I think it's time for...a swim diaper thread!!

[Gillian]

I know this is the stroller board, but I need diaper help!

OK, so at the Y last year (with 8 mo DS) we used disposable swim diapers with a regular bathing suit over it. All the moms/dads did.

For disney this year I am thinking of disposables with plastic swim diaper pants over it, just to make sure everything stays in. And maybe a regular suite over that since he has a bunch that are a little big (with drawstring). I am also shopping for a Flap Happy suite for DS, because they have the built in diaper & are so cute!

Let's discuss :)

[Dr. Happy]

Big 10-4 on the swim diaper!!

Youngest DD used swim diapers the past summer and they do make a difference! No one likes "chocolate logs" floating around the pool!!

We've used Huggies swim diapers the most; they seem to be much better than the Luvs. More durable, roomier, better fitting, at least on my DD little fanny...

But, our last visit found us among a group of people who seemed to like to disrobe their children by the pool to put on their swim diapers and bathing suits. One family even tried to let their child swim naked... Needless to say it raised a few eyebrows and the attention of the lifeguards...

Having only daughters, I do not have first hand experience with a Flap Happy suit, but I think I would know how to use one...

:D

[Jordan's MOM]

I think the only thing bad about swim diapers is that they are about 5 years too late in being invented. I would have loved them for my DS. We belong to a pool near our home and they have a rule that all non-potty trained toddlers must wear plastic pants in the water. They can be worn over or under the swim diapers but must be worn too. It is a law in our state. I think I have seen on these boards something about that same rule. If someone knows and could let you know, it could save you having to buy a pair at the resort prices. Anyone know?



Jordan's mom

[Jenn]

We just stayed at WL 3 weeks ago and there is a sign at the pool saying babies using the pool must be in swim diapers.

They are about $1 or so each at the resort store. We had to buy them there as the stores in my area weren't stocking them in mid-March.

[Dr. Happy]

Wow! A dollar a swim diapee is alot! Guess we can chalk that up to what resort prices are all about! We've purchased whole packs of swim diapees at CVS for about $6.50, regular price!

Isn't it funny to watch people become unglued when they see a little kid's floating feces in a public pool???? It is so entertaining to see them all scurry about, shouting to everyone "Get out of the pool, get out of the pool!!!" But, I do appreciate their efforts.:D

Ever use a conventional diaper in the water???? Bubble butt syndrome for sure!! It DOES look funny!!

:D

[Tink]

I usually bring those huggie swim daipers from home. If I go in the winter, I wait until the the end of the summer and the Target by me has them on clearance.

The huggie ones seem to work the best, and yes Disney hotels sell them in a plastic pouch for $1.

I am potty training my older daughter now, and I think that I am going to make her wear one on the next trip just in case. I'll just tell her it's pool rules and I know she will put in on, because she loves the pool.

[mars315]

Dr. Happy,

No offense, but have you heard of e-coli? There was that time a couple of years back that several children got extremely sick, possibly one or more died - can't remember too clearly- at a water park in Virginia. Turned out the park wasn't keeping the chemical level high enough. But what do you think the source of the contamination was? Little kids p__ping in the pool. It's not really that funny.

[SandraC]

I like those Huggies Little Swimmers! They look sooooo cute! Great colours too! Now that ds is almost 2.5 years old, he does well in a regular toddler kid bathing suit with the comfy snug netting. No accidents and if so, totally contained! We are bringing two for next trip. You know how every washroom at WDW sells single diapers. At the water parks they sell Little Swimmers! Now that's thoughtful! E-coli is a concern isn't it. When dd was last in hospital we meet two families whose children were very ill with it. I hope they did ok! Excellent thread ~ and not a stroller in sight LOL! Sandra

[Maleficent2]

The Viginia Case is not isolated but it is NOT peeing in the pool that is the problem and swim diapers do not hold in the pee only a BM and that is the source of the e-coli.


One child died at Whitewater in Atlanta a few years back and many more were hospitalized due to e coli.

Also at our local Fountain in Coolidge park we had an ecoli scare.


Swim diapers should be a requirement in all pools.JMHO



Mal

[MrsPete]

1. Huggie's type swim diapers are okay, but expensive. You can wash them in the washing machine and get several uses out of each one (you can wash the pee-pee diapers and trash the poopers). Obviously, they should be dried in the sun, not in the machine.

2. You can get washable swim diapers that are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better quality than the dispoables. Washing them out isn't a problem, though I admit that my girls never, ever pooped in one; still, if you do diapers, you're used to poop. I think they were Gerber name brand, but I could be wrong about that. They come in pretty colors and prints, and they're sold at Walmart and Target. A boy could wear one for a suit; a girl could have a matching/coordinating bikini top OR wear it under a one-piece. These non-disposables look slimmer under a suit and don't give that "diaper look" plus they "hold their contents" better.

3. You should not use an everyday diaper in the pool -- I've seen other people do this, and their kids become so bottom-heavy that it's ridiculous!

[Lesley]

Just a note on the Flap Happy type..non-disposable, diaper swimsuits. You can usually get these at Wal-Mart but the quality isn't all that great...the Flap Happy or other more expensive ones are better...the liners are thicker and they cover better.

Our next trip we will be out of this stage though! Dd is pretty reliably trained at this point! I think we'll be completely out of pull ups by Thanksgiving!

[soccerchick]

Just another two cents...

We use Huggies AND put a plastic diaper cover over that. DD's bathing suit still fits fine.

At our community at home, one pool is definitely a kids' pool (shallow, lots of fountains, beach type entrance, etc.) and it is NEVER the little, non-potty trained ones who have accidents. It is the three and four year olds who wait until it is too late to tell mom or dad that they have to go. We don't even try to go to that pool anymore bc it is always closed. Once there is an accident, the pool is closed for 6 hours while the chemicals do their thing.

