co.uk/collections/night-time-bed-wetting any of these any good?

We had reusable mats from Aldi, think they were about £12.99.

You can get similar ones on Amazon.

@EvilOnion thanks - do they stay put ok? Given DS is obviously such a wriggler!

@dementedpixie thanks, those ones look really good because they go under the mattress.

i second brolly sheets. they stay securely on the bed. They do take a while to dry so we had 2.

My children are 8 and 11 now. I still use them if they are ill and i'm worried about them being sick. I also use them with my 11 year old who has recently started her periods.

They are definitely one of my best buys

Kylie pads are very good, look for elderly person incontinence supplies.
They wash well and are available in different sizes

Yes they're great, just make sure you get ones with "tucks", basically 2 flaps of material either side that tuck under the mattress to gold them in place.

Thanks all, will take a look at all of these suggestions and order some to try.

I have heard good things about brolly sheets but haven't personally used them.

We double layer DS's bed - waterproof sheet, fitted sheet, waterproof sheet, fitted sheet - so that if it gets wet in the night I can just whip off the top fitted and waterproof sheet and don't have to faff with putting more sheets on in the middle of the night. We have Nectar waterproof mattress protectors and really rate them.

It might be worth mentioning too that lifting children for a wee isn't generally recommended. It saves the sheets, but also just teaches them to wee while they are asleep and doesn't help the bladder learn to hold for longer periods of time.

My DS is almost 5 and also still in pull-ups at night so I feel the frustration of the wet sheets when the nappies don't hold up and know how convenient lifting feels when you know it will mean the sheets stay dry!

There's lots of really useful advice on the ERIC website. We followed some of that and starting upping his fluid intake during the day (to make sure the bladder has lots of opportunity to exercise/stretch), not letting him drink past 5pm and making sure he does a wee before his shower and then tries for another immediately before bed has really really helped.
Since doing this we've gone from wet sheets 3 or 4 times a week to only 1 a month or so. It's been a better solution for us than any sheet could be.

Writing this as I lay wide awake after another middle of the night complete sheet change 😳 as he’d somehow manage to soak the sheet underneath him, mattress protector, duvet and one pillow. I don’t have a spare duvet so he’s gone back to bed with blankets. I don’t understand how he’s soaking everything - when I got him changed just now it was fairly dry so it’s like an entire wee is somehow going up and over the top of the nappy instead of in it! Maybe his pyjamas are too small and they’re causing the nappy to pull down? I’ll try ordering him some bigger ones.

@TheDamnFoolThatShotHim thanks for those tips. We are already doing the second wee before bed one but I think I am going to have to start trying the others as this is unsustainable! Every single morning this week he’s woken wet, with sometimes his his PJs and the bottom sheet needing washing, sometimes absolutely everything like tonight, and that’s even when we HAVE been lifting him before we go to bed. Is my child some kind of superhuman urine producer?!