they can has rooms!-lias kids living like human beings....

[tabitha2]

this for the next youngest girl who was also a wetter. just gonna assume this is true now

Our Little Bedwetter

November 29, 2005 by kimc

She’s old enough to care now, with no end in sight. Every now and then the nighttime wetting seems to wane, but just when we think it’s over, it becomes a regular occurance.

This is not a great concern to us. We are not really inclined to sink a lot of money and time into the high-tech systems we’ve heard about. Bedwetting runs in the family, so we rather expected it eventually, and Her Age is not a grand old age to be still experiencing this problem.

However, A Girl of Her Age is at a perfect time to learn to be self-sufficient in taking care of the problem. Our little wetter can strip her bed when she gets up, and start her sheet, blanket and clothes in the washer all by herself. This is a huge morale booster to a child who was becoming frustrated and embarrassed by the issue.

Another big help was when we finally settled on a sleeping “system.†Previously, she had been sharing a twin bed with 2 other small sisters. For obvious reasons, they were not entirely kind about waking up wet, and the mattress had to go. We had to figure out what to do about this before we replaced the mattress.

We tried pullups: too expensive as a long term solution.

I bought extra large washable training pants: very uncomfortable and they just didn’t do the job.

I bought an absorbant crib-size mattress pad to go under her while she slept: again, it just didn’t do the job.

We put trashbags under her: they were slippery and noisy and sticky and just wouldn’t stay in place.

She even slept on the floor: but carpet is just as hard to properly clean as a mattress.

Finally, we hit upon our solution. In the past, to help with space issues, we have often slid a twin-sized mattress under the ever-present bunkbeds as a makeshift “trundle bed.†Slide it out at night, put it away during the day.

This time, for several reasons, we went with a crib mattress.

If she wakes up wet, she can change her clothes, pull off the sheet, and grab a new blanket. In the morning, she takes care of her laundry, and nobody even really notices.

Some advantages of a crib mattress rather than twin size:

â—¾She can pull it out and push it in herself

â—¾Easier for a Girl of Her Age to strip the bed and make the bed alone

â—¾Less laundry (smaller sheets and blankets)

â—¾Most have a waterproof covering so they wipe clean

â—¾Cheaper

◾If it survives, it will take less storage space until the next bedwetter comes along…

Our daughter can’t wait until she will wake up dry every night – she hates that cold clammy feeling in the middle of the night. She’s delighted on those rare occasions that she wakes up to use the bathroom, and she eagerly takes daytime naps because she seems to sleep a little lighter at night when she’s well rested.

But in the meantime, she is so thankful to have a low-key way of dealing with her little problem. So am I.

[Morton Fan]

this for the next youngest girl who was also a wetter. just gonna assume this is true now

So, to clarify ... the girl is old enough to do her own laundry, yet still sleeps on a crib mattress? :oops:

[Widget]

So, to clarify ... the girl is old enough to do her own laundry, yet still sleeps on a crib mattress? :oops:

Yep.

Because that totally makes more sense than a $30 waterproof washable mattress cover and a bag of generic pullups like normal people buy for their nocturnal enuresis suffering offspring.

[Patsy]

I think I'd rather sleep on a crib mattress than a twin mattress shared between three.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Also I think the problem is there is only one point of egress. If there is a fire in the bedroom and no window in the closet (cause MOST closets don't have windows) there is no way to get out.

At least here in Illinois, in order for you to officially advertise (for rent) a room as a bedroom, it has to have two exits, one can be a window but it has to be a certain size so an adult can climb out of it.

Meaning, you CAN rent out a basement as an apartment, but only if the sleeping area has a window of a certain size.

Obviously if it's your own kids in your own privately owned residence the state is never going to know but just saying, that's the official opinion on bedrooms.

[Freyacat]

Yep.

Because that totally makes more sense than a $30 waterproof washable mattress cover and a bag of generic pullups like normal people buy for their nocturnal enuresis suffering offspring.

Wow, that's sad. I just bought a carton of 72 pull ups for my son. According to my receipt, it was $34.99. Now, if you're changing the kid eight times a day, that could add up. We do try to be frugal and we used cloth diapers until he was pretty much in undies all day; I tried to keep using the cloth diapers for overnight wetness, but quickly discovered that they get much stinkier when you only have enough dirty ones to wash them every 7-10 days or so, instead of washing every other day like I did when he was in diapers around the clock. So I switched to disposable pull ups. But if you're only using them for bedwetting accidents, it's just not that expensive. $34.99 for 72 works out to just under 49 cents each. A kid who's only using them to prevent bedwetting should only be using 1 or 2 (if they wake up soaked in the middle of the night) pull ups per night. So that works out to at most 98 cents per day to keep your kid from having to sleep on a pee stained filthy mattress and keep the child from feeling embarrassed every morning. And if 98 cents a day is too much to ensure your child is sleeping in clean conditions, then it's probably time to stop having children.

