Living in sunny Florida and having a pool in our backyard I’ve always wondered what made swim diapers so special. One of our first purchases last year was a swim diaper for our baby. It wasn’t much more than a water proof cover with a mesh liner inside. We also have a small stash of disposable swim diapers that friends have handed down. When I first got involved online I began asking what other people used for swim diapers – guess what? They use their cloth diapers as swim diapers!After I thought about this it actually made since – the cloth diapers that we use are diaper covers with inserts. If you remove the insert the diaper cover is still soft and resembles the swim diapers specially marketed for the pool. They fit snug around your baby and will keep the pee and poop inside while swimming. They won’t be super absorbent without the liner but when was the last time you looked at the fit of disposable swim diapers – there is on way they keep any liquids INSIDE! And those specially marketed cloth swim diapers aren’t much more absorbent than a cover. So why invest in a new stash of swim diapers when your stash is already filled with diaper covers?
What about the chlorine in pools? Will it hurt my cloth diapers? Chances are you already add bleach to your washing routine at least once a month and the chlorine in pool water is about the same strength (or weaker).
What about the beach? Yes, my daughter wears her cloth diapers to the beach too. At least the water at the beach is fresh water so you don’t have to worry about the effects of chlorine on your diapers. You may have to remove quite a bit of sand from your diapers though if your little one is anything like mine. I find sand in practically every opening and crevice for days following our beach trips.
Want to know what my favorite cloth diapers and accessories for swimming? I prefer my Thirsties Duo as a swim diaper. The unique leg gussets tend to hold everything in. My favorite accessory for swimming - our Bum Essentials Bum Bag (wet bag). The Bum Bag is made from a double layer of the same material as the Bum Essentials diapers. When we leave the beach or pool (if we aren’t at home) we simply remove the diaper and bathing suit and toss them in the Bum Bag. A quick rinse in pool shower and it’s time to put on a new diaper. Our beach trips are easy to pack for because we don’t do anything different than any other trip – cloth diapers, wipes, and wet bag!What’s your favorite beach tips? Planning a trip to the beach – have questions on what to pack? Email Calley at theeecochic@gmail.com with your questions. They may even be featured on The Eco Chic blog.
8 comments:
thats what i do. my MIL has 3 packs of sposie swim diapers she got for free. I dont use them! His cloth diapers hold his poop in better. IN FACT, we went to the beach the other day in a sposie swimmie and it didnt hold my sons poop. soooo gross.! I also live in florida :D
I've been using a Minkee Cover from GEN-Y this summer and it's been GREAT! It even held up well at Sea World. I refuse to buy the nasty disposable swim diapers. Those things are super gross!
Wow! Really? I can just use a cover as a swimmy diaper - what a relief, I have TONS of those.
When using pocket diapers at the beach, do you find that the pockets are especially bad at retaining sand? Or are they just as good to use as any other style of cloth diaper?
While I think this is a pretty good article it is one that I would totally take with a grain of salt. Swim diapers are really only supposed to keep in the poop which if it gets in the pool ccan cause it to shut down so they can shock the pool with certain chemicals taking up to 30-45 minutes -- or days. As for most pools the chemical balance kills urine "accidents" within 10 seconds. Using your regular diapers can weigh down your baby because of absorbancy (like sposies) and the disposables can cause filter clogging if not properly maintained. So, my choice is generally the Bummis Swimmi -- we adjust when we are swim lessons to what that facility requires. One requires a reuseable and a disposable... another two reuseable covers.
I, personally, have only ever used bleach on my diapers once and I think that was enough as I saw a difference right away in them. But that's me.....
We just need to look at things from all angels.
Thanks for the post. :)
An old surfer's trick, baby powder is the best stuff ever for getting sand off your baby. Sprinkle the powder on the sand and then brush the sand off. Much better than grinding it off while it's wet!
I have been using a pocket diaper, but have a new swim diaper and one on the way. Never have used a dispoable swim diaper... dont' want to
One good thing about a boy, I guess, is that his swim trunks have a built-in swim diaper. It seems like it's just white PUL with the laminate out and the polyester in. It had REALLY large leg holes, though. I used some FOE and tightened the leg holes and it seems to fit great. Last year his 12 mo swim trunks had a waterproof inner swim diaper with some type of terry on the inside. I kind-of liked that better. The one time he did poop in it, I just took it off, rinsed it in the sink, cleaned him off, and put it back on him. I didn't have anything else to put on him and I was at a waterpark!
I'm going to try and make a swim diaper with some PUL and an inner layer of polyester terry (so it's soft and not too absorbant) along with snaps and leg gussets. I'll make it kind-of like a cover with FOE. I made a prototype (and gave it away at my MOPS group as it was purple ballerina PUL). I actually made it a pocket with an opening at the back so that it could be stuffed for the way to the pool and then the stuffing removed for in the pool. The FOE on it seems to make a good, tight fit.
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