Swim Diapers?

[linzbear]

Hi, figured this was the place to ask We'll be heading down in Oct with an 8 month old, and I wanted to let him splash around in the pool.

I know Swim Diapers are required, but I'm curious how they check? We use cloth diapers and I've never bought sposies. I currently have a pair of swim trunks with the diaper sewn in from when we went to the beach, and I'd like to use them in WDW, too, but some places force you to buy sposies, even though they are inferior to using real elastic to hold the poo in (and they won't explode the little beads all over the place, either )

Anyone with any insight to this? Am I going to be forced to buy disposables?

 

[kevschickee]

hmmm I am not sure how they check but for my DD swim class I bought disposable swim diapers and a bummies waterproof diaper cover. I never had any issues with bead type things. I would just buy a small pack of the disposable ones. They will last forever.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

ETA: because I read the whole thing I have the swim shorts with the built in diaper and they are way better than the disposable ones. Better for the Enviro. And CHEAPER!

 

[candielips]

Last summer all I used were the cloth swim diapers. I love them.
That being said, I'm not sure CM's walk around checking every infants bum. No one can force you to use disposable. You are asked to use a swim diaper & as long as do, disposable or cloth, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[princessmom29]

The disposable swim pants actually work better at what they are intended for. There is areason they are required, and that is b/c they are a better bacteria barrier than cloth. It is not so much about the solids as the bacteria they contain and disposable swimmers are much better at keeping bacterial transfer to a minimum. Everyone should follow the same rules and use the required swim pants for the health and safety of all. Just because someone doesn't like a rule does not mean they are not subject to it. Disposable diapers are not a bad thing contrary to what everyone who CD's thinks and it will not hurt to buy a couple pairs of swimmers and use them in public pools. Do everyone you are swimming with a favor and buy the swimmers.

 

[la79al]

The disposable swim pants actually work better at what they are intended for. There is areason they are required, and that is b/c they are a better bacteria barrier than cloth. It is not so much about the solids as the bacteria they contain and disposable swimmers are much better at keeping bacterial transfer to a minimum. Everyone should follow the same rules and use the required swim pants for the health and safety of all. Just because someone doesn't like a rule does not mean they are not subject to it. Disposable diapers are not a bad thing contrary to what everyone who CD's thinks and it will not hurt to buy a couple pairs of swimmers and use them in public pools. Do everyone you are swimming with a favor and buy the swimmers.

I don't think it has anything to do with following rules. The rule is - non-potty trained kids need to wear a swim diaper. Nowhere does it say this needs to be a disposable swim diaper. If my child poops in a disposable diaper, we are MUCH more likely to have some kind of leak than when she poops in cloth. Looking at the disposable swim diapers versus the cloth swim diapers we have, I can only assume the same thing would happen. Bacteria gets into the pool through a zillion ways (kids that don't wipe well, people that pee in the pool, open wounds, etc). That's what the chlorine is there for.
Back to the OP. We were given a few disposable swim diapers and used one on one occasion at the Y. Other than that, we have just used our cloth swim diapers and have never had a problem. I can not imagine that anyone that matters (ie lifeguards, etc) is going to challenge your choice of swim diapers.

 

[mjkacmom]

The disposable swim pants actually work better at what they are intended for. There is areason they are required, and that is b/c they are a better bacteria barrier than cloth. It is not so much about the solids as the bacteria they contain and disposable swimmers are much better at keeping bacterial transfer to a minimum. Everyone should follow the same rules and use the required swim pants for the health and safety of all. Just because someone doesn't like a rule does not mean they are not subject to it. Disposable diapers are not a bad thing contrary to what everyone who CD's thinks and it will not hurt to buy a couple pairs of swimmers and use them in public pools. Do everyone you are swimming with a favor and buy the swimmers.

Actually, the non-disposable ones do work better (I used them with my first child, before disposable were invented). However, they're pretty gross to change!

 

[linzbear]

The disposable swim pants actually work better at what they are intended for. There is areason they are required, and that is b/c they are a better bacteria barrier than cloth. It is not so much about the solids as the bacteria they contain and disposable swimmers are much better at keeping bacterial transfer to a minimum. Everyone should follow the same rules and use the required swim pants for the health and safety of all. Just because someone doesn't like a rule does not mean they are not subject to it. Disposable diapers are not a bad thing contrary to what everyone who CD's thinks and it will not hurt to buy a couple pairs of swimmers and use them in public pools. Do everyone you are swimming with a favor and buy the swimmers.

Can you cite a source for your information? Everything I read says that they are equal in containing poo, and that cloth is generally better because the elastic is real and there are no 'microbeads' for absorption. Neither sposie or cloth swim diapers guard against pee.

Everyone else, thanks for responding, I will just bring the swim diapers I already have

PS. Disposable diaper waste amounts to 2% of all US landfills. Styrofoam cups amount to .04%. Neither biodegrades for 500 years. Think about it

 

[minniem]

I know Swim Diapers are required, but I'm curious how they check?

I could be wrong but I don't know that they check the kind of swim diaper, per se. I think it's just that you have to have a swim diaper on them, be it cloth or disposable.

So if they ask if your child's in a swim diaper, you would just say yes. I've never been anywhere personally that made you wear sposies vs. cloth, if you wanted to use cloth.


Have fun with your trip.