[Widget]

Wow, that's sad. I just bought a carton of 72 pull ups for my son. According to my receipt, it was $34.99. Now, if you're changing the kid eight times a day, that could add up. We do try to be frugal and we used cloth diapers until he was pretty much in undies all day; I tried to keep using the cloth diapers for overnight wetness, but quickly discovered that they get much stinkier when you only have enough dirty ones to wash them every 7-10 days or so, instead of washing every other day like I did when he was in diapers around the clock. So I switched to disposable pull ups. But if you're only using them for bedwetting accidents, it's just not that expensive. $34.99 for 72 works out to just under 49 cents each. A kid who's only using them to prevent bedwetting should only be using 1 or 2 (if they wake up soaked in the middle of the night) pull ups per night. So that works out to at most 98 cents per day to keep your kid from having to sleep on a pee stained filthy mattress and keep the child from feeling embarrassed every morning. And if 98 cents a day is too much to ensure your child is sleeping in clean conditions, then it's probably time to stop having children.

Seriously :(

And even if the child is too big for pullups I just checked and generic adult diapers are 36 for $15.44. 42 cents twice a night is 84 cents.

Each load of laundry costs about $1.00 including water, detergent, and energy. It is cheaper to do it right!

[veron1que]

Those poor kids, sharing a bed with a sibling peeing all over the bed. uh. I would've slept on the floor.

[Hisey]

My oldest had a very small bladder, and could not stay dry till her fifth birthday. But we never called her a "bed-wetter" or required her to do laundry. We put a pullup on her every night and took it off in the morning. Never discussed it much with her, really We knew it was beyond her control. I doubt she even remembers it. When she was 5, the problem suddenly disappeared.

My brother also could not go through the night without wetting. This was before pullups. So my mother just woke him around 11 p.m, steered him into the bathroom. He emptied his bladder and that was that.

Kim's method seems unnecessarily complicated and labor intensive. And she can't afford one pullup a night? Maybe she should spend less on guns.

[Mama Mia]

Would that be on the same theory as when you are toilet training in general and it is better not to go with pull-ups because kids figure it out faster ? Don't know if it would be the same at night.

[Widget]

Would that be on the same theory as when you are toilet training in general and it is better not to go with pull-ups because kids figure it out faster ? Don't know if it would be the same at night.

Nighttime only wetters may not even wake up when they are fully wet and sleeping in a puddle. They literally can't help it because their brains sleep too deeply to get the wakeup signal from their bladder.

That's why it's especially cruel to humiliate and punish kids of all ages for wetting the bed.

[Mama Mia]

Nighttime only wetters may not even wake up when they are fully wet and sleeping in a puddle. They literally can't help it because their brains sleep too deeply to get the wakeup signal from their bladder.

That's why it's especially cruel to humiliate and punish kids of all ages for wetting the bed.

That makes sense. Only one of my kids had that issue, and it was only once in awhile, so didn't know.

I can see the crib mattress making sense because they are easy to clean and light weight, but if it's all the time than pull-ups would seem to be much more practical.

[DarkAnts]

My parents solved the problem with an alarm clock. It would go off at 12:00 am. I would get up and go use the bathroom. It did not work perfectly, but it made a big difference. Its also inexpensive.

I do think its insulting to call a child a wetter.

[salex]

So for now 7yo is w/oldest sister & 1yo is in our closet… What do we do???

In the closet? :shock:

[yewchapel]

Nighttime only wetters may not even wake up when they are fully wet and sleeping in a puddle. They literally can't help it because their brains sleep too deeply to get the wakeup signal from their bladder.

That's why it's especially cruel to humiliate and punish kids of all ages for wetting the bed.

Yep this was me - until the age of 15 :(

My dad could be really cruel about it in particular. It turned out to be a pelvic floor issue which I managed to fix with kegels, but it was a pretty traumatic thing to endure.

[Mama Mia]

In the closet? :shock:

I"d have to see the floor plan, but my master bedroom closet is an L Shape an one part of it is roughly 10x14 and has a window..... it could be a nursery and still have room in the other part for closet use. It isn't-- but it could be.

