www.incontinentsupport.org

Great tips!

Patrick, It seems that I may be getting better long-term use out of my cloth diapers than I expected.

While I still am in my "trial and error" phase, I am encouraged enough that I just ordered a pair of jeans (black, of course) in a relaxed fit and large enough to accommodate a cloth diaper for day wear away from home. We shall see how that goes. Of course, "willingness to experiment includes willingness to fail."

Papa, I am in full agreement with what you said about there being no single "best diaper." Ditto re the psychological reasons involved with all of the testing. I will readily admit that all of my research and testing of diapers and other incontinence-related products is, in part, a psychological means to assert more control over my incontinence. Yes, "it is what it is."

--John

JD,

While experimentation is psychologically useful, our changing bodies make experimentation a necessary aspect of coping. I must continually manage my diet and GI medications; so also with incontinence management. No solution will ever be final, which makes flexibility and willingness to change so important.

I'm considering going to cloth diapers for the night - since I have had wetting accidents at night, at first I just used a disposable pull up but quickly found out that wasn't going to work as I have ruined the first madress some time ago well, that meant both waterproof sheets and real diapers. My wife actually asked the pharmacy about it - I was too shy to do it myself, and since then I have been in tape diapers each night. However they have failed me a few times now, mainly because I a sidesleeper as well as a heavy sleeper and I don't even wake up when my bladder empties...

However I'm clueless on what to buy....prefolds seem overkill, and I have looked at pull ups, but from reading others posts about pull-ups I'm not so sure about them also since I have terrible experiences with disposable pull-ups for night use. I have also beeing looking at some contour clothdiapers, they seem to be the easiest to put on, but are they up for the task - as it varies how much I wet at night?

jms,

If reliable nighttime protection is your goal, contour diapers and pull-ups will be a waste of money and time. Go for heavyweight diapers, sized large enough to accommodate the inevitable shrinkage during laundering and drying and still offer effective protection.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Patrick,
Agreed re heavyweight cloth diapers for reliable night-time protection. Thankfully, I knew to stay away from contour diapers. I use heavyweight diapers at night (with extra absorption added) and also around the house during the mornings as they give me more time between changes.

jms,
I only recently began wearing cloth at night and I am absolutely sold on them - not a single leak since I began! Prefolds probably are not overkill for you. The extra layers sewn into the center panel are what will give you the additional absorption to save you from a leak and give you extra time before you need to change. One word of advice, you may need to select a size one larger than what the charts say you can wear in a cloth diaper. You want the width to be large enough that the waist wraps around you far enough to make it easy to fasten the diaper and also to provide a little more coverage at the thighs for more absorption there if you are a side-sleeper. However, given the cost of good cloth diapers, it would be prudent to order only one at first and try it out. I prefer to use pins to fasten the diaper but others prefer to use Velcro. A downside to Velcro fasteners is they will tend to stick to everything in the wash unless you cover the Velcro with something when you put them into the wash. Don't forget plastic or PUL pants sized for a cloth diaper. The plastic pants must completely cover the cloth diaper, even at the waist in back.

--John

JMS, There is no such thing as "over kill" when it comes to night time diapers. It simply means you will never have to wake up in a wet or damp bed ever again. With the extra protection comes freedom in the mornings to just get up and make coffee and enjoy it while you read the paper or brose the internet. You can never wear too much protection, only too little. And with that peace of mind and the comfort of cloth diapers, you will sleep better. Papa

Thanks a lot for all of your advices.
I have bought two prefolds as recommended, I made the decision to take the jump, after I woke up yesterday morning in a wet bed once again. To be honest I cant wait to get them and have a nice long sleep without worrying about wetting the bed due to my diaper leaking.
I also got one pair of the Gary plastic pants with high waist I recon high waist may come in usefull......

Good luck jms! You made good choices. I hope you have as good an experience wearing cloth at night as I and others have enjoyed.

Last night was a very wet night for me and I know that I peed on at least three occasions. Nonetheless, as Papa has indicated, I was able to ignore that and get a good night's rest with total peace of mind. Then, when I woke up, I did not have to worry about whether I had leaked overnight and I did not have to immediately rush to the bathroom to change the diaper.

It is a leisurely Sunday morning and I am enjoying my second cup of coffee while watching the news - while still wearing the overnight cloth combo and not worrying about leaks. In this instance I am wearing a day-weight diaper inside a pinned night-weigh diaper. That is more absorbency than I really need, but today is laundry day and I was out of extra soaker pads to go with the night diaper. Surprisingly the combination is rather comfortable. I am getting ready to change after having the cloth diaper on for 11 hours - and this combination would be good for 12+.

--John

When it comes to nighttime diaper protection, I'd say that too much is just about right. Being able to sleep soundly, knowing that my diaper can handle whatever my body throws at it, is both a luxury and a necessity.

Got my prefolds a couple of days ago together with a plastic pant.
Besides the embarressment of having to lay on the floor to fasten the diaper it was a blast I have to say. I was a bit anxious when I went to bed - would the diaper and pants hold? When I woke in the morning I could feel my prefold being rather wet (something I have gotten used to unfortunately) but the bed wasn't wet and for the first time in a long time I got myself a good long sleep, though I did remember waking up slightly when my bladder let loose during the night, I feared that once again the bed as wet, but no, and I quickly drifted back to sleep again.

Only thing I'm sorry about is, that I didn't take this route before when I started wetting in bed, going the cloth route.

Even though it really is a hassle putting on and fastening the prefold and some nights I'm just soo tired so I consider skipping and just use a disposable, the prefolds are worth it, and my wife also appreciates it though she says, that I tend to smell more in the morning but she also appreciates not having to wake up to wet sheets in the morning.