I had a reader ask me if I knew how to clean up a mattress after a little one has wet the bed and I'm sad to report that I am highly qualified in this area. There are lots of fancy cleaners out there but really all it takes is some baking soda, white vinegar and dish washing soap.
If you have a repetitive bed wetter it's best to be pro-active. I used to take one of the large heavy duty outdoor garbage bags and place it between the mattress and the fitted sheet. Then when my little munchkin had an accident I never had the wet mattress problem. The layer of plastic caught all the liquid and my only clean up was laundering the sheets.
So if the urine got on the mattress here's an article on how to clean it up using inexpensive, earth friendly household items.
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15 comments:
When I was a kid... :P My mom had you one-upped: she used SHOWER CURTAINS. Mostly because there were oodles of kids all different sizes who could potentially wet the bed at any place on it while sleeping.
Thanks for posting about this! We are trying to switch my daughter from diapers to underwear at night since she has been potty trained for over a year, but nighttime training isn't going so well as the potty training did. )-:
Nature's Miracle is one of many cleaners with enzymes that "eat" urine and other body fluids. You can get it at a pet supply store.
For as many wet beds as we've had investing in a waterproof mattress cover probably saved me MUCH in garbage bags. Not to mention - did you try laying on it? ugh You can get a mattress cover cheaply at walmart-type stores or a better one thats nicer to sleep on at furniture stores (we caught a sale).
I use the zippered plastic mattress covers. They run $9 at Walmart for a twin, $12 for regular or queen, and generally last about three months (longer if you don't run them through the washer every time--sponging them off works better and they last longer before the inevitable tears).
I have really good luck sprinkling a thick layer of corn starch over the wet area and letting dry for the day and then vacuum off. Unless VERY wet it takes the odor and stain out as it drys
I agree that a waterproof mattress cover is WORTH it. Sometimes the wetness seeps much farther than you would think!
my daughter uses shower liners but puts a large bath/swim towel over it so the child doesn't"sweat" due to the plastic. Now if she could figure out to to deal with the comforters because she has to walk to the laundromat every time someone has an accident.Blankets don't keep the kids warm enough here in OH
I use the zippered matress cover as well.
If I do have to clean the matress I've found 20 Mule Team Borax works Great! It works really well in eliminating the smell.
I too had a bedwetter for a while, and I loved the plastic mattress cover sheets that still felt like cloth. The urine didn't get on the mattress, but it didn't feel so hot and sticky like a plastic sheet can, even when covered by another sheet.
I really like the idea of using a garbage bag, but want to add a CAUTION that you would NOT want to do this on the bed of a small child who might get ahold of the bag. It could be a safety hazard. Perhaps if you cut the bag open, so it was no longer a bag, but a large piece of plastic, that would alleviate that problem. Of course, if you have a son like mine, feeling the plastic bag under the sheet would make him curious enough to pull off the sheet to figure out what was under it! We use a very cheap store bought plastic cover. It has a few tears in it though, where the same curious child took it off the bed, but that is easily fixed with duct tape. he he
I agree with Nature's Miracle. It's amazing.
We do a layered approach: sheet, waterproof pad, sheet, waterproof pad, mattress. Then in the middle of the night, just pull off the top layer and waterproof pad, and a fresh sheet is already on the bed.
my mother zipped all our mattresses in those plastic liners too, she just put a mattress pad over top and you'd never know it was there. it's one extra thing to wash, but it doesn't feel like sleeping on plastic
Well my bedwetter is 11 yrs old and she wets the bed like real bad almost every night. And just one night the matress is soaked. I think there's no hope for it....so I got her a water proof twin matress! That's more sanitary cause you can just take sheets off and wipe it down fast! Its kinda like a crib matress just bigger :-)
The problem with shower curtains, garbage bags, plastic mattress covers, latex and vinyl is that they give off toxic chemicals. Killing our kids and increasing the risk of cancer is not the way.
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