[Feberin]

Wow, that's sad. I just bought a carton of 72 pull ups for my son. According to my receipt, it was $34.99. Now, if you're changing the kid eight times a day, that could add up. We do try to be frugal and we used cloth diapers until he was pretty much in undies all day; I tried to keep using the cloth diapers for overnight wetness, but quickly discovered that they get much stinkier when you only have enough dirty ones to wash them every 7-10 days or so, instead of washing every other day like I did when he was in diapers around the clock. So I switched to disposable pull ups. But if you're only using them for bedwetting accidents, it's just not that expensive. $34.99 for 72 works out to just under 49 cents each. A kid who's only using them to prevent bedwetting should only be using 1 or 2 (if they wake up soaked in the middle of the night) pull ups per night. So that works out to at most 98 cents per day to keep your kid from having to sleep on a pee stained filthy mattress and keep the child from feeling embarrassed every morning. And if 98 cents a day is too much to ensure your child is sleeping in clean conditions, then it's probably time to stop having children.

They wouldn't have the problem with cloth piling up since they have babies. My three year old is big for his age and fits with room to spare in large fuzzi buns for overnight. And one more diaper hardly makes a difference in laundry instead of washing sheets daily. If Kim wanted a cloth option she should have purchased something decent with lots of absorbency. I bet the washable training pants were designed for minor daytime accidents not overnight. If cloth options don't work or she doesn't want to pay the start up costs then buy pull ups, good nights or adult diapers.

[Worldofchances2giveu]

The older girls sleeping that way is perfectly normal.

When I was 14 I preferred my room like that. The bed was always in the way and I hated it anyways and I always slept anywhere else including falling asleep in the floor in front of my bed watching movies instead of on the too soft bed. Of course this drove my parents mad and they were scared of child protective services thinking they were neglecting me.

So much so that eventually when we moved and they made me get a bed for room again - it was horrible sleeping on it for the first bit. I was so used to sleeping on a hard surface a soft one killed my back.

It's understandable why they wouldn't want beds and spend the money on something fun.

[starfish]

OT, but patriarch Perry just gives me the creeps. Kim acts like he's her lord and master, but he's weird and not smart.

[Lulu]

I really dont understand letting a child wet the bed as opposed to them using a nappy/pullup system. We used a combination of cloth and compostable pads. With the child that still wet when older we moved in to adult incontinence system-PUL undies with a compostable pad or folded cloth terry flat. And again I don't understand the not enough cloth to do a load of washing you can do a 1/2 load or even, shock horror, hand wash.

I am, as you might guess, a big cloth nappy advocate. I'm way tooooooo cheap to use disposables but still none of mine have had to wet the bed night after night.

With the children sleeping to a closet, not sure. I've seen some nice ones done of pintrest and the like and have considered doing it to my daughters room. They have a double wardrobe and thought I could take the doors off, set the bunk in the alcove and have the rest of the floor space for them to enjoy. Having 6 children my kids have always shared 2 to a room except for a few months when we were in a rental and the 4 boys 11, 10, 6 and 5 shared. It was a big room, master sized, but still the fights.......

[notablesquid]

I'm a bit behind the curve - how did they sudenly afford such a better place than what they had?

I don't think this had anything to do with Dougie P paying more money to VF employees, since God should provide, not man. The Coghlans had an extra mortgage on their books for years after moving to TX - they hadn't sold their Ohio home and had to pay it for years until they ditched it in short sale.

My guess is that their extra income for the new place was simply the money they weren't paying on their first house anymore.

inashoe.com/2009/06/7-year-stupid-tax/

[mostlylurk]

She's also mentioned their teenagers going to work in the warehouse with Perry from time to time, so they may have some extra money coming in from that.

[Freyacat]

I really dont understand letting a child wet the bed as opposed to them using a nappy/pullup system. We used a combination of cloth and compostable pads. With the child that still wet when older we moved in to adult incontinence system-PUL undies with a compostable pad or folded cloth terry flat. And again I don't understand the not enough cloth to do a load of washing you can do a 1/2 load or even, shock horror, hand wash.

I am, as you might guess, a big cloth nappy advocate. I'm way tooooooo cheap to use disposables but still none of mine have had to wet the bed night after night.

With the children sleeping to a closet, not sure. I've seen some nice ones done of pintrest and the like and have considered doing it to my daughters room. They have a double wardrobe and thought I could take the doors off, set the bunk in the alcove and have the rest of the floor space for them to enjoy. Having 6 children my kids have always shared 2 to a room except for a few months when we were in a rental and the 4 boys 11, 10, 6 and 5 shared. It was a big room, master sized, but still the fights.......

