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Staying Dry At School

When children begin going to school, most people assume that they will have very little problem with the issue of going to the bathroom. However, some children may have trouble with the ability to control when and where they need to go, either due to a physical challenge or because of a disease or illness that doesn’t allow for regular control over their bladder or bowel functions.

Incontinence can be very stressful, embarrassing, and frightening to the child. Hope can be found through several steps that parents and other caregivers can take in order to help an incontinent child feel well-adjusted, happy, and secure throughout their school day.

The most obvious place to begin is with what type of under garments are best for your child’s particular situation. If your child is too large for regular, disposable diapers, you may want to consider contoured or fitted diapers. They tend to vary in style, from those which have a slight hour glass shape to those that are fully-fitted panties with elastic legs and waist. When researching these types of undergarments, it’s important to be aware that some of the fully contoured briefs and diapers can’t be bleached, a fact which may help to narrow down the choices. Waterproof pants are usually worn with other reusable products, however, they can also be used with disposables products. When used with disposables they can provide an added margin of safety, provide some noise reduction and sometimes offer a little camouflage. Waterproof pants are most commonly made from vinyl plastic, available in various thicknesses, with a choice of colored or white. Then there is the all-in-one incontinent pant which is also reusable. This product combines an absorbent pad or diaper with a waterproof shell and function like adult disposable diapers. The only draw back for the all-in-one pant is that it tends to be one of the incontinence products most difficult to design well. A related product, known as protective underpants, are designed to protect against moderate to light leakage. The advantage of wearing protective underpants is that they can look and feel like normal underwear while providing protection for at least moderate incontinence, and there are also some all-in-ones which are designed for heavy incontinence. To a child, a cloth panty is “real” underwear, and this will help them to feel more like their peers.

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