• True Story
• Length: 1574 words; ≈8 min read
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• Rating: 4.01 (100 voted)

Being first embarrassed is completely correct about regarding bedwetting at camp. I know first-hand as I only had a few nighttime accidents at home when I was 9 and 10 years old (which was typical from what my parents told me and how I knew of some other kids that had more frequent trouble than me). So when I went to Boy Scout camp when I was 11 I was not too worried since I had not had an accident for over 5 months though I still was a bit concerned in the back of my mind. Unfortunately my very first night I woke to a wet feeling and realized I had an accident. I went to the bathroom but my underwear was quite damp in the front and my sleeping bag had a small wet spot. No one noticed and several nights later it happened again but a bit worse. I still said nothing but at the end of the week my scout master asked me about my nighttime occurrences and the underside of my sleeping bag that had a larger revealing spot that could not be hidden. He was more asking to make sure I knew it was not a problem to him or the camp personnel and not to be discouraged as other campers through out the summer had this same challenge besides me. He mentioned that sleeping in outdoor cooler temperatures sometimes caused this with boys and girls. I was glad though I was going home that day and when my parents picked me up no one said anything in the open so thankfully I was not publicly embarrassed. Mom washed my sleeping bag and clothes and that was the end of it. The rest of the summer and school year at home were uneventful and when I turned 12 I only had 2 accidents at night that year (but both about 3 months before summer camp and much more volume). My parents never made a big deal about it so I did not either. However, when I eagerly went to camp that summer my parents told me the scout master was going to talk to me privately about sleeping conditions and my mom had discussed my previous months two accidents with him. I uttered a meek OK but wondered as we pulled into the camp parking lot what it really meant. As our tents were being picked out the Scout master took me aside and told me I was going to bunk with a scout other than my choice on the registration sheet. Though I was looking to tent with my buddy I resignedly accepted when he told me it was due to my accidents at night and the other scout had the same challenge. As my parents were leaving my mother quietly told me she had packed some special protection in my bag and I was to use it each night. Before I could ask her about this she was leaving and the Scout master told me and the other boy to grab our bags and head over to our tent. Once inside he asked us to take out the protection our mothers had packed for us and place it in the bottom of our sleeping bags. As he left and we unpacked, our mutual dejection at seeing three pair of plastic underpants in each of our bags was obvious. Both of us just kind of noted to each other a you too? look on our faces and we placed them in our sleeping bag. That night the scout master reminded us privately to put on our protection beneath our pajamas. Though embarrassing, the fact I was with another boy who had the same challenge was a bit comforting. After both of us had slipped on our plastic underpants we talked for a bit about previous accidents and even admitted maybe this might make camp better. It turns out, we both had accidents that night but our sleeping bags were not only dry but the scout master had left a black bag for us to put our rinsed underwear and plastic pants in and he causally picked it up each day to have laundered. We both could go to the shower room in the morning and no one could tell we were wearing protection. The shower stalls were enclosed and rinsing our wet undergarments was no big deal. Though my tent buddy had an accident each night I was having a bit less at only 4 nights out of 6 but my last night I did leak and wet the sleeping bag. My tent buddy and I had a great week and changing into our plastic pants in front of each other at night made us both realize it was no big deal. When my parents came to pick me up my mother seemed very concerned at first but telling them I felt better about wearing the protection made my parents feel better. I wore my plastic underpants for the next several months at home and ended up only having an accident one of the nights. My parents never questioned me about wearing them at night over my underwear or washing them and my mother stated simply after the first month back home she would leave them in my underwear drawer and I could decide when it was the best time to not wear them anymore. I began to cut back to only a few times a week after about the 6th month but the added security of not worrying about wetting the bed actually helped me sleep better. About a month and a half before summer camp I ended up having 3 accidents in two weeks (once while not wearing my plastic underpants) and the other two times leaked out and the sheets were significantly wet. I had gone to the doctor for a regular health visit previously and he was not overall concerned and said it was common with some boys my age. I went back to wearing my protection each night and my mother bought me training underwear for boys my age and some larger plastic underpants. Being a bit unhappy about wearing an almost diaper my mother explained that I was getting bigger and older and sometimes it took longer for some boys to grow out of it and some added protection would be better. I reluctantly recall agreeing with her the first night as I pulled my larger plastic underpants over my thicker cotton underwear. By the time summer camp came around I was fine with wearing my protection but my previous tent buddy had left scouts and being almost 14 I guess I was the only one still having accidents. My scout master talked with me about my condition and though I confirmed to him I had brought my training underwear and plastic underpants nothing more was said and as far as a I knew my new tent buddy did not have the same nighttime challenge. I routinely changed into my protection in the bathroom at night and changed / rinsed out the garments each morning and put them in the black bag and dropped it into the scoutmaster tent each day. I only had a few accidents that week but was very glad I had the protection and no one in the troop ever said anything (I still think they did not know). The following year my accidents dropped off and I eventually stopped wearing the undergarments about 2 months before my next summer camp. Though it may surprise some people, I still took my plastic underpants and training underwear to summer camp just to be on the safe side, which turned out to be a good bet as I had one accident the 3rd night of camp (which was high volume but everything was contained thankfully). I had no more accidents after that but I did pack several pair of plastic underpants the next several years up to my final scout camp when I was 16. My mother said she understood and told me she was proud of me taking the precaution (I wore them each night over my regular underwear but had no accidents). So now with pull-ups, better fitting plastic underpants, training underwear, etc. bedwetting is an annoyance but no longer a devastating embarrassment. This now allows so many other kids to go to camps with this challenge in place but with proper undergarment protection also. Relying on support from a mutual bedwetter was a good first basis for me to become comfortable with wearing plastic-underpants first at camp and then at home. Wearing protection at night also helped my mother by not having to wash sheets so often and my father only made a comment once during these 6-7 years about how I would eventually grow out of it and not be ashamed at taking responsibility for when I needed it most. There were many times in the late summer I would get up in the morning and walk to the bathroom with only a tee shirt and my plastic underpants over my training underwear and my parents might see me in the hallway. My father typically just said good Morning! But my mother always asked how I slept that night. Quite honestly, if I was wet, even slightly, I sheepishly mentioned it (but if I was dry, I stated it also). After hearing me saying I was wet, my mother would usually say something to the effect that she was glad I chose to wear my protection that night (and so was I!).