WWYD if....... - Page 2

[Everrgreen]

Yeah, even my 21 month old will come and tell me when his pants are wet from a diaper leak.  I guess all kids are different about that kind of thing though.  But definitely as the parent I would be going home or going somewhere nearby to get a clean pair.  My ds actually did have a diaper leak at a public play place and I hadn't even brought an extra diaper with me (dumb, I know).  Luckily the play place had a diaper I could use and they even searched through a bin of extra pants but none of them would fit my ds, so he just played in his shirt and a diaper. 

[Llyra]

I don't think that urine is a huge health risk. But it's still gross, and humiliating to the child, to leave a child running around in urine-soaked clothing. If it were me-- I always have changes of clothes in the car. Always. I've learned, through hard knocks, that even older kids should have a change, if they're going anywhere that's too far to just drop home. Things happen-- and not just pee. Kids get sick and throw up. They have ugly encounters with mud. They spill food on themselves.

If I didn't have clothes- we'd go home. If we were far from home, we'd go straight to wherever we could get clean clothes-- a Wal-mart, if need be. Those are everywhere. I like the idea of rinsing and drying out the clothes, too, if nothing else is going to work.

I wouldn't just dry, though, without rinsing. Even if the clothes are dry, the child still smells like urine, and the ammonia in the fabric still chafes and irritates the skin.

[mamazee]

Go home or go somewhere nearby to buy new pants, and let the people there know so they could clean it up properly.

[MammaB21]

Wow, I was half expecting at least one person to harp on me about this post. I was prepared for comments like, "how do you know it was pee and not a spill in a bad spot?" and "how do you know the parents didn't know?" I know the parents saw because the child ran back and forth to his parents several times while there. They had a baby with them as well and a back pack and laptop so I was under the impression they were far from home. But we were at a McDonalds so they could have brought him to the bathroom and did the quick rinse and wash in the sink and then blow dry. I was just really surprised to see any parent putting their child and other children in that position.

[kcstar]

The one time so far that it's happened to us, we took DS home.  He wasn't happy about it, but it got him clean, and he didn't contaminate the play equipment.

[pianojazzgirl]

I'd definitely take my kid home for a change, or possibly go buy a cheap new pair of pants if it was somewhere super-fun that we had planned to stay at for a lot longer (assuming also that cheap pants store was closer than home!).

I wouldn't have thought of the wash-in-sink-and-dry-with-dryer idea, but I'll store it in the back of my head for future use!

[kcparker]

Well, gosh, we don't go ANYWHERE without a change of clothes in either my purse or the baby's diaper bag. Accidents happen, ketchup happens, water happens. If we didn't have any though, we'd leave to go get cleaned up. It's not hygienic for the kid to be in soiled underwear, nor to be spreading bacteria all over the public place (but don't kid yourself that those places aren't covered in germs anyway).

[broodymama]

I wouldn't let the child stay there and play, both for sanitary reasons and just because it would be embarrassing for them. 

That being said, I keep a gallon sized Ziploc bag (2 bags if they won't fit in 1) in the van with a season-appropriate change of clothes for my kids, even for my 6 year old.  My 2 year old and even occasionally my 4 year old will still need them for an accident.  Or we'll end up at a park that has a lake or beach and they all end up soaked (or caught in the rain playing in the park) and need a dry change of clothes for the ride home.  Or someone spills something, or gets sick.  In the back of the van I have a small under the bed storage container that has our emergency supplies and also has extra jackets and some towels.  And an old pail liner for toting home all the wet clothes.  And a pair of dry pants for me, on the off-chance I have to go wading into some freezing cold lake after a kid.  It doesn't take up as much room as it sounds.    We go on day trips up to the mountains frequently, and all this stuff comes in handy.

[Storm Bride]

We'd leave. I can't imagine leaving a child to play in wet pants, especially in a public play space. Mind you, I'm also pretty anal about having a change of clothes for any child that's even remotely likely to wet their pants, for precisely this reason. (I kept a change of clothes for ds2 with me for months after the last time he had an accident, just in case.)

Most kids I've known wouldn't have wanted to keep playing in wet pants, but ds2 was mostly unbothered by it, and one of my nephews doesn't care at all.

[ParisApril]

Originally Posted by limabean 

This happened to me once -- it was awful! I took my DS and two of his friends (who were brothers) miniature golfing for my DS's birthday. All the boys went pee right before we left, and the drive to the mini golf place was 10 minutes. The younger boy (4yo) had an accident on the way there, but I didn't notice his wet shorts until we were playing the first hole of the golf course. I rushed back to the desk and asked if they sold shorts or sweats or something, or if there was a lost and found we could scrounge a pair of shorts from, but they said no. I stood around wondering what to do for a few minutes, and then I checked his shorts again and they were pretty much dry (it was over 100 degrees that day) so we just played on.

I felt terrible, but at least he was standing the whole time so the urine didn't get on any play equipment, and it dried really fast due to the heat. I brought his booster seat inside his parents' house when I dropped him off so they could clean it, and the mom didn't seem surprised at all and mentioned that this sort of thing happens with him all the time -- I was actually pretty annoyed that she didn't warn me and send some extra clothes so that I wouldn't have to deal with that in the middle of my DS's birthday celebration. 

