Swim Diapers - Yes or No?
When my son was in diapers the public pools didn't require the use of swim diapers. I did try them out a few times. I probably would have kept using them except for the time I was holding him in the pool and I felt the warm surge of what could only be urine on my hip. I guess the diaper had reached its saturation level and there was nowhere else for the pee to go but out. It didn't take long for my mind to extrapolate this to a poo-based scenario.
According to a CBS News report, A study on Pampers and Huggies brands was done recently that indicated that these swim diapers don't really do much to prevent the spread of contagious illnesses like that caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium. If that's the case, then why do so many public pools force you to put one on your child? Some pools even have vending machines where you can buy swim diapers if you didn't bring any with you.
As for the manufacturers, they aren't marketing the swim diapers as leakproof (Huggies Little Swimmers has a small print disclaimer on the package), nor are they saying that they will prevent illnesses. They aren't really doing much the other way around either, though. On the Huggies Frequently Asked Questions page, for example, there's nothing at all about preventing illness or about possible leakage. There is some vague statement about protection: "HUGGIES Little Swimmers swimpants protect in the water without swelling like diapers or training pants do."
Protect what, though? I found this wording throughout the site. I just never found what was being protected. Your toddler? Other people? The pool? And from what? Pee? Poop? Bacteria? Dragons, perhaps?
I've been reading that other pools are stepping it up and requiring not just swim diapers, but plastic pants as well. According to the study, this is a little better but it's still not enough. "When a fecal accident contains about a billion disease-causing Crypto oocysts, hundreds of millions of oocysts get into the water within minutes," says lead study scientist Dr. James Amburgey. "Swimmers only need to ingest about ten Crypto oocysts to become infected."
And of course, you know that those amounts are invisible to the eye as much as they are clingy to your toddler's bottom or underneath your fingernail after a diaper change. It's also not something that's easy to kill or control even in a chlorinated pool that is otherwise properly maintained. Pools must undergo a hyperchlorination process or have other types of filtration in place like those that use UV light.
How do you feel about swim diapers? Do you trust them or do you think they offer a false sense of security? Are you worried at all about your child getting sick at the public pool this year?
Comments
I worry about it a bit but really what can you do short of forcing your kid to sit poolside all summer? I am planning on trying out one of the nicer cloth style swim diapers now that we live near a pool because those things get expensive to wear and toss.
We cloth diaper our daughter and that’s no different at the pool. I trust our cloth diapers (with built-in leak proof outer shell) more than I trust a disposable swim diaper!
I wasn’t planning on using them this year since my boys are finally potty trained, but i have to say now I’m going to be grossed out whenever I see babies in the pool lol.
My daughter and I visited my father in Florida and they have a pool. I grabbed the swim diapers but still told my daughter about how she’s not to pee/poop in the pool at all (She was 13 months and nowhere near actual potty training at the time).
But she was very good about it, all of sudden she’d cry to get out of the pool. She’d walk to the corner of the lanai and pee or poop. I was utterly amazed since she’d never shown any potty cognition whatsoever prior to this.
Anyway, what amazed me more was that as she’d have a bm/pee, the extra fluid just poured out as if she was in undies. No joke. The poop left brown fluid dribbling down her legs (yet her stools were firm, just water-logged). It was disgusting trying to clean up the mess!
We ended up letting her swim naked and when she’d need to go, we’d whip out a little potty in the corner of the lanai.
I don’t see why use them and here I am using them. They don’t protect anyone from urine or feces. I’ve been peed on before…so lovely with those swim diapers.
The swim diapers that you can wash and resuse actually seem to provide some protection, but they are nasty when you have to get one off your child after a bowel movement. Icky! I think they can’t be 100% either, but better and cheaper in the end than the Pampers or Huggies Swim Diapers.
Those of you who use the reusable type, have you just used one brand or is there any particular brand that seems to perform better than the others?
I have used the diapers only out of what I thought to be consideration for others in m parents pool at the time. I never really did think they worked because there aren’t the absorbent crystals in them like regular diapers, hence the reason they don’t swell. I would be much more likely to use the reusable ones with thicker elastic as well as plastic pants. But when it comes down to it, our babies and toddlers aren’t the only ones putting the “P” in pool…
I first came in contact with the disposable swim diapers when I was working at a daycare that allowed children two and up to swim during the summer and the ones that were not potty trained had to wear swim diapers. I knew then that they didn’t really keep anything in because once we would bring the kids back inside, the poop would be just a runny mess from being in the pool all that time.
That said, I did end up using them with both of my children, but we always made sure we go to the pool or lake after the kids have had their bm’s for the day so we don’t end up with one of these messes. This year I have changed and started putting a cloth diaper under my 2 year old’s swimsuit since I know these are better all the way around.
Swim diapers give a false sense of security where many people think it’s holding in urine and feces “juice”. The “protection” that swim diapers give vs regular diapers is that regular diapers will swell up with those toxic type beads, and a diaper can burst and then have floating urine beads all over and makes a mess. So the swim diapers “protect” against the explosion and mess. I have used them but don’t depend on them like many people do. I also will take my little ones to a kiddie pool during a low period with less people knowing that a packed kiddie pool will be full of fresh urine and feces juice, lol!
