Bedwetting Product Gap?

[babykeiff]

...

From 1994 GoodNites has ruled the night with their dispoable pants.

So what was the solution from the mid eighties until 1994? I was a child during this time, but was never given protection. Diapers were occasionally threatened, but mainly it was my step-dad's belt that was supposed to cure me. Were all kids left like me in a wet puddle?

Pre 1994, the concept of 'the child is lazy and needs to be trained' was foremost.

The items that existed were -

1 - Place a plastic bag over the bottom bed-sheet, and cover that with a towel. Therefore if/when the child wet, the damage to the bedding would be limited. The child would feel uncomfortable / cold from the wetness.

2 - An 'electrical device' as a trainer, where the child would get a mild electric shock when the began to wet in their sleep. The device was designed to operate a buzzer, but as most electrical engineers will work out, 9vDC fed directly via a sensor to a buzzer induces AC across the switch (the bed wetter) and can damage new nerve growth.

3 - Enticement (read belittling the child)

4 - Punishment.

5 - Tablets / Liquid - The tablets were salt tablets which increased ones requirements to water = reduced need to urinate since the bladder will not fill. The liquid used to be pure fish oil.

All the above was the standard concept advised to parents by their local family doctor. Today, these seem barbaric. When P&G / Huggies introduced a alternative - diapers large enough to cope with the older child, parents adopted the 'softly - softly' approach and the medical industry learned that allowing the child to become dry at night in his/her own time is faster than any other method tried.

'allowing the child to become dry at night in his/her own time' works cause it -

1 - Removes stress and pressure from a child to compete with his/her peers.

2 - Allows the child a proper nights sleep, and therefore allow the child to develop the bladder capacity.

[Angela Bauer]

I consider diaper collecting a hobby of mine, but there is currently a gap in my diaper timeline when it comes to bedwetting garments:

From the 1950's until the early 80's the primary product was the StayDry Panty - a washable garment with a waterproof outer panty with ties on the side, and an absorbent flannel liner inside.

From 1994 GoodNites has ruled the night with their dispoable pants.

So what was the solution from the mid eighties until 1994? I was a child during this time, but was never given protection. Diapers were occasionally threatened, but mainly it was my step-dad's belt that was supposed to cure me. Were all kids left like me in a wet puddle?

Who can say what were the best selling or most effective product at any given time long ago. I have done little independent research. Given your devotion to the history of incontinence management, I accept that Stay Dry Panty sold well.

I am not sure when Gerber decided to close their vinyl pants factory in Three Oaks, Michigan. It was still very much part of Gerber when I visited it, along with my folks and siblings, in July 1976. My grandmother and my Mom started buying the adult-size vinyl pants they needed to manage their own urinary incontinence from Gerber as soon as that factory was in full production. They believe that as about 1950. The baby-toddler Gerber vinyl pants were sold in many retail stores. The sizes larger than "Toddler-Large" were sold by mail order directly from the Three Oaks factory. Over the years Granny Vi and later my Mom exchanged so many letters with the Three Oaks Gerber ladies they considered each other pals.

Comfy and correctly fitting soft vinyl pants are just part of a system to manage incontinence. Inside waterproof pants you need absorbent material. Historian differ as to who built the first factory in the USA devoted to the production of cloth diapers for babies. Certainly there is no question that Kendall Mills began weaving cotton gauze in the early 1800's. By 1860 Kendall was a leading supplier of medical gauze. Before 1900 Kendall had perfected a gauze weave ideally suited for use as baby diapers. Kendall had already established the trademark "Curity" for medical bandages and associated products. When they started baby diaper production those were named "Curity"

By the time Granny Vi was born in 1917 Curity 21x40" flat gauze diapers were selling very well all over the USA. Granny has told me that her mother eventually told her she had only bought Curity gauze diapers. Those are all Granny ever bought until Kendall Mills sold the cotton gauze diaper division to Gerber. Then for a couple of years after that Granny continued to buy 21x40" gauze diapers from Gerber. True, those kind of gauze diapers did not have ribbons which could tie. They were held in place with safety pins. For generations parents of kids who wet might well have considered it unsafe to allow youngsters to pin on their own diapers.

