This post is ALL about swim diapers!
‘Tis the season to be in the pool, for many of our customers (jealous of our west coasters and Floridians here), that season can be a lengthy one. Swim diapers are really fun to get into, and we have many customers who won’t use cloth diapers at all but LOVE their swim diapers, it is a really easy way to save some money and waste!
Swim diapers are intended to take the place of disposable ones, like Little Swimmers and other brands. Any swim diaper, cloth or disposable, is meant to contain solid or semi solid waste only. Urine isn’t well contained by disposable swim diapers (if you have ever used them you will notice your child pee through them quite quickly), but this is for a few good reasons:
- Cloth or disposable, the chlorine content in most pools is going to be more than sufficient to take care of a few tablespoons of baby pee. It isn’t anything that poses a health hazard to any swimmer.
- Cloth or disposable, as soon as a diaper that has urine in it is submerged in pool water by your child entering it, is going to dissipate that urine into the water. It is like putting a sponge into a basin of water, whatever is in the sponge goes out, as water comes in.
- Cloth or disposable, you don’t want it to be able to hold a lot of urine, because this means it will hold a lot of water, weighing down baby and making it a drowning hazard when they are in the pool. You don’t want your toddler to be bottom heavy while toddling in waist deep or deeper water.
That being said, both styles of swim diapers are to contain #2. For cloth swim diapers, this means you need a snug waist and a snug waist. Since you aren’t concerned with absorbency, they can sit nice and low on the belly and still work well. Leave your baby in his regular diaper until you get to the water, then switch into your swim diaper to avoid accidents in the car seat or stroller.
3-4 swim diapers is a good number to have for a swim season, 1-2 as a backup in the diaper bag if your baby goes at the pool. Swim diapers are very easy to wash, and quick to dry since you have no absorbent materials built into them.
Many customers have used their regular cloth diapers over the years, and this is fine, but here are a few hints:
- Covers are the best to use for this, pockets will trap water and become “bottom heavy” between the inside pocket and the outer PUL, and AIOs have too much absorbency to work well and comfortably.
- Designate one cover (as they will be exposed to high levels of chlorine and other bleaching agents for extended time), and most work quite well if you have a snug leg and waist fit.
For those of you going with a reusable swim diaper, we offer several great brands (and Motherease are now on sale), definitely worth a try this season! Plus, some have cute rash guards and hats to match!
