Water Proof Mattress Pads

I have been a social worker for many years. Through the years I have worked with many different groups of people that are in need of the special services that the government agencies regulate. The majority of my experience is working with children that have mental health needs. The great thing about doing this work for a longer period of time is that I can use the experiences that I gain with one family and share it with another that has a child with a similar diagnosis.

Many children that have various mental health diagnoses as well as children that have been victims of abuse have an issue with bedwetting. This problem can lead to many issues because it causes a great deal of laundry as well as odor in the house. It is hard to help parents deal with the issue without them getting angry. One of the first things that I suggest they do is to get water proof mattress pads. These help save the cost of replacing the mattress. The water proof mattress pads are more comfortable for the child to sleep on than the plastic mattresses. A plastic mattress tends to make noise when a person moves around on them and they can be warm during the summer months. The water proof mattress pads are machine washable and are made from a material that is not noisy.

There are many different regiments that a child can go through to help with the bed wetting issue. The first thing I advise people to do is to take the child to the doctor to make sure that there is not a physical issue. Then we sit down with the child and explain why the bedwetting is a problem and that we want to help them solve it. We do not talk about punishment, but rather how important it is to try to deal with the issue for hygiene purposes. We discuss limiting the intake of liquids in the evening hours. If part of the issue is that the child sleeps too heavy to wake up when they need to urinate we may set an alarm so they wake up and use the bathroom prior to wetting the bed. We also talk to the doctor about different medications that the child may be placed on to help with the problem. We then go through a routine that the child needs to follow if they do have an accident. They are asked to strip their beds and remake them. They are to soak their bedding in the wash machine. They are taught how to do this. I encourage the parents to have two sets of sheets, two water proof mattress pads and two blankets. You do not want more so that the laundry is not allowed to pile up and cause odors and bacteria to form. I have found that involving the child as much as possible helps to end the problem faster.