Disposable Diapers For Older Children And Teenagers With Bedwetting Problems

The most commonly used disposable garments used to manage bedwetting with older children and teenagers are "Goodnites" and pull-ups. "Goodnites" were introduced into the market place several years ago for older children and teenagers with bedwetting problems because it was thought that this style of garment would be less stigmatizing to wear. The thinking was that because these garments were designed to look like underwear as opposed to looking like diapers,an older child or teen would be less embarrassed to wear protection to bed. However as this article points out a large number of people feel that diapers are the garments most suitable to manage heavier forms of incontinence such as bedwetting. Many bedwetters have large voids during the night and for some bedwetters garments such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" aren't up to the task of managing their nighttime incontinence.Some people have leaked through garments such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" and for these individuals diapers are a good option to consider.There are a number of features of disposable diapers that make them an ideal choice to manage bedwetting. This article talks about those features and why parents should consider using diapers as a management tool for their youngster's bedwetting. Unfortunately the majority of the public feel that diapers should only be used for babies.


I feel that the following quote from "Diapers Get a Bum Wrap"(which is the second chapter of The New Diaper Primer,a very good resource) sums up the current thinking about this subject perfectly: "This infantile image keeps many,if not most,incontinent children and adults out of diapers and struggling with leaks,wet beds,and so on. We can still cringe to hear the oft-told story of a bed-wetting youngster and the mounds of laundry daily with sheets,blankets,pajamas,not to mention the emotional stress and loss of sleep from interruptions during the night. But if we were to suggest it might be much easier on everyone if the youngster wore diapers to bed,the reply would be an astonished and/or indignant stare while maintaining that the youngster is too old to be wearing diapers. Again,that unshakable stigma!"
This article focuses on disposable diapers for older children and teenagers that wet the bed.

The article is broken up into several parts. The first few sections talk about the advantages disposable diapers have over the more popular disposable garments used to manage bedwetting such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" The next section(pages 5-9) talk about the different brands of disposable diapers available for older bedwetters as well as places that sell these brands. In addition this section talks about where to get samples of the various brands mentioned in this article. In the interest of time, some parents might want to skim through the first few sections just to get an overview of the various features of disposable diapers that give them an advantage over garments such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" and go directly to page 5. You can then read pages 5 through 9 to consider what brand(or brands) of diapers to buy and where to purchase these brands. Finally I also offer advice for parents who may be having a difficult time deciding on whether to purchase pin-on cloth diapers or disposable diapers for their bedwetter. For a more in depth discussion regarding pin-on cloth diapers I encourage you to read my article "Information Regarding Pin-On Diapers for Older Children and Teenagers that Wet the Bed."


First off I'd like to introduce some terminology which parents should become familiar with. When buying diapers for your older child or teenager that wets the bed be aware that these garments are not referred to as diapers but disposable briefs. Disposable briefs have the same design and fit as baby diapers such as Pampers,Luvs,and Huggies-they have tape tabs for fastening the garments,elastic leg gathers to prevent leakage(some disposable briefs also have elastic waist bands for added protection against leaks),and they have a waterproof outer cover made of either plastic or a cloth like outer cover(also known as a non-woven outer cover)
It's a shame that most people only use garments such as pull-ups/pull-ons and "Goodnites" to deal with their bed-wetting and won't even consider trying other options. Options that in some cases can offer better protection thereby making the child feel more comfortable and secure.

I've talked with customer service reps from The Bedwetting Store,Continence Connection,National Incontinencce,XP Medical, HDIS and other places that sell incontinence products and the ones I spoke with felt that the disposable briefs tend to be more absorbent and provide better protection than garments such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" although some people I've spoken with said that both briefs and pull-ups are equally effective at protecting the user,it's just a question of personal preference. That being said,the consensus from both customer service reps that sell both types of garments and people from incontinence forums who experience bed-wetting seems to be that disposable briefs tend to offer better protection for this particular type of incontinence. As far as obtaining opinions about bed-wetting products from customer service reps, although there is the potential for bias in this area and people should exercise a certain degree of caution when evaluating the information presented to them(as is the case in any other transaction), the companies that I did gather this information from have been around for a number of years and are highly regarded by many people. In addition it would not be in the best interest of these companies to recommend products that didn't work. I suspect that in general,the people who operate mail order incontinence companies tend to have a high level of integrity(of course as with everything else in life there are exceptions to the rule) and want to instill these values in the staff who are responsible for providing information about what the best type of products to buy based on the customer's needs. Like any other sales person they have to responsive to the needs of their customers otherwise they'll soon be out of a job and if the company gets a reputation for recommending products that don't meet the consumer's needs they'll soon be out of business.