Up through my own generation, although Mom taught all my sisters to change the diapers of younger siblings as soon as we were large enough, at age 8-9, we were not taught to pin on our own gauze diapers until each of us reached puberty. As a kid I did not wet my bed after being toilet trained although my bladder was smaller than average and over-active when I was awake. Still I had seen my older sister revert to bedwetting when she reached puberty, so I was hardly shocked, terrified or embarrassed when the same happened to me. By then I had 3 years of experience diapering my youngest sister, so it only took me a few hours of practice until I could diaper myself without stabbing myself.

In 1981 I was the first from my extended family to move from home to a university dorm. That was when I started wearing Attends disposable. In August 1981 the smallest Attends disposable was called "Junior" and was only slightly larger than a typical "Size 6" today, except it had 2 tapes per side. The next larger was called "Youth" Then came "Small" designed for people 4'10" to 5'2" 85-100pounds with 20-28" hips That product code, BRCL 1000, is still in use, although many years ago the size was re-named "Youth Brief"

During my years making do with disposable diapers I lost track of business changes in the washable incontinence product market.. For example I am not sure if Kendall were still pushing the sale of 21x40" gauze diapers in June 1991 when I was able to resume wearing such diapers. By then all my incontinent relatives and friends were wearing adult gauze or Birdseye prefold diapers.

By the time Gerber decided to leave the adult vinyl pants business and sold the machines and rights to their Three Oaks employees (who did business as "VIP") there were many USA makers of adult vinyl pants. There have always been makers of adult cloth diapers, including gauze and Birdseye.

So, was there ever an actual bedwetting product gap? Or was there illogical resistance to fastening bedwetting products with safety pins?

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

My first experiences with adult diapers were with Carolyn's Kids and Edley Enterprises.

In 1984 Carolyn sold a bird'sey diaper that was a flat two pin diaper that had sponge padding in the center about 13 x 23 or thereabouts that was covered with mint green cloth that had rubber on the inside next to the padding

About 1985 Edley came along out of New Hampshire and was promoted by DPF. They had a white flannel prefold that was very thick and durable.

I think both diapers sold for about $US12

Later DPF sold their own Baby Heaven diapers

As far as rubber panties. Carolyn sold the Gerber, which I did not like because the material was grainy and a more expensive pair that was smooth and yet still another kind that was opauque, smooth on one side and grainy on the other. Later she started carrying only a smooth semitransparent fuller model

Edley sold the Lang, the material of which were horrid. DPF carried the Lang and later their Baby Heaven, which I thin was made by Lang

I first got Comco in the mid-80's but they were not what they are now, the crotch was about 9" wide. The new Comco snap on that I have are adequate bout could stnad to be a bit wider in the crotch but they are better than the onces from 10 years ago. I still have a few pair of those that took moderate use per year over the last 10 years and while the elastics are pretty well done the material is still in good condition.. they used to sell the material in 25 yard lengths and I would like to get some more of that. They make matterss covers from their panty material. Unfortunately their baby panties are made of some snow withe sort of grainy material. I wish they would use their regular material for that so I could get some for Dolly Andrea and Dolly Lisa. Right now they are wearing Gerber but the material is a bith thing for my liking

[Marcuss]

when i was a bed wetting child till 12 or 14 ish all i got was a plastic sheet and a bed wetting alarm that was torture.... Mom tried the waking me up thing but it dident work... the no liquids after 7 ... all the usual stuff. The only time i got anything was when i asked for diapers. I was scaired to death to ask. Because i wanted the diapers. I truly did wet the bed a lot and every night so i was relieved when my mom said sure and bought them with out any hesitation. I got depends adult diapers back then i dont know of anything made for kids. I liked them because it was a diaper but they were the old school night time ones in that ugly blue. And the filler they used was like yellow foam. I was dissapointed they were nothing like a baby diaper but i was not complaining. My mom was deeply concerned about my bed wetting had their been a product to buy she would have gotten it. I just wish i had asked for diapers sooner.

[bedwetter bobby]

Your parents had to be imaginative or explorers to find a diaper type protective garment that would fit.

