Someone in my family has developed urinary incontinence

38-year-old female

At first she would ask me to do her laundry for her, but when she started telling me she didn’t have any I discovered that she had been throwing her underwear away. I guess she didn’t want me to see that they were soiled. Just the underwear kept disappearing and we had to keep buying more.

I wish I’d realized what she was going through sooner.

39-year-old female

When she wetted underwear by couldn’t make it to bathroom, she seemed really shocked because she is self-confident woman and took care of everything by herself. I went to bought urine leakage special pad and ask her to just try lightly.

It seems felt good on her and used it regularly until start using diapers.

30-year-old female

My grandmother wasn’t making it to the toilet in time and was really struggling with leaks, so I told her she might as well use the products if she was going to get her underwear soiled.

She was surprised at first, but I told her I’d use them with her (I leak when I sneeze). That alleviated her embarrassment and she agreed to use them.

26-year-old female

I realized that my grandmother was really getting older. I told her that it’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed about and told her how much I admired her for being so independent for so long. I told her that everybody uses them, and just because they don’t go around talking about it doesn’t mean they’re not doing it privately. It’s just a pad. I bought some and left them in the drawer in her hospital room.

Later, she told me they were gone and she wanted me to buy more, so I know she used them.

45-year-old female

For some reason he was getting up to go to the bathroom every two hours at night. It’s so cold in winter and he walks so slowly that he started using a portable urinal in the bed. He’ll walk around unassisted once he wakes up, but sometimes he wasn’t making it to the toilet in time and his underwear were soiled more frequently. I recommended that he try pants type.

I think he was relieved as well, and now he wears them every day.

42-year-old female

She was the one that brought it up. She was uncomfortable with the leaks so she talked to me about it and we decided to use something. Diapers are OK in the house, but pants type are better when we go out because they’re easier to get on and off. Most importantly, you can’t see them through clothing.

Obviously nobody wants other people to know that they’re wearing a diaper.

40-year-old female

Lately my mother-in-law has been telling me that she won’t be able to hold it if we go out in the car. She was honest about the fact that she was leaking a little, and I told her that it wasn’t just old age—even I experienced the same thing and used urinary care products when I was concerned about it. I told her she should try them out too, and gave her ones that I already had in the house. That made her completely relaxed about it—she realized that it’s not just an age thing and said she’d go out and buy some if they worked. She took care of my father-in-law when he was ill, so I think it was easier for her to accept them.

37-year-old female

The first time I noticed was when her underwear weren’t in the wash anymore. She was apparently handwashing them out of embarrassment. I told her we were family, I was her daughter and there was nothing to be ashamed about. We started with pantiliners, then pants type, and when she was hospitalized briefly we used tape-on diapers—whatever the situation called for. I’m grateful that things are so easy between us now.

22-year-old female

At first he tried to get to the bathroom on his own, but as he had more trouble walking he often couldn’t make it in time. Now he wears the pull-on kind. Apparently he had some resistance to them at first, but now he’s happy to wear them!

48-year-old female

My mom started experiencing incontinence when she couldn’t make it to the bathroom in time, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I just kept my mouth shut and kept cleaning up after her. After a while the caregiving was too difficult for me to handle on my own, so I had a helper come in. My mom didn’t want anyone but family in the house to start with, and she certainly didn’t want them knowing about her incontinence, so she started using the pads. When I picked one out I actually put it on and tested it myself to make sure it would stay dry before recommending it to her.

54-year-old female

His legs are weak so he uses a cane. At first he walked so slowly that I wondered whether he could make it to the bathroom in time. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I kept quiet, but he ended up telling me that he was leaking. I wish he’d told me sooner. I thought he’d feel more confident with pants type, but when he went into a senior living facility that had communal bathing I figured the pads might be better. He took them along and happily used them to my relief.