Whether you have a small child who is in the potty-training phase or you’re taking care of an elderly adult who is suffering from incontinence, you’ll need to take steps to protect the person’s mattress from bedwetting. Urine can ruin a mattress and this particular part of a bed is difficult to clean. From using a waterproof mattress protector to wearing special underwear, there are things you can do to keep your mattress dry.
Adult Incontinence
Despite the embarrassing nature of adult incontinence, most people suffer from it as they get older. There are several causes of adult incontinence, including weak bladder muscles, obesity, childbirth, menopause, prostate conditions, and more. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but you do want to take steps to protect your mattress from urine if incontinence is an issue during the night.
There are plenty of protective undergarments that are available for both men and women that absorb the urine when it leaks out. These are very effective at protecting a mattress as long as the amount of urine that’s produced during the night doesn’t exceed the capacity of the protective underwear. In that case, you will want to have a waterproof cover on the mattress as a backup measure.
Waterproof mattress protectors come in various materials such as plastic, urethane, and vinyl. The benefit of having a waterproof cover over your mattress is that you can just pull it off if it gets wet and either clean it with soap and water or toss it in the washing machine, depending on the material. They are simple to clean and if you have two of them, you can keep one on the bed when you have to clean the other one.
Child Bedwetting
Even after a child is potty trained, many of them still experience bedwetting at times. The exact cause of child bedwetting isn’t known, but could be related to them sleeping so soundly that they don’t feel the need to urinate until it’s too late. There are many solutions to this problem, including bedwetting alarms and medications, if there’s an indication of a medical condition that’s leading to the bedwetting.
Most parents, though, have their children wear pull-up style diapers that contain the urine if they aren’t able to make it to the bathroom in time and have an accident in bed. These pull-ups work most of the time, but as with adult incontinence undergarments, if the amount of urine exceeds the pull-up’s capacity, the mattress will get wet.
Plus, pull-ups can be expensive, especially as your children get older and have to have more absorbent options. A simpler and cheaper solution is to cover the mattress with a waterproof protector and not have to worry about leaks or overflows. Since the protector can be cleaned and used repeatedly, it’s a one-time cost instead of having to keep purchasing more disposable pull-ups.
Conclusion
Regardless of the person’s age who is wetting the bed, a waterproof mattress protector is an effective and hassle-free way to keep a mattress dry.
