My mom likes the Tena brand pads. Her incontinence clinic suggested she stick with a brand like this that has the gel material, as that has better absorbency, plus she also can tell the difference and feels more secure with them than the generics she tried buying to save some money.
She asked me to help her find the best deal on them. I had started looking into some of the places that deliver cases of these things to your home. Maybe I'm doing the math wrong, but I'm finding cheaper prices at one of the large drug store chains, where we can get just a few bags as we need them, rather than storing a huge carton of them.
I rechecked the products I'm comparing, to make sure I'm not comparing different products, and I double-checked the Tena site to make sure that I'm understanding their product line and I still come out with the same result - that I can drive to the local store for the big drug store chain and get the best price.
Am I missing something? Are some of the mail order places a lot cheaper than others? I thought I was hearing that these could provide discounts, or is that just the impression they try to give?
I have been using the washable pads for my mom. No store carries these.around here, so I did order those on-line. She uses those on our upholstered furniture. But for her bed, Bed, Bath and Beyond had a waterproof bed pad that isn't like the old rubber sheets - it wicks away the moisture and is padded. Before I bought this, I would use two of the washable pads under her sheets and just wash them, as needed.
Sometimes getting them directly at the house is a huge time-saver, worth the little bit extra. Sometimes the person using them suddenly needs more for some reason and is going through them faster than before and you do need more quantity at hand.
So, factor the cost of your time and mileage in fetching them from the store. Sometimes you can order them online from the large stores and get the same price.
A lot of people like being on a "subscription plan" for the time & effort savings plus the fact nobody has to see you buying them. This one is a huge selling point for people who like to be private about things like this.
Do whatever you decide is the best deal for you.
I found online adhesive bed pads by the crate. No store carried these. Mom had been using "GoodNights" for potty training kids. Those would permanently stick to her mostly polyester sheets, ruining them. The ones I got online were bigger, fluffier, and did not become bonded with the sheet. Sometimes you can get better online, sometimes not. It all "Depends" (that was a joke...)
Mattress, soft plastic shower curtain laid out flat, waterproof mattress cover. Then bath towels laid out flat plus several adhesive chux to cover the area of the bed she rolled around on the most. Then the sheet. Lastly, more of the adhesive chux on all but the head & foot area. You would think this bed would have been dry in Noah's flood, but mom could regularly wet all the way down to the mattress pad. She would get up wet, make the wet bed and not tell me. Holy smokes is that a recipe for a really icky situation.
She was also getting angry if we tried to change her bedding, but I told her this is not optional and it's going to happen so kindly move out of the way.
I'm pretty sure she wasn't wearing her night-time undergarments for a time when it was at its worst. But by the time she moved into the care center and no longer needed the bedroom suite, she had no choice about Depends. And, you'll be glad to know that mattress was just as fine as it was on the day we bought it. Whew!
In my case, my mother lives with me, but it's not always easy to grab her things and put them into the wash, either. She will wear something, think she's worn it just once or maybe just for an hour or so, save it to wear another day, but forget that she's worn it a number of times. I know if I sniffed at it that she'd feel hurt, so I sometimes just take everything that looks like it might have been worn or touched. Despite her objections, I've taken a "resistance is futile" attitude to this and she's gotten used to it.
I did just place an order at Walgreens and it was really easy.. Except for the signup, which I'm not saying was hard - just saying it does take a little time to enter all your information to get started.
Just to give readers a little laugh: I asked my mom if she wants me to buy these products in a private way, but she said she doesn't care if people know I'm buying adult incontinence products. After all, I'm the one buying them for her, as she points out. It's not as if anyone knows they're for her. :-)