Incontinence pads/pants for children

Alleycat

My daughter is nearly 6 and has urinary incontinence. She has an appointment to see specialists at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital but not until 25th February 2011!! In the meantime, I thought it might be a good idea to get her some incontinence pants as she is wetting almost daily and often it looks like it's a full bladder. It hasn't been noticed by the other kids at school yet, but it is only a matter of time.

I've looked for incontinence pants but they are really expensive - min £6 per pair and she'd need at least 4 or 5 pairs. Does anyone happen to know of anywhere that might sell them a bit cheaper than this or have any experience of incontinence in otherwise healthy children?

Thanks, Alice

vicki+1

depends what area of the country you are in, in suffolk they will provide them free for children over 4 i think, speak to your gp or health visitor

Alleycat

Hi Vicki, thanks for your suggestion. I will call the doctor on Monday and ask. Do you know if they are the nappy type things (like larger sized pull-ups) or more like pants? I'd prefer to get her ones that look like proper pants for when she has to get changed for PE (twice a week), swimming and when she is with friends. I did get a free sample of drynites randomly sent to me a few years ago that I kept and tried to get her to wear them to try them out but she got really upset about it.

Mojisola

Your local NHS with have an Incontinence Service - name will vary with the area. Ask for a referral.

Alleycat

Hi Mojisola, we have a referral but the appointment isn't until 25th February 2011 as they are totally booked up. They have said though that if there are any cancellations they will let us know.

Mojisola

Isn't that for the specialist? I was talking about the district nurses. They are the ones who supply my Mum's needs and I'm sure they deal with children too.

vicki+1

Mojisola wrote: »

Isn't that for the specialist? I was talking about the district nurses. They are the ones who supply my Mum's needs and I'm sure they deal with children too.

hi i am a district nurse , we do the incontinence pads for adults but not for children, but it will vary depending on the area of the country. Our area of the country has a continence service, but you don't neccesariuly need to see them to be provided with pads.
I know here in suffolk its difficult to get pull up pants supplied to adults because of the cost, however i this may be very different for children

Alleycat

Thanks for all your suggestions. I've contacted the GP who did the referral. She didn't mention an incontinence service and previously I had assumed that the hospital thing we have an appointment for was that. She is looking into whether there is anything we can get via the NHS but hasn't rung back yet.

I've talked again to DD and she really doesn't want to have to wear pull-ups but says she would wear the proper knickers with built in pad. Fingers crossed we can get those but doubtful I guess!

WartimeScrapingofMarmite

vicki+1 wrote: »

depends what area of the country you are in, in suffolk they will provide them free for children over 4 i think, speak to your gp or health visitor

I'll second that - I work with Health Visitors in Oxfordshire and continence pants/pads for children are provided free here.

If you don't get any joy with your GP, contact your Health Visitor anyway because in my experience, alot of GPs are not aware of all services available for children, whereas your Health Visitor will be.

flyingelephant

There is a basic assumption here that the pads for children are provided free by the NHS. It is imperative that ALL people with bladder and bowel problems are thoroughly assessed by appropriately qualified professionals. Pads are for containment, they are not a treatment for incontinence. Based on a good assessment many treatments are effective at resolving or improving symptoms. All treatment options should be exhausted prior to the provision of pads. Local policies reflect pad allocation and its disappointing to hear that some of you think its appropriate to give out pads in the absence of effective continence interventions.

Mojisola

flyingelephant wrote: »

There is a basic assumption here that the pads for children are provided free by the NHS. It is imperative that ALL people with bladder and bowel problems are thoroughly assessed by appropriately qualified professionals. Pads are for containment, they are not a treatment for incontinence. Based on a good assessment many treatments are effective at resolving or improving symptoms. All treatment options should be exhausted prior to the provision of pads. Local policies reflect pad allocation and its disappointing to hear that some of you think its appropriate to give out pads in the absence of effective continence interventions.

It's not in the absence of interventions; it's to cope with the problem until the appointment comes round!