As parents of a six, five and two year old, unfortunately, this is still something we wrestle with nightly. Both my older children have been day-time potty trained since they were about two years old. The nights...well, that's another challenge altogether. We've tried umpteen strategies and talked to multiple trusted medical professionals but so as to not bore you with the details of our urinary journey, I'll summarize by saying that we've accepted the fact that they have very small bladders and are incredibly deep sleepers. They are young yet, and we've had a few dry nights so we know it's not impossible and likely just a matter of time.
So we hope.
We dream of dry nights.
We savor the mornings not spent stripping the bed, washing, drying, re-making. And savour any repeat mornings after that even more.
Again, this really isn't a post about bed-wetting, after all, it's listed in "My Favorite Things" (which is kind the exact opposite of what bed-wetting is!) and as such I will now rave unabashedly about this sanity-saving product that has all my gold stars at the moment.
It is soft, fits deep mattresses, never loses it's shape, is machine washable, doesn't crinkle when you lay on it, wicks moisture away, and here's the kicker folks: it's breathable.
I kid you not.
You will not wake up in cold (or hot) sweats after having slept on it for an hour wondering if you are suffering from a viral disease or just recovering from that bender you went on on Wednesday night at 7pm just before putting the kids to bed.
In a vacation house recently, I slept in a bed that had a mattress protector on it. It was clearly not an Oops! Sheet, because I woke up a dozen times that night, feeling rather "princess-and-the-pea'ish" wondering who had conspired against me and put something under my mattress to cause me such distress. I brushed it off thinking the new surroundings were throwing me, but on the second fitful night, after discussion with my husband, we both agreed something else besides geography was at play. It probably doesn't help that my better half is also my "boiler-oven-half" which comes in handy when you're in a pup tent on Everest, but not so much when you're in a temperature controlled room with a ceiling fan and comforter at your disposal.
Here's the thing. A plastic mattress protector doesn't just feel hot. It's as if it doesn't allow your body heat to self-regulate. You're either terribly hot, or once you unveil yourself of all coverings, freezing cold. Then you cover up again, and within minutes, that heat is trapped. So, it's a viscous cycle. I was shocked at how fast I would get warm, uncover, then get cold, cover up again, then hot, then cold, etc. Seriously, I was reminded of my last, fairly violent, round of the flu. It was terribly uncomfortable but within minutes of stripping the bed on our third night, leaving the plastic sheet off and the regular sheets on, we both fell into a peaceful 37 degree Celsius (98.6 F) slumber.
So up until this last vacation I never really realized how breath-ability was so important to a mattress protector. Here all along I was raving about how well the Oops! Sheet absorbed pee (of course it still felt wet on the fabric side but the flip side protecting the mattress was always dry, and so of course, the mattress was too). We had the sheet on our kids' queen sized bed (that they share) so I didn't usually have a chance to sleep on it for long periods of time to notice this breath-ability factor. I don't know if a child would have a disrupted sleep due to temperature, but if you had a light sleeper perhaps it's a consideration? I, as mentioned, do not have light sleeping children and in most situations I consider this a blessing, but in the "I-just-peed-myself, rolled-over-in-it and still-didn't-wake-up" kind of situation, I curse it.
Or perhaps my daughter is right...when I woke her the other night around midnight to try and go, only to find out she was already soaking wet (and still in sleepy stupor) she mumbled, "It wasn't me Mom, it was Flat Stanley!"
So...whatever your situation...pee, vomit, heavy-droolers or small flat bulletin board cut outs crawling into your children's bed and urinating ...Oops! Sheets are definitely your answer! Here's the deets:
Go here to see of all the Oops! products, including all sizes of fitted sheets, car seat covers, underwear and sleeping bag liners. They ship through Amazon and are all kinds of efficient! Also to note when my first Oops! Sheet finally died it's slow death* to which I almost shed a couple tears for - true! - Roo sent me a new one for FREE just 'cause they're like that. Now how cool is that!?
I actually bought mine on discount from babysteals.com, which for those who don't know is an e-commerce site that offers boutique-quality baby clothes, baby shoes & baby products at 40-80% off. They have two deals daily (8am and 8pm) and there is no guarantee when or if the Oops! Sheet will make it's appearance again, but it's a great source to keep in mind if you can wait and want to save a few bucks.
Furthermore, for those locals reading my blog I'm going to send a shout-out to our local children's shop in Medicine Hat - Bumbleboo, one of the funkiest baby and children's stores around who also happens to carry them in stock. Clearly, they know a good product when they see one!
*Full disclosure. My Oops! Sheet was not invincible. After more than a year of nearly daily washings it did give up the goat. It started to let moisture pass. As mentioned above, after contacting the company (not so much to complain, just to let them know how good it was to us - an obituary if you will - and ask about proper care and washing, in case I did something wrong to lessen it's magical powers) I was thoroughly delighted to get a personal response within hours. In addition to advising me to wash in cold water and hang dry to extend the life, Roo (company contact) graciously sent me a new one, free of charge. There is something to be said of a great product and a great company! Advice was heeded and it should be noted that I'm kind of a "bleach-loving-boiling-hot-water-with-a-little-extra-soap-for-good-measure" kind of girl, especially when it comes to pee-germs (or pee smell...uggh!) so my washing and hot drying techniques WAS probably the culprit of my sheet's demise. I'll try my best to wash in cold this time Roo, and it's a good thing summer is near because hang drying a queen-size sheet in the winter is a bit of a challenge!
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