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A great lady at my Mom's assisted living asked me for some daughterly advice and I fell short. I'm posing the question to you experts so my friend can get some sleep. She's exhausted from getting up dozens of times nightly to urinate and has trouble walking. She's decided "to hell with it, I'm just gonna wear a diaper at night. " What's the best way to go considering convenience, cost, skin health, dignity? I notice my Mom puts pads inside her disposable briefs and I thought that made them less effective. A woman told me she does that too to get multiple uses out of the briefs. I hear about double diapering too and I'm frankly confused on the whole subject. A big hug to everyone out there today sharing this journey.

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I found depends pull ups with a tena overnight pad to work best. The pads were not too thick so more comfortable and the back of the pad was wider then the front. I tried a lot of different brands and combinations but these worked best for us. When wearing during the day we would just remove the pad if we didn't make it to the bathroom in time and put a new pad on,this way we didn't have to take all of the bottom clothes and shoes off. My mom preferred to wear pants. Good luck
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I think maybe the fact that she is getting up so many times to urinate at night and trouble walking should be addressed before worrying about a diaper. Please see a MD,something may be wrong.
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Great advice on pads, briefs, and commodes. Underbed pads (disposable or washable) are also good too for "just in case" a leak. The re-usable ones are far more comfortable. Both are included in the same coverage as the briefs/pads once she's diagnosed with incontinence. It's important she talk with a physician in any case. Dozens of times nightly (24 or more times) means about every 20-30 minutes which is way beyond typical incontinece, and she can't be getting any quality sleep. Best and hugs. Good for you trying to help and with your Mother too.
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Wow how timely this question is! My FIL needed to be sedated last night which makes him sleep thru til morning. Usually gets up 2-3x to pee during the night. Today he got up w a saturated brief and guard, plus peed 4 oz more on toilet. I used our old food scale to weigh his briefs, subtracted the dry weight. He had 730gm or about 24 ounces, of urine in them! The carpet was dry, as was the BR floor after he walked in there to change. Small area of urine on the sheets. We use Depend brand at night, Assurance (Wal-Mart brand) in daytime, as they hold same amount, but are not as leakproof at night due to a higher leg cut and looser fit. The guards we buy in either brand. I filled one with water and it started dripping around 250mL, just over a cupful. We change guards when wet, use brief up to 48 hrs which has happened once in two months as his incontinent episodes increase. He usually pees around 2-4 oz at a time during the day. Figuring that with the amount found this am, probably went 6-8 times before waking up, or had larger amounts each time due to sedative relaxing his bladder and prostate.
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If you look on the manufacturers' websites, you can see how much each product will absorb - they come in so many different shapes and sizes that I'm not surprised people find it confusing.

Does your mother's friend have a commode by her bed, though? I can sympathise with her getting fed up with getting up, but if the urge to urinate is waking her anyway it seems a shame for her to head down the slippery slope - maybe a bedside commode would be a compromise?
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Mom still is continent with urine, up to a point, but not bowels. She's 97 with dementia. We use the pull-ups (I call them disposable panties) provided by hospice during the day and Depend at night. Recently I've added Abeena Abri-Flex Premium Air Plus to the selection, for times I think Mom might sleep in. They really sop up the stuff.

Members have provided good answers for you, especially seeing a doctor, so hopefully this challenge will be managed soon. God bless.
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My mom also puts a pad inside her disposable briefs. It makes her feel more secure. Medicare may help with the cost if her doctor writes a script for them.
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yes..pads are thicker than the disposable diapers...and half the cost. pads vary in thickness in length and can save you a lot of money if you do use the pads in the disposable diapers. you can change those and not have to throw the diaper away!
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I consider a "diaper" and a "disposable brief" the same thing. Although I don't use the term "diaper". I say "brief" or "undergarment".

Whether someone uses a pad inside the brief or not the brief should be changed everyday like underwear for hygienic purposes. Unless there's incontinence in which case the brief should be changed after every accident.
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Idk what size she is....if the smallest depends is too big, the largest huggies pull up might fit better, and pads will make them last the night. There are some aviator supply places online that make a thing that works in conjunction with a female urinal, so no need to get up out of bed, perhaps...it's "hold and go"..just like the fellas. Also can use it to pee standing up...pilots use...if you go that route, use a bed pad til you get used to it.....the pilot store I think is the name of it
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