On a good note, after a week at CSR though, we never saw an accident or pool closing of any sort.

[bambii]

did need them we found them out garage sells, unopened, for around $1.00 Alot of people around here sell them at garage sells, because swimming season is only for 3 months, so kids arent in them very long.

[mom42860]

Unfortunately there are still many uneducated about swim diapers; on our trip down there was a baby (about 4 mnths old) in a diaper in the indoor heated pool, I also saw many children at TL & BB without them, we actually left early because the kiddie area was starting to smell and it made me nervous.

[KathyK]

I bought Huggies Little Swimmers for our upcoming trip, but I have a problem. My 5 month old DD is only about 12 pounds. I had no problem finding swimsuits in her size, but with the swim diapers, the smallest size is for 16-?? lbs. - equivalent to a size 3 (she just graduated to size 2s in regular diapers last week). Any suggestions. I plan on putting them on her, and maybe using some tape to make it a little tighter.

[soccerchick]

KathyK

Buy a pair of plastic pants at Wal-Mart or Target (the kind parents used to put over the cloth diapers). Put these over the too big Huggies to help prevent any leaks. These doulbe layering is required at many of our local pools now.

[Gillian]

I thought I subscribed to this thread & I thought no one replied! I thought I was banned from the family board. I was afraid to come back :( BUT, I guess I just didn't hit the right button!! :rolleyes: :D

I have some of those elastic leg plastic pants & I really think I will need them over the little swimmers because DS is very skinny. They make them in his size (he's 22 pounds) but they seem kind of loose. Maybe the luvs will fit better than huggies. Their regular diapers do. I am going to try to fatten him up for our trip also :)

You know how they have those tipping brochures at restaurants? Maybe they should hand out swim diaper infomation at all of the pools! It sounds like such a pain when they have to close them. Luckily, we've never experienced this, and I don't want my kid to be the cause of it!

[mom42860]

I know this may sound terrible but I am more concerned about my DD getting sick from it- I learned about swim diapers on the Dis (my other 2 were born before they were around) and the horrible events that have occurred from ecoli contamination. So now I watch for those swim diapers peeking out of suits, hold her in a position that she cannot get water into her mouth, and try to educate those who haven't heard about them...

[robinb]

My daughter, now 2 1/2, has always worn Flap Happy (brand, tm :)) swim suits. They have the swim diaper built right in. You still need to watch the child closely and take them out if there is an accident. It's happened to us twice, but the mess was contained. If you buy the suits with the diapers built in, you should resist the urge to buy the suit "a little bigger" so your child can grow into it. The fit is really important and a "roomy" one just means a messier one!

[Mamatipo]

Swim diapers do not contain bowel movements (or at least my son's bms). I have first hand knowledge of this as my son (then 18 months) pooped in the pool during a mommy & me swim class. It just floated right out the back of the diaper. I was mortified, the pool was closed, and it was just a terrible situation.

I would recommend having babies wear plastic pants or plastic lined bathing suits (with elastic around the legs and waist) over their swim diapers to help contain an unexpected bm.

Thank goodness he's now potty trained!!

[KJMAX1]

I would NOT suggest the Luvs ones. A dad at our Parent/tot swim uses them and the lifeguard is always having to tell him to pull it out of his daughter's umm....Cra--.?

The lifeguard was almost furious with him this last time because he wouldnt fix it. It seems to collect more water than the Little Swimmers, and tends to get bulky, and weighed down. I have seen size 1 and 2 swim diapers at BabiesRUs.

[ilovebwv]

We use the Huggies swim diapers, rubber pants and then a bathing suit. We have never had a problem with anything coming out. Both of our kids have chubby legs so the elastic around the swim diaper and the rubber pants fits just fine.

[KathyK]

Thanks Soccerchick! I didn't think they made rubber pants anymore. I guess that I'll be looking for them this evening. We leave on Friday, so let the search begin!

[mickeyfanz]

Our local YMCA requires that you wear rubber pants over the swim diapers. We took a swim class there and I thought my son was all prepared with his Little Swimmers with a bathing suit over them. They required us to buy the rubber pants from them to add a layer over the Little Swimmers.

These rules always seem to be a pain but there is a reason for them. E-coli is a serious matter. I hope the staff at TL and BB will be out in full force checking for proper swim diaper coverage.

[TandyR]

The sign at Disney Pools is "All Diaper Aged Children Must Wear Swim Diapers" My 2 year old DD is small she wears size 12 month clothing and she is potty trained and just to ease peoples worries I had many lifegaurds come up to me and tell me that swim diapers were required...so it seems that the Lifegaurds are makeing sure that people know about the requirment. (When they told us that swim diapers are required I told them that my DD has been potty trained for 6 months now both day and night and she refuses diapers at this point they got a bit embaressed because she is the size of a lot of 6 months olds I know. :-) Then they said they didn't think she needed one then.)
My past experance is that best swim diapers I have found are the non-disposable ones with elastic on the waist and legs...we bought DD's swim diaper last year in Orlando at Holiday Inn Family Suites and it seem to work well...she never pooped in it so there was no real test of it....but it came in really small sizes including newborn sizes.

[atlnewf]

I used the Huggies Little Swimmers on my DS while he was in diapers, and they work well. The problem is that they are expensive. I have since found a washable swim diaper at my local dive store that I'm going to use on my DD. It's got elastic waist & legs and guarantees that water will not flow through the fabric so that if my child does have an accident I'll have a chance to clean her up without worrying about a mess in the pool. The disadvantage to these, though, is that once there's a mess, she'll be out of the pool until I wash the diaper. So you'll have to weigh the pros and cons to both types..

Ashley