Reply from Joan, Child's Age 13 - 3/5/02 - IP#: 80.225.67.234Our 13 (almost 14) year old son has wet at night for most of his life (it runs in the family). We have never had the problem of re-introducing him to night nappies (diapers), as he has never been out of them. We have almost always used terry (cloth) nappies and plastic pants for cost reasons, and Tom prefers them to disposables. At first, baby size terry nappies were big enough for him, but when he outgrew these, I obtained youth/adult size terries for him from Drylife. Tom has never got the hang of changing himself, as he can’t seem to pin them on tight enough to prevent leaks, so I have to change him, which he prefers anyway. During the day, when he is at home or at school, he is always close to a toilet (his teachers know about his condition), so he doesn’t need a nappy, but when we go out to the shops or to amusement parks, or for any but the shortest of car journeys, I always nappy him, so that we don’t have the inconvenience of having to search for a public toilet at short notice, (if he didn’t reach one in two to three minutes, he would wet his pants). He is quite used to wetting in his nappy when he needs to go, and his terry nappies are quite good in this respect, as they last at least three heavy wettings without leaking. However, when we go on long trips, either in the car or by air (when mid journey changes are necessary), I put him in disposables. We always go on self-catering holidays where a washing machine and tumble drier are available, so that he can wear his preferred terry nappies throughout the day under his favourite baggy shorts and long T-shirts. The secret is to never let your child out of day nappies for journeys until he has demonstrated that he can go at least a few hours without needing a toilet. You will then not have to suffer the trauma of having to get him back into day nappies after a long break being out of them. Tom has no problem with being nappied for trips, as he has no experience of anything else. |