Bed mats - why can I only buy Pampers which are very expensive

[VoluptuaGoodshag]

Have they taken a patent out on them or what? Every other supermarket does it's own brand nappies so why not bed mats?

Why? (foot tapping impatiently)

do you need them?
would a washable waterproof one you can reuse (eg Hippychick or these German ones)?

I wouldn't bother meself. We bought 3 plasticised terry fitted sheets and three flannelette ones. Fold flat sheets over and tuck under sides in appropriate place over each waterproof sheet Interleave them IYSWIM all on at once, then whip off the top two layers when wet.

Mind you you might have had some other plan for the bed mats in which case this advice (unsolicited) is completely useless.

I'll get my coat...

We use washable ones we got from Boots. They have definitely been worth it.

I do have the terry/PVC ones as well and I just put a towel down between them and the sheet to absorb most of the wee but I was just curious as to why there are no other manufacturers of disposable bed mats.

perhaps the market is small because we all use washable ones?

i found the washable ones rubbish and some of the heavier duty ones too rustly for the girls to sleep on. we use bedmats could definitely use some other competition in the market to drive the price down

Boots do disposable 'maternity bedmats' which might do the job. They don't have the big flaps for tucking under the bed, though, so may not work as well as the proper ones

Mothercare do some disposable ones (although also flapless), although I don't know how the cost compares with Pampers.

Boots have their own brand which are much cheaper.

I think the Pampers ones are great - my son wets his bed once in a blue moon and has always got a very sweaty head using the waterproof washable ones I've tried (and I tried several types, all claiming not to cause this problem). If you only need to change them very seldom, the Pampers bedmats are definitely worth it - I just leave one under my son's bedsheets all the time for the rare occasion it is needed and have a normal, non-waterproof mattress cover that is non-sweaty (and no towels, etc). Because it doesn't cover the whole bed, it's easy to take off and replace.

They are also great for travelling with - we went on an extended holiday recently, staying in hotels and at friends' houses, and ended up using them all up on our children vomiting and having diarrhoea on them (yes, we took norovirus on holiday with us...). They were usefully absorbent and soft to lie on, so went on top of all the bed sheets on this occasion! I was devastated to find that Pampers disposable bedmats aren't on sale in other countries, and there were no alternatives on offer either. So I agree, there ought to be a bit more competition out there, because there are definitely occasions when they are invaluable.

Gat a washable one from John Lewis. They are about £18 and they wash and dry really well.