For me in the 50's mom used 27x 27 birseye diapers along with Gerber Super Todler baby pants. My stepsister wore the infamous Staydry Panties. Having had worn the staydrys a few times I can tell you if you were a real wetter they would leak and wore out quickly. They were also expensive. The pin on diapers lasted forever and baby panties were inexpensive. They worked and if you started to regularly leak another diaper was added. It was up to the parents to admit they had a bedwetter in diapers, something that was hard to do in those days.

Toilet training early was a competetion and if your child was still in diapers you lost. Plus diapers were a lot of work, We had an old wringer type washing machine and no dryer.Everthing had to be line dryed and of course if your child was older the diapers had to be dryed in hiding. Yes the old diapers were bigger cause I still fit in the 27 x 27's when I was an adult. The new diapers are thin and shrink like crazy.

I have to admire my mom for having the courage to allow me to be in diapers till age 9. It was embarrasing, but my bed was usually dry and I could go visit relatives.

[Little Faerie]

This may tie in with the phase in parenting where doctors were telling parents to wake the kids up a couple of times a night and take them to the bathroom.

Thankfully saner heads prevailed after it was discovered that waking the kids up was interrupting their sleep cycles making it difficult for them to get the proper amount of REM sleep needed for adequate development. Sadly this left us with a generation of kids who grew up never getting enough sleep. I believe this may have been the beginnings of the ADD/ADHD/"Aspergers" cycle we have going on today.

Please do not lump Asperger Syndrome, which is a neurological condition and a form of Autism, in with ADD, which is a biochemical mental condition. Being autistic is nothing like having ADD, and being the mother of an autistic child I see that difference every day. I myself have an array of AS symptoms that my daughter also has, some of which are sensory integration things like tasting sound, and it's just not comparable to ADD. There is no pill, no "cure" for autism. You can't "grow out of it" or take stimulant pills to fix your attention span. It's often genetic, and in my family runs back generations in some form or other. It has nothing to do with how much sleep you got as a kid, because you're born with it, and it's not an easy thing to deal with. I know there are a couple of people on these boards who have Asperger's, they can tell you it's no cakewalk and nothing like ADD. Please do some research on these topics before you say things like this. That said, I was one of those unfortunate kids who grew up in the late 80's and early 90's, with no protection for my bed and an uncooperative bladder. My parents believed that threatening to spank me "next time" would fix it, but all that did was teach me to wash my own sheets and drove me to swipe my cousin's and nephew's diapers. When goodnites came out, they wouldn't get them, so I spent my own allowance on them and hid them. Life is much better now, my fiance happily allows diapers whenever, whether I need them or not. He even helps me pick out prints

[Bettypooh]

I see an older post has been dragged out and dusted off for another go-round And I see the point being made above But I also see that whatever the reason- be it a physical or mental affliction- there was a lack of incontinence products for some of those who needed them in the past, and as one of those children who needed help but didn't get it I am glad things are better for kids today

Bettypooh

[JBonn]

Thanks for necroing this thread - I missed it the first time around.

From my own experience in the late 70's there really wasn't a good solution. I was in Pampers as long as they would fit (stopped sometimes between age 5-6), but I distinctly recall my dad telling my mom that I needed to stop wetting NOW because there wasn't anything else to put "him" in. There were some "training pants" around - basically 2x/3x thickness underwear but those really wouldn't do much. My parents relied more upon the plastic sheet on the bed, waking me in the middle of the night, and limiting pop or other drinks close to bedtime.

I remember in particular we took a family vacation to Disney in Florida and when we got there it was discovered that someone forgot to pack the Pampers. My dad told me I'd just have to be a big boy and not wet the bed. I felt immense pressure as I knew how upset he got when I had "an accident" but I still ended up wetting... shared a bed with my brother, btw, who was NOT at all pleased to wake up to that.

[Angela Bauer]

Until I was 17 and leaving for university in August 1981 (when Mom and I agreed it was not practical for me to wash gauze diapers on campus) the only time Mom had previously bought disposable diapers was on a trip in the summer of 1972 when my them almost 3 year-old sister had so much runny poop Mom was running out of gauze diapers. We stopped at a supermarket in Fresno so she could buy a box of Pampers.

