No Swimmie Diapers in the Pool!

[taswira]

Then do you think DCL may be headed in the "potty trained only" direction?

 

[Cassi]

I don't think that permitting only potty-trained children is the answer. Our local amusement park has a water park, too, and several times it has closed down because someone has vomitted in one of the pools (all the water is connected).

Personally, I LOVE the smell of an over-chlorinated pool! It's reassuring!

Boy, this thread is really bringing up images of Caddy Shack with the candy bar....was it Baby Ruth?

Cassi

 

[Mjasp]

Taswira...I sure hope so then. It may be the way to go. The Mickey pool was drained quite a few times on the Inaugural. Although my kids are trained (I hope so) they're 6 and 10 LOL.
They still LOVE that Mickey slide and come down and get water all over there face and there mouths are open from laughing all the way down. I know they closed it once cause a child threw up. You know they take that water in and choke it up, so to speak.

I wonder what other cruise line guidelines are on this issue. May be interesting to read up on.

 

[AliPom]

I wish my 4 year old niece could read this. A little friend taught her how to fill her mouth with the pool water and spit out a fountain the other day . Ugh; much to my horror for this very reason! I finally had to tell Allie to imagine that she was drinking pee.
Even though one would think that the plastic swim diapers from the baby boutiques should be required in the pool, if the parent does not wash the diaper properly you are still confronted with the bacteria issue. Perhaps the chlorine and the filters can aid in a pee situation, but I don't think they can in the other case.

Maybe a little water feature park or misting area would be best for the non-party trained. They could cool off with their diapers on.

Now if we could teach those adults at our beach club who walk into the ocean up to their waist and stand there for a moment before returning to the beach that we do know they are peeing in the water and it is unacceptable, we would be all set.

Looking forward to Quiet Cove!

 

[taswira]

Yeah . . I think if they are going to be health and safety conscious, it seems they are headed for "potty trained only" and they may be following NCL's lead. It makes sense. It will surely incur a lot of wrath from everyone with non-potty trained infants and toddlers, but with their new rules I don't see how they'll function (keep from closing the pool every hour or more) if they don't!

 

[taswira]

<B>AliPom</B> - I think your idea of a misting area for the non-potty trained is GREAT! That would solve a lot of problems and concerns and still let the little ones cool off.

 

[*Huey*]

If they ban untrained children from the pool, how do they enforce it? How do you prove it? You can't just tell by looking... just as some children walk at 8 months, some are potty trained very early. My daughter was on the opposite end of the scale... she was over three and a half until she was ready (at that age she looked 5!)

I guess there's always going to be something in the poolwater that we really don't want to know about, just the thought of a visible reminder seems worse to me....

As for yey or ney on the swimmies... I don't know...

 

[Mjasp]

Alipom...Another yeah for your misting idea, may be the way to go

 

[Gillian]

Well, if you use one of those plastic lined swim diapers under a regular suit, no one will know, will they? It's flat.

My 2 year old recently had a floaty accident in the bath. He was so surprised! It was really funny, but I sure wouldn't want to repeat it in the pool!

This whole topic is kind of icky, isn't it

 

[SueEllen]

I hate to say this, but babies aren't the only ones "using" the pool. Plenty of kids, teens, and adults do also. Granted having a "baby ruth" floating around is very GROSS, the swim diapers do contain that. As for bacteria from other things, there is plenty of it in EVERY pool around. That is what SHOCK and sanitizers are used for. I don't see how DCL could prohibit the little ones from enjoying the pool. Wouldn't seem fair to those families traveling with un-potty-trained children. Kudos to those families who care enough to use the swim diapers.

Sue Ellen

 

[tezb]

Urine in a pool is not harmful...not appealing but not harmful. It is actually strerile since it is filtered from our kidneys. But poop...is bacteria...contaminated...

We have been on the cruise when it seemed that the Mickey Pool was always closing down...so I guess they do close it each time they know of an accident.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

As a future sailor and the parent of a baby that will NOT be potty trained on our next cruise, I would throw a FIT if they stopped letting un-potty trained kiddies in the Mickey Pool. I think a lot of people with younger kiddies would think twice about cruising with Disney. That is one of the only things I can think of that would turn me off to it. (Although admittedly I would still go on the trip!)

We take my daughter to the indoor family pool at our Gym, and she has to wear swim diapers AND rubber pants. I am more than happy to put these on her on the cruise. I think their new rule is kind of silly.

That said, I can see the germ point, so I propose a compromise that I believe MIGHT work (Since I haven't been on the cruise with kiddies yet, I'm not too familiar with the Mickey Pool) I believe the Mickey Pool is really three little pools right? There is Mickey's head and then two little shallower pools for ears? So make one of those ears the "Un-potty trained" ear and that limits "accidents" to one area.

If this were the case, would they have to close down the whole pool?

