Building on my series of posts on unconventional sleeping locations and the challenges they might pose to one who wet the bed, I wanted to explore the challenges of camping. Growing up, I loved camping but was always nervous about the sleeping situation. Our family usually went car camping, so we could bring a lot of stuff, and I’d have all the things I needed packed in my massive duffel bag.
We always brought a spare sleeping bag, just in case, and as soon as I was old enough, I got my own pup tent. With these precautions I could happily camp for several weeks, though the odd leak here and there meant that my sleeping bags were certainly smelly once we got home. My biggest concern was, in the event of a serious leak, having my sleeping bag hanging up to dry, on display for all to see. I was convinced that everyone would know it was mine and know that I had wet the bed. This was of course paranoia, as there are a ton of reasons why someone might want to air out their sleeping bag while camping in a damp climate.
I also remember how wet air mattresses were ‘tactfully’ washed by letting my take to play on on a nearby body of water if one was available.
These same precautions can be taken as an adult and result in a successful camping trip. Sharing a tent with others (not partners or friends who are aware of your bed wetting) can be more of a challenge, fortunately sleeping bags are almost always noisy enough to cover over the sound of a diaper.
You may want to change in the outhouse. I remember going camping with school growing up, and slipping into a Goodnite that was strategically stashed at the bottom of my sleeping bag. Unfortunately, I find this to difficult to do with the tabbed briefs that I wear to almost guarantee a lack of leaks. Plus adjusting tapes can be a noisy affair, as such, the outhouse may be the best options.
Again, don’t forget plenty of spare pairs and garbage bags, and just like staying with friends and family, cultivate the practice of early morning walks to ease the disposal of wet diapers.
Now this advice is good and dandy for those going car camping or using a camper van or mobile home, but doesn’t really address the problem presented by backpacking and overnight camping.
I have limited experience with this sort of thing, having only done a couple of overnight hiking trips. In these cases I simply brought a decent size diaper for each night, and tossed them in the trash at the site, or packed them out in several bags when this option wasn’t available.
For trips over a couple of days, this approach might not be possible. The option of a carrying a spare sleeping bag is also not practical, but so too is having a wet sleeping bag. So here you will likely have to depend on your most reliable absorbent product.
Carrying around more than a couple wet diapers may not be practical or comfortable, but you might not have much of a choice. If you are really in the wild with no trash cans, you will have the do one of two things, and these depend on local regulations and good ecological sense.
It might be the case that you have to pack out what you pack in, then make sure you bring lots of bags and make the appropriate calculations to factor in the added weight of the wet diapers.
If you are able to have fires, you might be able to burn your wet diapers, check with local regulations and rules about this before doing it. Also, this might entail you bringing those with whom you are traveling into your confidence and reveal that you wet the bed. It’s pretty hard to casually and discreetly toss a diaper onto the fire when everyone is toasting marshmallows.
Don’t let a silly thing like wetting the bed keep you from exploring the great outdoors!
For those who have done more protracted camping trips, I would love to hear about some of the solutions you developed to address bed wetting on you adventure.
The Bedwetting Traveller 