Reply to (6) Stephanie: I’ve used both Pampers and Huggies, I didn’t notice a difference between the two, they were equally lousy. I do like the tear off sides though!
They contain the solids.. so the pool can stay open.. any public pool will have these bacteria after a bit of use.. how well do you wipe your butt? well enough to keep any bacteria from being there?
I say use the diapers so solids stay contained.. that way you can slip away from the pool and the rest of the people wont see a brown trout floating around..
and DON’T DRINK POOL WATER.
Is it a big problem? probably not.. it’s not for protecting your kids.. it’s so the pool doesn’t have to close and clean out your kid’s solid waste.
Regarding the person who asked about brands of cloth swim diapers…I’ve used two brands and like them both for different reasons. The iPlay brand is an underpant style (elastic waist and legs…no diaper-type opening) that fits my son well (he’s 14 months) and seems comfy for him. The Bummi’s brand is shaped like a diaper with velcro tabs and a velcro front and I find this style to fit better around the legs and waist (thereby containing more accident) and be easier to get off if he does poo. (only done that once though thank goodness!) I also agree with the person who said don’t rely on a swim diaper. When my son is in one, I try to get him to try to potty (he also isn’t anywhere near potty training yet) about once an hour to try to avoid urine or feces in the pool.
I agree with StayathomeDad; the purpose of a swim diaper is to contain the solid material. And, yes, the bacteria will be exposed to the water, but the swim diaper makes it less of a mess. Urine is sterile, so you won’t be getting sick from it.
I use the disposable diapers in the pool. They do not work well. When my daugher gets into the pool she feels the need to poo. The poo always ends up in the water. I have even tried a size smaller then her weight class but it still falls out. The idea was good but the product is not.
I was a daycare provoder first and now a nanny. In the day care i noticed the only difference of the diaper was that it expanded when wet but swimmers did not.
Now the children i nanny for they only use cloth diapers and I am only 24 but when i have children I will use all cloth diapers becasue it saves money and the children that i have are 18 months old and are already ready for potty training, when even the swimmer are put on the kids and if they pee in it they scream and want it off asap!!
Its funny this article came out. Just a couple days ago I was telling my mom that I had put a swim diaper on my daughter and she was barely in the pool. I brought her inside with me while I was getting something, next thing I know she is saying “uh oh, uh oh” I look over and there is a puddle of pee on the floor. I was so suprised. Like many others I thought that swim diapers soaked it up with out swelling or leaking it out. But they really don’t. I was truly disappointed. Plus they cost a fortune. My mom says..”what is the point then?” Really what is the point then? I do really like the plastic protecter idea though. For a little added protection in public pools.
My son is 27 months old, and we put him in a swim diaper a couple of weeks ago. It was required during his swim class. He immediatly developed the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. It has been 3 weeks and he still has a scar. He was only in the swim diaper for an hour and a half. I’m too scared to put him in another one! It may have just been the brand we used?? I don’t know, but I’m not testing it again.
I used to use disposable and cloth swim diapers and my daughter used to poo quite frequently in them. Whenever it would come to taking them off the poo was everywhere. I really don’t think it kept that much in and it definitely didn’t keep pee in. What’s the point really?
We use the reusable kind – I used disposables with my first and they are worthless IMO, no elastic to keep things contained. The kind I use are from Target – their Circo brand and they definitely work. My son has had a stool in them and it all stayed contained. They are terrycloth on the inside and nice and snug fitting.
We had always used the swim diapers, they did seem to keep the actual poop out of the pool, but yes, it’s a mess. As someone else mentioned above, urine is sterile, so who really cares other than the “eeww” factor? And they have to be out of the swim diaper as soon as they’re out of the pool because yes, there’s no actual protection or aborbency there.
My husband recently found a reusable swim diaper (I didn’t know there were such things, boy do I feel dumb!), and so far it seems great. Haven’t had a poop in it yet, but it seems comfortable for him and WAY cheaper than the disposables over the course of a summer(which, BTW if they haven’t pooped in them, let them dry out and they can be reused a few times).
Plus my little one will be able to wear it longer, he had outgrown the small disposables and of course, I still have some left that I have no use for now.
Speaking as the mother of several lifeguards, I have to agree with StayatHome Dad! When poo lands on the bottom of the pool, the pool has to be closed for the day and chemically treated. One summer – the summer before they started requiring swim diapers at our neighborhood pool – there wasn’t a week when it didn’t happen. Bizarre. And gross! Everyone still talks about “The Summer of…” Now our lifeguards are uber-zealous about enforcing the swim diaper rule! The things work. For that, anyway!
I’m a new mom with a 13mo old and haven’t used swim diapers before. This summer we’re taking a vacation to a beach (not a pool) I’m more concerned about an easy, low mess diaper experience with the water and sand then I am about contaminating the lake. All the posts about dribbly bms running down legs are disheartening. Is there a product out there that is easy to change and use while being comfortable for baby by keeping sand out?
What works better? disposables or reusable?
Thanks!