I still remember the time I let my (at that time 1 and a half/2 years old) daughter sleep in my bed. She was having a rough night but still managed to get up real early, work her diaper off, then proceed to smear poop all over the bed, her self and me and urinate probably a couple times... I finally woke up and chaos promptly ensued...
No matter what your age, if you have to wear a diaper whether during the night, during the day, or both, you wear that diaper, because its more practical and far less a mess, then dealing with the by product of incontinence, all over the place.
BUT....
Diapers aren't created equally.
The following is a review of a premium diaper...read on to find out which one.
One of the things I have realized over the years is that you get what you pay for when it comes to diapers and if you dont want to risk leaks or other emergencies from tape failures during the day or night, (trust me...this can cause a big mess, especially with some one like me who has a heavy volume of pee at night and who also has had bowel movments in my sleep that mix with the urine and create a big mess for me to clean up in the morning), too thin a diaper for the volume and level of activity during the day, lack of all around coverage in a diaper for those who need a diaper at night, or wearing a diaper that is likely thin but also lacks some features that should be on all diapers but is most often missing from cheaper diapers like good leak guards, padding on the wings of the diaper, elastic in the back and front, a diaper that can be readjusted and had good tapes etc....
If you dont want to risk a mess and added embarrassment, then considering some of the brands out there that are more pricey might and are generally not carried in stores nor found in most medical supply stores whether in person or online at least not in the usa...
One of those brands and manufacturers is Abena. a Danish company and manufacturer of premium eco-friendly adult incontinence supplies, the Abri line. They have pull-ups, diapers with tabs, pads (some made especially for men) and fixation underwear.
There website for those in the USA is:
www.abena-na.com
and for other parts of the world,,the main website:
www.abena.com
I was recently contacted by one of their north american reps and I was sent two samples. Here is what I think:
1) Abri-Form Junior. a diaper made especially for youth ages 5 and above who struggle with incontinence. They are also good for children who are wetting the bed at night (a very common issue) and need more solid protection than a pull on diaper like GoodNights or Under Jams or any other generic night time pullups....
My daughter(she is 6 years old and has a bedwetting issue) wore the two Abri-Form Junior Diapers at night. These arent pull ups/sleep pants and as such, they are more bulky. On both occasions these held up and didnt leak at all. Normally my daughter wears a generic brand of sleep pants and she generally has a urine odor in the morning. When she tried the samples on back to back nights, there was no urine odor and they didnt leak as I mentioned earlier. They have no designs on them and are a plain diaper. There was some noticeable diaper noise. Maybe a little more than what a kid would get with GoodNights or UnderJams or a generic brand.
2) Abri-Form M4 Their flagship Adult diaper. Abri-Form M4 and L4 are hands down the most absorbent diaper being sold. The trade off being that its thicker so one must decide how important absorbency is. For those worried about concealment, I wear both this diaper and my every day one, which is cheap, thinner and medicaid covered: Prevail. I cant tell the difference unless I am wearing tighter pants. The only other difference is you can notice its a thicker diaper by how it feels on your body.
Its quite soft against the skin and I notice less chaffing when wearing these. Also, despite being plastic backed, these diapers are relatively quiet under neath most clothing. If you are wearing your typical pajama bottoms, you can hear "diaper noise" but its not horrible.
I myself prefer a thicker diaper. Having lived my whole life having to wear diapers, I have gotten to the point where my anxiety, related to having the incontinence, is almost non existent when wearing the Abri-Form m4 because I know that this diaper holds up and doesnt leak. No one should wear a wet or soiled diaper for long, however, this diaper could be worn for 8 to ten hours(with out leaking) and can certainly cover you over night.
The padding on the wings makes this an excellent diaper for those who deal with bedwetting and you dont have to worry about leaks no matter the position you sleep in or change to during the night.
Some other observations...
1) I dont notice odors as much wearing these.
2) They also hold up well to my bowel incontinence no matter the consistency of stool
3) The tapes are very strong and are designed so that way later on its its use cycle, you can readjust. (with this being a plastic backed diaper, you can readjust once with out concern for tearing of the diaper shell.)
4) The leg gathers are designed with leak protection in mind. Might not sound like a big deal but with cheap brands, the leg gather really doesnt do much of what its intended to do and often times can cause chaffing like my prevail brand tends to. The leg gathers on the Abri-Form are comfortable against