At this point I'd like to talk about some of the reasons that the disposable tape tab briefs tend to be more effective than products such as "Goodnites" and pull-ups for heavy incontinence such as bed-wetting. One of the reasons for this is that there tends to be more padding in the briefs. One customer service representative told me that many briefs have a highly absorbent polymer and high capacity padding which extends to the wings and side panels. Another customer service representative told me that the disposable tape on briefs tend to have more padding in the front and back and the pull-on garments tend to have less padding in the waist area. A third customer service rep told me that the briefs have padding all around whereas garments such as pull-ups and "Goodnites" don't. In general it seems that products such as "Goodnites" tend to not have padding on the sides which means they'll most likely provide less effective protection particularly with those people who tend to sleep on their sides. In fact one person on an incontinence forum mentioned that he didn't find the pull-up style disposable diapers effective for bed-wetting. He said that they didn't have enough protection on the sides and he frequently experienced leaks. I was also told that with a tape on brief there's more flexibility in getting a snug fit because you have the ability to adjust the tapes on the brief thereby making them fit more snug .This in turn should help prevent leaks. That's the reason disposable briefs have refastenable tapes, in case you need to make any adjustments to the brief to make it fit better.


There are a couple of sites which have material on them pertaining to different types of incontinence products and they are Duraline Medical Products and Woodbury Products.The material on these sites also talk about the advantages of disposable briefs.On the Duraline Medical Products website in the education part of their website they have a section called "common types of incontinence and appropriate products." For nocturnal enuresis(which as mentioned earlier is the clinical term for bed-wetting) they had this to say regarding the best type of product to wear: "Heavy incontinence such as urge,nocturnal enuresis,or reflex,usually requires a wrap-around brief, either disposable or cloth, or a heavy pant and pad system." As far as pant and pad systems are concerned, although these were mentioned by Duraline as being appropriate for heavy incontinence,other sources that sell incontinence products(as well as the Diaper Primer) indicate that these are designed to handle light to moderate incontinence and are not recommended for bed-wetting.In the incontinence guide on the Woodbury Products website it listed four different levels of incontinence-very light,light,moderate,and heavy. It also listed the types of garments most suited to deal with these different levels. Disposable tape tab briefs were the ones mentioned to be most effective in dealing with heavy incontinence(incontinence where the person loses large volumes of urine.) To quote the website-"Ultra comfortable and discreet,disposable briefs offer superior protection and confidence. Easily fasten with tape tabs." Since bed-wetting is a form of heavy incontinence it would be best to use a product designed specifically for this type of incontinence and disposable tape tab briefs appear to be the best choice to manage heavy incontinence.


Currently I'd like to mention the information that was provided to me from both New Freedom Solutions and XP Medical. New Freedom Solutions specializes in incontinence products for incontinent adults,children,and teenagers and is owned by a husband and wife who have family members who are incontinent- the husband as well as their autistic son. I spoke with him briefly and asked him which type of garments he considered more effective for the management of heavier forms of incontinence such as bedwetting- "Goodnites" or disposable briefs and he told me that disposable briefs are more effective for heavier voids.

He said that the disposable briefs have more padding in them and that this is particularly advantageous if the child moves around a lot at night because they will better protect against the leaks that can result from constant movement. Finally,the owner of XP Medical in an email to me had the following to say regarding disposable tape on briefs versus pull-ups: "Tape tab briefs are almost always more absorbent than pull-ups,and therefore better for heavy incontinence. As you mentioned the reason for this is twofold: 1.)There is more padding because there is not so much elastic using up space in front and back. 2.) The tapes allow the product to be fixed more firmly so that they will stay in place even when wet. Pullups will fall down if too heavy."
He went on to say that some people may find it difficult to fasten the tapes on a tape on diaper such as a person who suffers from arthritis or Parkinson's disease. In a situation such as this it would be better to use garments such as pull-ups. That being said if your bed-wetter does not have any cognitive or physical impairments that would prevent or make it difficult for him or her to fasten the tapes on a tape tab style disposable brief,it would be advisable to have the child or teenager wear disposable tape tab briefs instead of pull-ups. As far as choosing a diaper with a cloth like outer cover versus one with a plastic outer cover he had this to say: "The Air-Plus diapers(a diaper with a cloth like outer cover made by Abena) have the advantage of being quieter and allowing some airflow through the material. On the other hand, many customers do not like them because the cloth like material 'grabs' on clothing and can allow odors to seep through." Although this happened with a particular brand of diaper, this problem can occur with other brands of diapers. One person on an incontinence site mentioned that he found that the diapers with the cloth like outer cover tended to stick to the sheets when he moved around in bed and since he moved around a lot at night he preferred the disposable diapers with a plastic outer cover.