If Disney were to implement my idea, they would have to also keep bigger kids out of that ear (as well as upgrade me to the Roy Disney Suite in March for making the suggestion *laugh*). That would also help to keep the wee little kiddies from getting stepped on, splashed (Katie HATES that!)

Kathy

 

[taswira]

I THINK the Mickey pool is <I>one</I> pool and the ears are simply part of that pool, therefore the water flows over the entire area and for the pool to be drained and cleaned they have to drain the entire pool. If anyone knows differently, feel free to correct me. I don't even have kids, but have photographed the pool quite a bit.

I still like AliPom's idea of a separate little "water park" or misting area for the non-potty trained. Knowing Disney, they could be creative and make this quite nice if they wanted to.

 

[jellymoon]

I agree with the person who said it would be really hard to enforce the "potty-trained" rule, and it is important to remember that it isn't just infants and toddlers that might have toileting challenges. Many families that have exceptional children (children with developmental disabilities) cruise on Disney because Disney is so great with kids with DD, and other disabilities. Lots of kids with DD might not be able to independently toilet until they are in the late grade school years--- and still others might not ever get there completely. Also, many of these kids could have an "floater accident" in an unfamiliar environment, like a pool, even if they had been successfully toileting independently for years. That said, many people that have kids (or young adults) with these difficulties do take precautions to prevent the floaters. I was recently on a discussion list where people were sharing information about where to get non-disposable swim "liners" (basically like the swim diapers, but for older folks) for individuals over 60 pounds and over 100 or 150 pounds. Anyway, moving to a requirement for perfect independent toileting records (potty trained) would be such a loss of families with young children, as well as for families of kids with disabilities.

At our local pool, disposable swim diapers are forbidden. This is because the gel leaks when the pool water gets in. That gets in the pool filtration system and messes things up--- not to mention, the crystals are hard to see and very unsanitary to swallow. However, the REQUIRE (and often do infant/toddler checks) the plastic lined, waterproof, non-disposable swim diapers. I thought I had read somewhere that this was the DCL policy--- no disposables, only permenant ones like the kind made by Flap Happy. As a result, just last week I bought several "extras" for our trip for our infant and toddler. I hope we can use them, but I agree-- they are flat, how would they possible know they had them on underneath?

 

[Gillian]

Jellymoon, just wondering...where did you get those last week? Did you order online? It seems like summer stuff is out of the stores. DS could use an extra. He went through a growth spurt this month Thanks!

 

[shellgoodman]

Well, I knew that we would all have visions of Caddyshack with this topic. I am definitely going to put my DD in swim diapers (disposable) but I will look out for the ones from Flap Happy. Unfortunately, I think the stores are all out of these and I only have 2 weeks to find them.

What is the difference between the Mickey Pool and Goofy Pool? Is it a depth issue? Also, I need to bring a life preserver for my 2 yr old as she has gone under many times at our pool. This includes the baby pool. I can still see her curly blonde hair under the water in my sleep. The only way I let her in the water is with the life preserver at this point.

Two more weeks and counting.................!

 

[mcnuss]

Funny I am posting to this thread since it's been about 6 years since I had to deal with the issue, but for non-disposable swim diapers, here are some links:

http://www.diaperaps.com/pswim.html
http://www.earthbaby.com/swimdiapers.html
http://products.search.shopping.yah...r=&mid=43072&did=54&pf=&pt=&Y=1&q=&X=1&clink=

Good luck!

 

[Gillian]

Also babycenter has some of the flap happy stuff on sale. They have a really cute ruffled swim diaper. does it need a top? I don't have a girl! Flap happy also makes suits with built in plastic diapers.

http://store.babycenter.com/brand/flap_happy

 

[TnRobin]

The Goofy Pool is about 4 feet deep, the Mickey pool has a slide and is only about 2 feet deep.

The Mickey Pool was designed for the younger set, especially the pre-potty trained ones.

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

mcnuss, where are you from in so. NH? I live in so. VT (Bellows Falls).

We had a Flap Happy suit for my daughter that was really leak-free. We have used the disposable swim diapers for my son, and though we've never had a floater, they definitively are NOT leak-proof. But as another member mentioned, urine is sterile (though the thought of swimming in urine is not appealing). I realize however that the bacteria from the floater is still contaminating the pool. I honestly had not thought about it before this post. For that reason, I support DCL for not using disposable swim diapers or regular diapers. I think it would be fair to request that children who are not potty trained wear the bathing suits with built in swim diapers. I'm not sure what the boy suits look like, but my daughters suit ballooned at the bottom. It was an obvious 'built-in-diaper' suit.

Also, it was my belief that the disposable swim diapers did not have gel/crystal components? They certainly do not swell like a regular diaper, which is why they leak like mad.

I would hope that DCL would not eliminate children not potty trained from using the pool. And certainly, if they don't already sell washable swim diapers aboard, they should.