Our sofa has lots of little marks on the arms - pen, finger marks, hate to think what else. Can anyone advise the best way to clean it - if I made a paste with bicarb would that work do you think?

Its a tan sort of colour, mid brownish, so quite light really and would show up stains if I used the wrong thing!

Also, while I’m here, DS has had a few leaks at night the past couple of nights, which have leaked through the sheets onto the mattress. What;s the best way of dealing with this (am thinking it might start to smell?)- just sprinkle some bicarb on the mattress? Any other tips? And what could I use to prevent it going through to the mattress in future, have seen some disposable sheets in the chemist you can put under the bottom sheet, but am reluctant to buy them really. If anyone has any tips before I have to they’d be very welcomed.

Thanks x x

Hi!

You can get washable versions of the disposable pads but they’re quite expensive at about £13… You can also get plastic sheets that cover the whole of the matress and they’re more affordable at around £4… But if you don’t want to buy anything specific (like me!) I just put some blankets over the mattress! Seems to work ok with smallish volumes of fluids x

You can get washable waterproof sheets to go under the sheets - the non-rustle breathable ones really are non-rustle and breathable (!) and are excellent. Do make sure you get the non-rustle breathable ones though - we didn’t for our superking (hard to find!) and are regretting it now. If you want something for on top of sheets, you can get “brolly-sheets” which are like large changing mats - we have some to protect the sheets from Jude’s copious spit-up and they are fab. Everything I’ve recommended is dead easy to wash - I just chuck it in with a normal load.

Angie

Not sure about the sofa cleaning, but maybe try a bit of whatever you decide on a bit you can’t normally see so if it does leave a mark it doesn’t matter?

On the bed front, when we forgot to put the protector back on seren’s bed and she had an accident we just rubbed the patch with a damp cloth and some washing up liquid with a few drops of lavendar, then dried it off with a towel and left it to air and dry thoroughly in the sun (in the porch so it didn’t get rained on!). Usually we use an organic cotton flannelette mattress protector on all the beds, and if it’s in the wash I just stick a towel under the sheets. The double/king/super king are quite expensive, but to start with when we just had seren we had a single and just put it on the side of the bed she slept (and when they are little you can just put it across the whole of the top of the bed instead, as they don’t get lower)

For on the bed I’d second the brolly sheets http://www.brollysheets.co.uk/shop/Brolly+Sheets.html. I have them on my bed too as inevitably it’s not just his bed he wets. They don’t feel plasticy and they’re not PVC, it’s like sleeping on a normal sheet.

I’d also recommend brolly sheets, they are expensive but well worth it.  The great advantage is that as they go over the sheets and only cover part of the bed, it’s really easy to change them in the middle of the night without having to strip the whole bed, and they do them in a range of colours too

Thanks everyone, the brolly sheets look brilliant, though wow they are expensive! DS still sleeps with us so would need a double, well at least 2….but they do look fab. For now I’ve put a few blankets under the top sheet, though DS hasn’t leaked since. Am going to look into the washables to see if they might hold a bit more wee, though I know that’s not their intention from reading them before now. Amazingly, we’ve never had leaks up until now so have never had to worry about this. Haven’t tried the sofa yet but thats a good tip about using it in a discreet place thanks! x