One of my biggest fears with getting a fancy dress is how to pee. Not because the infamous garbage bag method isn't a fabulous idea, but because I'm recovering from a back injury that uh, interrupts my flow, shall we say. Peeing usually means sitting, waiting, shifting again, waiting again, repeat until I at least don't feel like I have to go again.
You can imagine that can get a little weird/awkward/wrinkly/cumbersome in a pretty, expensive dress.
Recently I was in New York and discovered the pStyle. Since I was in New York City and the bathrooms in public places are sketchy at best, I figured it couldn't hurt. I know standard practice is to squat, but because of the injury that's not an option, and I drink so much water it could drown a goldfish.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it didn't leak. That I could actually pee… all at once… like before I broke my back. And that it was easy to get my clothes out of the way!
This is now my go-to peeing method. I'm unashamed to say this, because there's no way I'm the only person suffering from urinary issues. It took a few tries to get the positioning perfect and discover my lower abs (they help you pee when your spine doesn't feel like it!) but now I can actually pee.
So this is my plan for the wedding:
How to pee in a wedding dress using a trash bag
Things I love: Fluffy wedding dresses, staying hydrated, my bridesmaids. Things I don't love: Having the third help me handle the first in order to... Read more
- Take the front of the dress and throw it over my shoulder.
- Put the train over my arm.
- Pee with my new gadget.
- Wipe.
- Done.
If you have a super froofalicious dress, you could do this method at the same time.
I hope this helps someone out. Maybe it would even be a good addition to a survival bag, especially for an outdoor wedding where the bathroom options are less-than-ideal.
Awesome post!
I have this one: Freshette by Freshette
It’s stiff and not open at the top, and has a collapsible tube, so it’s PERFECT for peeing outside without pulling down your pants. Win.
My friend got one for hiking. She’s apparently freaked a few guys out when they turn around and see her peeing fully dressed, standing up. She calls it her “man part” – but her husband said until she could write her name in snow it would only be a boy part. Let’s just say she learned fast and was quickly promoted.
http://offbeatwed.com/2013/08/how-to-pee
I am going to share this on my chronic back pain fb groups. Great idea for anytime. I don’t have issues with this but know many do. Hope you have a great day! There are many limits imposed by back injuries but a beautiful wedding shouldn’t be one!
Wait…the way I pee is related to my spinal injury? IT EXPLAINS SO MUCH
I can’t remember many details of my daily life from before the spinal injury (it was compounded with a head injury because of terrible doctors; long story) but I don’t remember having as many problems with peeing as I do now. I’ve always had issues with remembering to go to the bathroom till the last minute, but that usually meant I was done pretty quickly. Now it’s pee, shift, wait, pee, shift, wait, pee, finish, go back in 5 minutes because apparently I wasn’t finished.
Hmm. I may have to check out the pStyle.
Do it! I had a major sacral fracture and NO ONE told me that this could be a long-term effect. I’d bring it up to doctors and they said they wouldn’t worry unless I got a UTI, and if that happened they’d do a catheter. No thank you! Preventative measures please!
My issues sound the same as yours. Give it a shot. Peeing well is important!
I support female urinary devices 100% 🙂 I started using a She Wee when I go out. Love it! It’s also been a huge help on the occasions that I had to go out with my fractured ankle. Trying to hover with one working leg is not easy. Yay to no more hovering!
I Injured my back on the road with no option to order gadgets from amazon. Here is a free emergency method because nobody should have to suffer with a full bladder.
Use a large wax paper cup from a fast food place. Stand with feet about 2 feet apart. This will keep your underpants at mid thigh and you won’t have to bend over to pull them up. Put the cup under you. The wax paper will bend into an ellipse shape and your underpants will help support the cup as a sling. After you relieve yourself the cup can gently scrape away excess liquid. Pour it into the toilet. I just had to wipe so I used paper towels that can be rolled into a tube shape and pressed up by bringing the thighs together. I would suggest using a belt of some kind to help keep a wedding dress up. I hope my embarrassing moments can at least help 1 person. Back pain is hell.
I just don’t like using other people’s toilets, especially public ones. I work outside a lot so I usually just pee in the forest or between our truck doors on the side of the road but we recently bought a SmartCar which has only one door on each side so not very discreet for roadside peeing. I bought one of those Go-Girl pee funnels ages ago and it is seriously awesome, really easy to use, but of course since I didn’t really need it often I lost it and now I must find it! Anyway, I definitely recommend it! Happy peeing!
Going to the bathroom in my dress was one of the things that caused me the most anxiety about my wedding. I usually go to the bathroom a lot (at work I drink a lot of water/tea/coffee) so I was worried I would have to go all of the time. I decided that the easiest way to go pee in my dress was to take it off. My dress was something I could easily take off so that’s why I went with this option. When I really needed to go pee I grabbed a friend by the arm and dragged her to the washroom. I went into the stall and took off my dress while she stood outside the stall. I did my business and then got dressed. I zipped up my dress and then had my friend make sure that everything was in order. My friend was very confused about how I managed to zip my dress back up without help, and was even more surprised I was able to do it while tipsy (I say “happy”, she says “drunk”). The next time I needed to go pee I took another friend to help me and I changed into my jeans and a tee shirt (it was pretty late by then).
That said, I think I met get one of those gadgets for the next time I go to a country wedding. The last one I went to the tanks for the rented washrooms got full early on in the night. The guys just peed in the bush and the women had limited options until someone pumped the tank.
Wait… This is A Thing??
File that under “Things you didn’t know existed until the Offbeat Websites”.
Pee funnels are totally a thing. There multiple models and brands, even!
I don’t have back problems, so normally I’m fine with squat toilets while traveling (China, rural France…). But now I’m pregnant, and I will be traveling in squat toilet land at 7 months. I know they’re, according to some, great for pregnant women, but what with the possibility of seriously unsanitary and really smelly toilets (for instance a generous layer of pee on the floor) plus worsening back pain, I’ve been concerned! Has anyone tried this while pregnant??
With the exception of a UTI, urine is sterile when it exits the body. I wipe my funnel down with Thymol wipes between uses to keep them sanitary. There are several brands that make them – it sanitizes as well as clorox wipes, is non-toxic, and leaves no residue.
The best thing you can do is to practice using the funnel at home. That will help you figure out the best positioning to avoid leaks.
Thanks to this post, I bought two GoGirls and a pStyle. (Two GG only because it was only an extra dollar.) I’d heard of them before but finally decided to go for it. Both were given big thumbs up and big thumbs down from bigger girls, so I didn’t know which to pick but figured they’re fairly different from each other and I might have preferential days.
They came in today. I’m very excited to try them!
Well this is really weird. But I heard about this small marvel and I’m going for one.