When I was talking to the nurse at my urologist before deciding to wear disposables at university, she mentioned that Attends made many sizes. The first time Mom and I went Attends shopping we bought the smallest there, which were Adult Mediums. Back in my room I was disappointed those were huge on me. The following Monday morning I phoned Attends customer service. A nice lady told me that made Adult Small, Youth and Junior. She arranged for me to have a sample box of each for free from a medical supply store.

"Adult Small" are now called "Youth" and even have the same cat number. Those fit me fine. I was then and still am petite, 5'3" on my tall days, 104 pounds and hipless (under 26" then and 29" today) I could squeeze into the old Youth but they were too snug. The sest I can say about Junior was that they were designed for people under 50 pounds, so similar to a current baby size 6, which were not then on the market.

[Charlie B]

I wet the bed untill my early teens. My parents never punished me for it though, they just thought I would grow out of it, Which I did of course eventually. At home I was lucky if I had a plastic cover under my sheet and I had to share a bedroom with my brother. that poor guy. Our bedroom allways smelled like pee. But pretty much once a week untill we moved to a different state, We would spend the night with my grandmother and she would take old dish towels folded in thirds and gerber toddler sized plastic pants and put me in those. She didnt pin them on me like diapers, more like a stuffer, and the plastic pants held them in place. We were very poor in those years ( late sixtys and early seventys ) and we didnt allways get much of a meal, but at my grandmothers house we allways had a very good home cooked meal, a bath and clean clothes. I think the security she provided me that one night a week including having me wear "protection" is why diapers became such a sense of security for me as I got older.

[Fakename4me]

Not much for me to add here. In the mid to late 70's I do remember the Sears catalog have a medical supplies section which did have items for bed wetting including pants and alarms. What I ended up in was Futuro Incontinence Pants (I still remember the green and white box they came in..) Here is a link.. http://www.abledata....=100875&trail=0 And these did not work very well. I had started with the pants and the thin flannel liner. It was about 6 inches wide and held in place with snaps front and back. When that did not work very well I moved up from the flannel liner to the thicker and more absorbent snap in liner. Which did not work much better... As far as I can tell these pants are much like the Salk pants sold today. Which still do not work very well...

[luvsxl]

what about the small attends, I still have a box from the 80's. Definately early teen sized.

[Angela Bauer]

what about the small attends, I still have a box from the 80's. Definately early teen sized.

In 1981 Attends made 3 sizes smaller than Adult Medium: Small was for hips from <20" to 30"; Youth for hips to 24"; Junior which were about the size of a current baby size 6. Small is now called "Youth" but is the same size and uses the same cat number as the old "Small"

[redneck diaper boy]

I consider diaper collecting a hobby of mine, but there is currently a gap in my diaper timeline when it comes to bedwetting garments:

From the 1950's until the early 80's the primary product was the StayDry Panty - a washable garment with a waterproof outer panty with ties on the side, and an absorbent flannel liner inside.

From 1994 GoodNites has ruled the night with their dispoable pants.

So what was the solution from the mid eighties until 1994? I was a child during this time, but was never given protection. Diapers were occasionally threatened, but mainly it was my step-dad's belt that was supposed to cure me. Were all kids left like me in a wet puddle?

You never got to wear the Salk Pro-Pants?

[Little Matt]

I think pull ups or some other training pants or diapers may have been used by some parents.

I have heard that parents and health care providers persuaded KCK and other company's to make pull up's for bigger kids for bed wetting.

Pull-Ups didn't come out until the late 80s.

I used to go into bookstores and read everything I could find in the Child Care section. Some books had sections listing sources for larger sized products, both bedwetter pants (Reusable ones) and actual diapers. The books usually treated that as an extreme option though and the stuff was always mail order so none of it was easily available. I'm sure some parents opted to use store bought disposables but probably not very many. If I ever learn it was common I'll kick myself forever for not being a bedwetter during that golden age.

[DartDodger]

fot me it was not that time line as i am older . so i went from babdy to training pants. when i would wet my pants i would get punished as if i was lazy but i could not help wetting.

So it was a yellin/ stand in the conner and then i would wet again.

I did get beter when the change hit me and just used pads. I was fine with opads for quite awhile.

Later on I ended up needing again and went from pads to diapers. The wife was great about it as I told her from the start I needed them, back when she was just a GF. Kinda hard to hide the real need from someone