Personally, I thought it was more wasteful to use the washer for tiny loads of 3 diapers than to use disposables, and they smelled too bad if we let them go more than 3 days - again, we're only really using one per day, at night. I also thought it was frankly gross to either throw the cloth diaper in with other clothes or to wash it by hand in the same sink I use for other purposes, like cleaning hands or, in the kitchen sink, food prep. Maybe I'm a touch germaphobic. There are worse things to be! Anyways, I figured one disposable pull up a day is just not the end of the world, but YMMV. I'm not what I would call a cloth diaper "advocate." I used them because I'm cheap, and I frankly don't care what anyone else uses on their kid, as long as they aren't, y'know, letting them sleep in a puddle every night like Kim is apparently doing to her daughter.

[Katiebug]

And what's with the wet bedding every morning? This kind of implies they are changing the toddler bedding every morning, which is easier than changing full size bedding. I have a 3 yr old boy who can't yet hold his bladder all night, and pull ups work pretty well. And he's a really heavy wetter, the pull up is puffy and drenched in the morning. Every now and then his tossing and turning at night wrenches the pull up crooked and he leaks, but it's certainly not a daily occurrence to have wet bedding. I'm wondering whether her daughter is an unusually heavy overnight wetter, or if she's too cheap to buy pull ups.

I was wondering the same. Our 2.5 year old girl is very reliably day trained, but needs to be in something overnight to avoid wetting the bed. She's a fairly heavy wetter and either a standard Pull-up or a pocket cloth trainer stuffed with a diaper insert is sufficient. I can't remember the last time we had to change her bedding because of an overnight leak. We used cloth part time - disposables at daycare, cloth at home - so we had prefolds and diaper inserts in the house already. I think our 3 pairs of pocket cloth trainers cost me under $50 when purchased new and if I was so inclined I could have sewn them myself for much less. I got gender-neutral colors so we can use them for the next child too. Laundering is a bit of a pain because she's day trained, so we're not washing a load of diapers 2-3 times a week anymore, but once the new baby comes this summer that won't be an issue. :lol: I'd still rather wash wet cloth trainers in a small load than wash toddler bedding EVERY DAY.

With coupons and sales, you can get Pullups/Easy Ups/store brand disposable training pants for very cheap and she would only be using one a night so a box would go a long way. A friend with a heavy wetter will put a maxi pad in a Pullup for overnight use rather than buying the more expensive overnight pullups meant for older children.

I get wanting to see if the child is ready to hold his/her bladder overnight, and that there may be occasional bedwetting while the kiddo gets the hang of it. If the bedding is wet on a nightly basis that means the child just isn't ready yet and that's OK - a lot of kids don't have overnight bladder control until they're 4 or 5 or even older. I personally think it's more hygienic and less distressing for a child to be in a diaper or pullup of some sort (disposable or cloth) rather than waking up in a wet bed each morning. I don't want my child laying in urine-soaked sheets; not only would it add to the laundry pile but she'd need a bath before daycare. It would also reinforce to the child the "failure" to have overnight bladder control and I think that could actually be counterproductive or upsetting. :(

[SomewhatFundy]

Okay the "wetter" thing PISSES ME OFF.

I have several adult clients who deal with incontinence. Some of those psychotropics they are on knock them out, they could easily sleep through the apocalypse never mind a full bladder.

You know how much it was for me to get them mattress covers? $8.00 a piece at walmart. They do wear attends/depends as well when they go to bed...but let's be honest. Those things won't always hold 8+ hours worth of urine. So the mattress covers are kind of a must. Any kid older than toddler-age could probably wipe out a pull-up overnight too.

Why won't this idiot just buy a dang mattress cover? Or better yet, buy a plastic-wrapped twin mattress. Then it can be reused for the next "wetter" (I hate that freaking term. How degrading.)

I am not against having the child in question take care of their wet linens if they are old enough....in theory. So long as parent is like "Hey, accidents happen. No big deal, but we should throw this bedding in the wash real quick. Will you help me?" And so long as the kid doesn't feel like they are being made a spectacle of in front of the rest of the family.

But knowing that these people care so little for their kids that they aren't willing to shell out EIGHT FREAKING DOLLARS to keep them from sleeping in their own piss-soaked mattress, tells me that overnight accidents aren't probably handled in a manner that is discrete and caring in The Shoe.

What ridiculous people.