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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

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Swimming In Cloth

Summer brings with it many fun activities, one of the most popular being swimming and water sports. Whether it’s a trip to the beach, a local lake, or your backyard pool, water play adds a new twist to caring for a child in diapers. There are several options for cloth swim diapers, and I have personally used two of them with great success. When my son’s were just shy of 3 and 1 years old, we visited the beach for the first time while on vacation in Florida. Ian was no longer wearing diapers during the day, so he was able to wear regular swim trunks while playing in the saltwater and sand. Brendan on the other hand was just 11 months old and still needed numerous diaper changes each day. Having taken my fluff on vacation, I didn’t want to buy an entire package of disposable swim diapers just for one day, so I researched reusable cloth swim diapers. I purchased two different brands, Imse Vimse and Bummis. We spent only an hour or so at the beach, so I only used the Imse Vimse swim diaper, and it worked great while we were in the water.

Much like the disposable swim diapers, the cloth swim diapers are designed to catch the solid waste and not absorb the urine. After all, would you want your baby wearing a heavy, liquid soaked diaper in the water that would just pull him or her down? The swim diaper I used that day fit Brendan just perfectly. It was just snug enough around the waist and legs that any mess would have easily been contained to the diaper. I changed him into it upon arriving on the sand, and changed him out of it upon returning to the car after our fun on the beach. It sure was nice not having to hunt for a trash can to toss away a disposable swim diaper. I simply tossed it in the wet bag I brought for our wet towels and swim suits.

A few months later when the weather warmed up where we lived (Wisconsin) and we began using a little inflatable splash pool in the backyard I began using the Bummis swim diaper in our rotation. Up until that time, I used it as a diaper cover, but once I began using it as a swim diaper, it remained a swim diaper exclusively. I had a few pairs of swim trunks that I wanted to use on Brendan, so much of the time I would layer the swim trunks over the swim diaper, and off into the pool we would go.

One other swim diaper option that I heard people have success with was using an old pocket diaper without the inserts. I have several bumGenius 3.0 diapers that would fit the bill perfect for this use now. They show some wear around the seams after two years of use, but are otherwise in good usable condition. Without the inserts, they fit Brendan snuggly, and will probably see some use this summer out in the backyard wading pool. However, just as with the Bummis swim diaper, one I use a pocket diaper as a swim diaper, I will not return it to the diaper stash. Being a swim diaper, it will be exposed to harsh pool chemicals such as chorine, and I don’t want that to make it’s way into my fluff at wash time.

With several cloth options out there, I’m sure there is a solution for everyone wanting to avoid the pricey disposable swim diapers. Slather on the sunscreen, throw on a hat and some sunglasses, pull on a cloth swim diaper and let your little one have some water fun in the sun this summer.

By Katrina W- Regular Blog Contributor

19 comments:

Anjie said...

Good to know there are high quality, reliable cloth swim diapers out there as well. I no longer have a kid in diapers but I hope to get pregnant again soon. I plan on using cloth next time around so I love reading this blog to get the scoop on all things cloth!

The Taylors said...

We just won a Bummis Swim Diaper and I cant wait to use it!!

One of Us said...

Oh bummer! I'm still new the CDing and just washed my swim diaper with my fluff (she had used it well at the pool if you know what I mean). How much damage did that do to my fluff?

Rachel C said...

Good to know! We swim often and I'm so tired of buying swim diapers!

Gwen Tepper said...

I understand about not mixing pool diapers with regular dipes - I don't have any covers that are truly "old" yet. What about washing dipes that have been in the sand and salt water with regular dipes? Can you see any issue there? (We're heading to the beach for a week on Saturday - yay!)

Mamahen said...

I just bought a bummis swim diaper and I'm thinking about using it as a cover instead! That aplix is SUPER DUPER strong!! I seriously want to know why other diapers dont use this kind of closure.

Stephanie U said...

I like our Bummis and Kushies swim diapers. If you just use them 10-12 times, you have paid for them! I have one diaper per kid, and it is working fine. I do use our regular cloth diapers when we are just in the backyard pool because it is only tap water. That, and most of the time I just don't change the kids before we go out. If my 8 month old wnats int he water, I just take his shorts off and he goes in.

Danielle said...

I have Bummis swim diapers for both of my little ones (4month old son and 23 month old daughter). I don't even bother with suits for them b/c the diapers are SO darn cute!

jenmc said...

I use my old pocket diapers as swim diapers and they work out great. They hold a bit of water but nothing major.

Sarahjenne said...

I love our reusable swim diapers. I bought a package of disposables at the beginning of the summer and then could not resist the adorable Bummis prints. My 15-month-old is so tall and skinny that the bottom of her bathing suit falls off, so we just go with the top and the swim diaper. I didn't like the way the disposable looked just hanging out there, but the Bummis are perfect.

Shboogoo's Mommy said...

Thanks for the post.

Sam's Minions (aka parents- Angie and Brian) said...

We use Monkey Doodlez Swim Diapers and love them. Our son has been in seim lessons since he was 6 months old (now 16 months) and they have fit him very well.

Christine said...

I never really knew about the cloth diaper world with my first baby. Now that I am learning all the awesome things about cloth diapers (baby number 2 due in 5 weeks) I am so excited to hear about reusable swim diapers! Diaposable swim diaps are so expensive and I hated using them anyway. bummis sound awesome!

Anonymous said...

Perfect timing with this post! Going to the beach next week and was wondering what to do. I don't want to spend any money on anything new -- so using a pocket diaper with no insert is a great idea! Thanks!

Sabrina said...

I just used a BG3.0 for playing with the water sprinkler and it worked great. Good point about not reusing it after it visited the pool.

Shelly said...

My 4 month old used a BSWW on our vaca over the weekend, so cute!

Megan A. Beckham said...

Great post! We have had the same 2-3 packages of swim diapers since my oldest (5) was in them, even with 2 year old twins! Most of our water play is in the backyard, and they just go naked . :0 they are all boys, and I'm sure we'll be out of the disposable ones once my little girl is ready for them next summer, so I'll probably be purchasing a reusable one then!

Melody J said...

I've been using unstuffed pockets but they seem to trap water. Maybe I should break down and get a Bummis.

Caite said...

I just love our imes swim diaper! It is our favorite! We used it on vacation at the lake. We also have a bummis swim diaper but it did not get used yet!