Cloth That Counts

The official Abby's Lane blog.

Swim Diaper 101, Everything you want and need to know about swim diapers!

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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!

Swim Survival Kit Giveaway! Win (2) Swim Diapers and a Wetbag! Ends 05/17/2012

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Our new giveaway is perfect for summertime!  Win our Swim Survival Kit and your little one will be the cutest and most comfortable tot at the pool!  Swim Diapers contain those messes while providing a trim fit and Bummis wetbags are perfect for toting around your summer essentials, wet towel or soiled swim diapers.

We’re giving two weeks to enter to win our Swim Survival Kit!

  • TWO Bummis Swimmis Swim Diapers in the color, print and size of your choice
  • ONE Bummis Wetbag in the print of your choice

Many great and super easy ways to enter to win!  This giveaway is open to the USA only.

All winners entries will be verified.

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.  (may not be visible on all devices)

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Warm weather is on the way! Let us tell you all you need to know about swim diapers!

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This posts focus is “Everything you need to know about swim diapers” in honor of the warm weather 🙂

For swim lessons or summertime fun, swim diapers are a must! Ditch those expensive “Little Swimmers” and invest in a swim diaper or two. If you have a young baby, 2-3 is what you need, one to use if they have a bowel movement at the pool, and give you time to wash. If you have an older toddler who doesn’t have bowel movements in the pool, 1-2 will do just fine. Swim diapers, cloth or disposable, are not meant to contain urine. Change him before you go in. Public pools are chlorinated heavily to take care of urine, any swim diaper is just meant to contain bowel movements. Don’t put your baby in just a swim diaper then drive to the pool, you will have a very wet car seat.

Bummis swim diapers have velcro closure, are very trim fitting and last for a long time. The outer material will fade from constant chlorine exposure over time, I have one that is on its 3rd season in use, and still works great, but it faded, so just be prepared for that if you use them for an extended time.

Motherease swim diapers are not PUL lined, they may not be the best choice for newborns, as liquid bowel movements could seep through the outer polyester and inner lining, but they are generous in the leg sizing.

Imse Vimse swim diapers are designed to fit very “speedo” like, they will look small when you hold them up but have an incredible amount of stretch to them. Imse Vimse also has one side of snap closure, so you unsnap them and slide them down the leg to take them off in the event of a bowel movement. Swim diapers need to fit snugly, you don’t want to upsize, or you will have bowel movements leak out.

Email us at AbbysLane(at)aol.com with any questions!
Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Stephanie

swim diapers

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It’s that time of year again!

There is a huge misconception with disposable swim diapers (little swimmers and other brands). That is they will hold the pee and the poop. Anyone who has put one on a toddler or moderate-wetting baby will quickly find out this isn’t the case, and have a messy car seat to clean out. Urine can pass right through, they aren’t like a disposable diaper that is plastic lined to contain wetness. You don’t want them to be, the diaper would swell up and weigh the baby down, or explode from the water pressure.

Swim diapers, cloth or disposable, are meant to contain bowel movements. Even if the little swimmer holds a tiny bit of urine, as soon as you put your baby in the pool, the water enters the diaper, dissipates the urine, and the chlorine will promptly kill it. Having lifeguarded as a teen, I promise there are enough chemicals in any public pool to take care of the bowel movements of an elephant, a little urine is no problem.

Cloth swim diapers function to contain the bowel movements. Don’t put them on in the car on the way to the pool, slip them on before entering the water. I advise to have at least two, in case a poopy happens you can switch it out and stay at the pool. Some mamas use their empty pocket diapers, you can try it, but be careful, as they will fill up with water and become very bottom-heavy. Covers will function better at this, but you will wear them out much faster, so use an old cover that you aren’t attached to if you want to try it, and make sure it has a snug fit.

The Imse Vimse brand is nice because they have one side of snaps, in case of a poopy you can slide it down one leg while leaving the other open, a nice featue to have with poopy swim diapers. You do want them snug, don’t size up or you will run into bowel leaks.

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