Continence Connection

Depend Re-Adustable Underwear

A more recent addition to the mass-marketed Depend line, the Re-Adjustable Underwear have the comfort and custom fit of the briefs without the loud plastic or tapes. The four Velcro tapes help you get a snug fit after you put them on like regular pull-ups. This is the best product Depend has to offer, which still isn’t saying much. It has a high waist with extra fabric so you can’t fold them down without breaking the grips, and is more prone to leak from the back then the regular briefs.

The Bottom Line – Good for at-home use and casual wear, but won’t hold up during a game of tennis or at night

Attends 10 Classic

Attends 10 is easy to find, affordable and one of the best diapers for the 24/7 wearer. With 4 tapes, the Attends 10 is a bulky diaper with a loud plastic cover, a problem solved by the new cloth-like Attends Breathables. The odor control and wicking on the attends is second to few, but the leg gathers don’t hold up very well for those of us that sleep on our side. The inside of the diaper is almost a mesh, rough fabric that feels scratchy and uncomfortable when you first put it on, so I recommend using a stuffer.

The Bottom Line – At the price, availability and comfort level, the Attends serve as a great nighttime or at home diaper, but still has the institutional look, sound and feel that doesn’t work with an active lifestyle.

Goodnites

Note - This review is only for the girls rendition of Goodnites. I will review the boys kind if there’s a demand for it, and it might be interesting to see if there’s really “custom protection zones” between the boys and girls

I have a love/hate affair with Goodnites. I’ve worn them more than any other diaper, I’ve worn every rendition and changed my lifestyle based on what Kimberly Clarke decided to do. They’re better than it’s ever been, but could still use a lot of work.. I’ve always had trouble finding an incontinence solution that if noticed, isn’t obviously a diaper and feels like regular panties. Goodnites are currently the closest you can get to a stylish, pretty, reliable pair of absorbent panties. They have odor control, decent leg gathers and a low-cut waist that you can hide under most jeans.

With that said, I have been continuously frustrated by this product and hope for another solution. First, it doesn’t fit most women, I’m 115 lbs, 32 inch waist, and I fit into the XL size, but if my period and thanksgiving ever coincide, they’ll tear at the sides. They also don’t feel like panties, they feel like diapers. They are noisy, and the leg gathers and sides are basically the same as the kids pull-ups. Also, I haven’t had “Pixie Fairies” on my underwear since I was 8

The Bottom Line – For smaller girls of all ages, Goodnights are a low-cost, attractive, but not without flaws, alternative to the plain white bellybutton high diapers.

Poise Panties

Poise Panties have the highest level of absorbency in the Poise line, these pull-up style diapers are marketed exclusively to women. I was very excited to hear about this product, and thought it might be the diaper I’ve always dreamed of, something protective and discrete but also feminine and like real underwear.

The only real difference between this and the Depend protective underwear is it more fabric at the hips, near the bottom of the garment and a little lace at the top, but it’s still plain white, and sits at around my belly button. I understand why it’s called Poise Panties because it offers about as much protection as a pair of panties and a pad. There are almost no leg gathers, and sometimes even the smallest void will cause them to leak from the sides or back.

The Bottom Line – Stick with Tena Discreet ActiveWear if you have to buy from a major chain store, or stick with a heavy pad and a comfortable pair of your own panties.

A Simple Wish For A Little Color

Statistically, us girls greatly outnumber men when it comes to incontinence, as well as other people’s perception of us being directly related to self-esteem. With that in mind, why isn’t there a reliable incontinence product made just for women? When I didn’t have a need for absorbent underwear, my panty drawer was beaming with light, sexy boyshorts, lacy thongs, low rise bikinis, all the colors of the pastel rainbow. A pair of cute panties makes a girl feel special, pretty, elegant and sexy all rolled up in a in a little cotton and lace.

Panties become an arbitrary act for the incontinent woman, I threw all mine out when I knew that I wouldn’t ever be able to wear them against my skin without fear of wetting myself. I even wore them under my diapers for a while because the diapers felt scratchy and strange to me in the beginning, but after getting a bad rash I figured that was silly (oh, the things we do to make ourselves feel comfortable).

The solution to this problem is a diaper made by women, for women. Yes, many women solve their problems with pads, but there’s nothing made for the active woman who needs 24/7 protection. We need something with color, a low-rise fit, and leg gathers that you can trust. I hope to make this a forum for exchanging ideas on what your ideal diaper would be, and hopefully this knowledge will prove useful for diaper manufacturers. Someday we’ll be able to overcome all the shame of incontinence, and that starts with finding the best way to manage it!  --Sadie--