As mentioned earlier people within the incontinence community also have good things to say regarding disposable briefs. The author of the Diaper Primer is incontinent and he had this to say regarding the advantages of disposable briefs over pull-on style disposable garments : "As a general observation,we would say that pull-ons are not really "you know whats"(i.e. diapers) and cannot afford the same protection afforded by the "ah-hem." If they are going to get used and wet,they are going to become heavy,and the elastic waist will not be able to keep them up or comfortable. This writer's opinion is that they are very useful and valuable for those who do not plan to get them wet and are wearing protection primarily for peace of mind or for that "just in case situation" and "The capacity of pull-ons is less than a full diaper brief."
There are several brands of disposable briefs that are highly regarded by many people especially for heavy incontinence such as bed-wetting. As mentioned at the start of this article disposable briefs is the term used for disposable diapers for older children,teenagers,and adults. They look and fit just like baby diapers such as Pampers,Luvs,and Huggies.They have tapes for fastening the garments,elastic leg gathers to prevent leakage,and some briefs have elastic waist bands which also prevent leaks. Brands of disposable briefs that are highly rated for heavy forms of incontinence such as bedwetting include Molicare Super Plus Fitted Briefs, Abriform X-Plus briefs made by Abena ,the Unique Brief(which is made by First Wellness and is also known as the Wellness brief), Eurobrief made by Mediprime,Secure X-Plus briefs, Tranquility All-Through-The Night disposable briefs,Tenas,Mega Careline(which from what I understand might have gone out of business although I saw them for sale on the website Health Care Mega Mall)and Dry247 briefs. Abena Abriform also has a model called the "Super" brief which is not as absorbent as the X-Plus model but is available in an extra small size for those youngsters who might not be able to fit into the X-Plus briefs.


As I talk about later on in this article many places have samples of various brands of disposable briefs. Before buying a whole pack or case of a particular brand of disposable diapers you might want to try a sample first to see what brand(or brands-some people find that their incontinence can be effectively managed by more than one brand of disposable diapers) of diapers work best for your child or teenager. Another factor to consider when purchasing disposable diapers for your older child or teenager that wets the bed is whether or not they might feel more comfortable wearing diapers with a plastic outer cover or a cloth like outer cover. As I have pointed out throughout this article many people prefer the disposable diapers with a plastic outer cover,whereas others like the disposable diapers with a cloth like outer cover. Again this is another reason to consider purchasing samples of various brands of disposable diapers.


At this point I'd also like to mention another brand of disposable brief which I recently found out about. The company that manufactures these briefs is called "Provider's Choice Daytime Plus." They make two models of briefs. One model is the Provider's Choice Daytime Plus Premium Brief and the other model is the Active Ultra Plus Brief. I just found out about this brand and I thought I'd inform my readers about this brand as well. Apparently they're new so I don't know how effective they are. The website mentions that the Active Ultra diaper is designed for extended wear time and enables a person to sleep through the night without changing. The only problem is that they don't make a small size for these briefs. They make a medium and a large size. The medium size fits a waist size of 32-44 inches which may fit a larger child or teenager. The Daytime Plus Premium Briefs on the other hand are available in smaller sizes. The small size of the Daytime Plus Premium briefs fits waists of 20-31 inches. The customer service representative I spoke with said that although they're not as absorbent as the Active Ultra briefs she said that people have used them for overnight use. To quote the website- "The super-absorbent core system insures extended or overnight periods of dryness." The company has samples of the Active Ultra Plus Brief but not the Daytime Plus Premium Briefs. As mentioned the company that makes these briefs is called Provider's Choice Daytime Plus. Their web address is www.providerschoicemed.com and their toll free number is (888)287-1052. Although they don't sell directly to the public they have free samples but at this time they just have samples of the Active Ultra Plus Brief. Although currently they don't make the Active Ultra Plus brief in a small size I was told that they might make a small size in the future.


Other brands of disposable briefs include the Wings brand by Kendall, Prevail by First Quality, Whitestone(which make different models of disposable briefs including "Ultrashields")the Dignity brand made by Humanicare,At Ease,Attends,Protection Plus by Medline,Dry Comfort,and Nightingale.As far as the Dignity brand is concerned they make a nighttime version of their briefs which is called "Dignity PM" They also make a brief called "Dignity Plus". Attends came out with a new brief recently called the Extended Wear brief. This is supposed to be very good for overnight use.Other disposable briefs by Attends include the extra absorbent breathable brief and the "poly briefs" which are briefs with a plastic outer cover. If you go to the Attends website hey have a place where you can click on the website in order to get free samples of any of the briefs you might be interested in as well as information about where to purchase Attends products. For more information about Attends briefs go to www.attends.com click on " our products" (at the top of the page),then click on briefs.


Right now I'd like to get back to the topic of disposable tape tab briefs with plastic outer covers and disposable tape tab briefs with cloth like outer covers. As far as buying disposable tape on briefs with a plastic outer layer or a cloth layer is concerned, this is a personal preference. There are people who prefer the diapers with a cloth like outer cover and there are those who prefer the diapers with a plastic outer layer. Some of the complaints abo