This happened to DS this summer as well.  We had been talking about go carting and mini golfing on the last night of our vacation for the whole week.  We went go carting and then made it to the mini golf place just at the cutoff for closing and the guy was nice and let us play.  Two holes in DS(5) potty trained since 15 months, had an accident.  We had biked there from the cottage.  Option 1 - Take DS back to the cottage and call it a night.  We would never have made it back and been able to play.  He would have been devastated.  Option 2 - Play on.  Since we were the last people playing for the night and DS insisted he was good to go we stayed and played.  It was warm out and DS dried quickly.   I would never in a million years have even considered that had it been indoors.

I was at a playgroup one time and a little girl had an accident.  The mom was going to make her stay in the wet clothes because that was her punishment for wetting herself!  The girl was sitting on a fabric couch beside her mom and the lady who ran the group had to tell her that was unacceptable to leave her in soiled clothing and gave her some clean pants to wear.

[nextcommercial]

We would probably just go home.  I guess I'd have had a change of clothes in the car, but more than likely, we'd have left right away.

I do know that for some reason, people think the McDonald's playplace is a free for all, and that it's already filthy, so what's one more thing?  I have several friends who's children have had an accident in there, and they kept playing.  I think I'd avoid those places anyway... they bother my moderately germaphobe self anyway.  

[nextcommercial]

Oh.. and my daughter wet her pants in the "It's a small world" ride in Disney Land when she was three.  She's never gotten over how embarrassed she was.  We tried to make it look like water from the ride it'self, but she still felt bad.   She's 18 years old now, so you'd think she'd have forgotten that by now.

[onlyzombiecat]

We would have left.

Other than the mess and physical discomfort, I wouldn't have wanted my dd to be teased.

I think that bothers me most about this little story. The kid was getting teased and the parents did nothing. It's not like people weren't noticing a small leak. :(

[OkiMom]

I keep a bag of clothes in the car for the occasional accident or getting soaked in the rain etc. It rains here ALOT and I don't like my girls running around in wet clothing, Im not comfortable in wet clothes so I figure they aren't either. If I didn't have clothing Id either go buy a set or go home. Poor kid, Id never let them run around in their own pee. I also change for diaper leaks, even in newborns, which people give me strange looks for (I have been told more than once that Im wasting my time doing so.

[ameliabedelia]

This thread is totally motivating me to make sure I have a change of clothes for all my kids...even my older ones, at all times.

To answer the question, I would not let a child play around in pee-soaked clothes.  I would either run out to dollar store or something (if we weren't close to home) or just leave.   And, I would be SURE to ALWAYS have a change of clothes with me at all times.

[dakotablue]

I wonder if this is one of those parenting things where they use humiliation to 'train' the child to not wet themselves.

I saw a caregiver do this once at a day care since the 3 1/2 year old was still having accidents.

Horrible, DS is not old enough, but when I babysat This happened, we went home, but if we had been far from home I probably would have bought him a pair of pants.

[happysmileylady]

We would leave if my dd had an accident.

I will say, if it was just spilled water, I have been known to stay.  I only get her water to drink specifically in case it gets spilled, it doesn't make a mess, it's just wet.  And depending on how wet the pants are, I may or may not stay. 

[sapphire_chan]

I fear that it must be a common thing for the kid to be left in wet clothing, because you say she kept playing like she didn't mind?

DD would've been trying to take her clothes off.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by ParisApril 

Originally Posted by limabean 

This happened to me once -- it was awful! I took my DS and two of his friends (who were brothers) miniature golfing for my DS's birthday. All the boys went pee right before we left, and the drive to the mini golf place was 10 minutes. The younger boy (4yo) had an accident on the way there, but I didn't notice his wet shorts until we were playing the first hole of the golf course. I rushed back to the desk and asked if they sold shorts or sweats or something, or if there was a lost and found we could scrounge a pair of shorts from, but they said no. I stood around wondering what to do for a few minutes, and then I checked his shorts again and they were pretty much dry (it was over 100 degrees that day) so we just played on.

I felt terrible, but at least he was standing the whole time so the urine didn't get on any play equipment, and it dried really fast due to the heat. I brought his booster seat inside his parents' house when I dropped him off so they could clean it, and the mom didn't seem surprised at all and mentioned that this sort of thing happens with him all the time -- I was actually pretty annoyed that she didn't warn me and send some extra clothes so that I wouldn't have to deal with that in the middle of my DS's birthday celebration. 

I was at a playgroup one time and a little girl had an accident.  The mom was going to make her stay in the wet clothes because that was her punishment for wetting herself!  The girl was sitting on a fabric couch beside her mom and the lady who ran the group had to tell her that was unacceptable to leave her in soiled clothing and gave her some clean pants to wear.

See, limabean? You were sensible about things and the boy was dry and comfortable. The woman ParisApril witnessed was horrible.

[BarefootScientist]

Didn't read the whole thread, but if we were at the sort of place that has people/employees there, I would first inform them what happened. They probably have a protocol for cleaning up. Then, if we had nothing resembling a change of clothes left, we would leave, at least until my child had something warm and dry to play in (whether that means going home, heading to a store in the mall to buy a pair of shorts or whatever). No way would I let them continue to play with wet pants!