 

[kevschickee]

What about the chemicals it takes to make and take care of cloth diapers? I think each option has its own pros and cons. It is a personal choice and I chose to go with disposables

 

[Disney1976]

Can you cite a source for your information? Everything I read says that they are equal in containing poo, and that cloth is generally better because the elastic is real and there are no 'microbeads' for absorption. Neither sposie or cloth swim diapers guard against pee.

Everyone else, thanks for responding, I will just bring the swim diapers I already have

PS. Disposable diaper waste amounts to 2% of all US landfills. Styrofoam cups amount to .04%. Neither biodegrades for 500 years. Think about it

Just to clarify one thing -disposable swim diapers don't contain any of the "gel" material that a regular disposable does, which is why they don't swell (or swell only a little in water). So, no need to worry about the "beads" ending up in the pool, or clogging the filter. Basically, they're just like regular disposables were before they started adding the gel material to them. They do hold some liquids, including pee (obviously, if they didn't hold any liquid, they wouldn't even hold water, which they do) but their main function is to contain any potential solid accidents, the same as the cloth swim diapers do.

 

[linzbear]

What about the chemicals it takes to make and take care of cloth diapers? I think each option has its own pros and cons. It is a personal choice and I chose to go with disposables

Nothing compared to the chemicals it takes to make disposables.

Also, can use the same set of diapers for new kids, and I can sell them when I'm done with them, too.

I have no issues with people that choose to use sposies But it is way more friendly for the environment to use cloth, and can be cheaper too

Anyway, thanks everyone!

 

[kevschickee]

Just to clarify one thing -disposable swim diapers don't contain any of the "gel" material that a regular disposable does, which is why they don't swell (or swell only a little in water). So, no need to worry about the "beads" ending up in the pool, or clogging the filter. Basically, they're just like regular disposables were before they started adding the gel material to them. They do hold some liquids, including pee (obviously, if they didn't hold any liquid, they wouldn't even hold water, which they do) but their main function is to contain any potential solid accidents, the same as the cloth swim diapers do.

I was wondering what people were talking about. I know all of the swim diapers I bought never had beads in them

 

[taitai]

We are big fans of the Imse Vimse swim diaper. So much better than disposables. No leaks and they are really cute and in the long run, much, much less expensive. In fact, our local swimming pool has had so much trouble with the disposables that they have been banned. Only reusable swim diapers are allowed. Too many leaks with the sposies. Our swim school does the same.

Here is a link to the swim diaper we love. http://www.cottontailbaby.com/item_55/Imse-Vimse-Swim-Diaper.htm

Also, the amount of chemicals (including chemicals that once were in tampons but are now banned from those due to toxic shock syndrome) in disposable diapers is insane. Also, the amount of water used to make them is also outrageous. If you are making a choice based on the environment, cloth is absolutely the way to go.

Have a great trip!

Taitai

 

[nuttypretzel]

When my son was still in diapers, I had him in the pool at POFQ. Two lifeguards came over to me and asked me to hold my son up. The one lifeguard told the other, “See that’s what a swim diaper looks like”. She thanked me and they left. It appears that at that time (2001) they did check diapers and trained new lifeguards what to look for.

 

[linzbear]

Just to clarify one thing -disposable swim diapers don't contain any of the "gel" material that a regular disposable does, which is why they don't swell (or swell only a little in water). So, no need to worry about the "beads" ending up in the pool, or clogging the filter. Basically, they're just like regular disposables were before they started adding the gel material to them. They do hold some liquids, including pee (obviously, if they didn't hold any liquid, they wouldn't even hold water, which they do) but their main function is to contain any potential solid accidents, the same as the cloth swim diapers do.

Ah, ok, thanks I obviously have no experience in this, was just going off of what others had told me. That's good to know though, makes me feel better if I'm required to go out and get sposies for the pool.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Swim diapers are only designed to hold solids - not liquid. Any type of swim diaper will suffice - I really like the cloth ones that have the built in liner and elastic legs. It only takes one time of child sitting on your lap and peeing in a disposible swim diaper for you to know that they don't hold urine.

 

[Schmeck]

Nothing compared to the chemicals it takes to make disposables.

Also, can use the same set of diapers for new kids, and I can sell them when I'm done with them, too.

I have no issues with people that choose to use sposies But it is way more friendly for the environment to use cloth, and can be cheaper too

Anyway, thanks everyone!

Off-topic, but EWW, someone would really buy used diapers???

 

[Erica09M]

No, you don't have to buy disposables! (We cloth diaper too)

We use a cloth diaper for our swim diaper. Usually it's a pocket diaper (like BG or RaR) without it being stuffed. Though today I used our Sticky Peas fitted without the doubler inside of it (just the shell). I've also used our Goodmama diapers as swim diapers, again, without the snap in doubler.

Swim diapers are only meant to contain poop if the child goes. Swim diapers do not absorb pee.

Oh, and the chlorine/chemicals never faded or damaged the diapers that she's swam in

 

[Erica09M]

Off-topic, but EWW, someone would really buy used diapers???

Yes, and it's not "ewww". It's not like you're buying a diaper intended to be used once and thrown away. Just like you wash your clothing, cloth diapers get washed too and the end result is nothing less than clean!

We've been using cloth since day 1 with my 13 month old, and I take extra time and care with our diaper laundry, and not a single diaper is stained, torn up, etc. You better bet that the diapers will be sold to another cloth loving family when we're done with them.

Of course we don't except any non-cloth diaper users to understand then though