Choosing a Swim Diaper Solution

If you’ve made it this far into the summer without picking out a swim diaper, you probably feel like you’re sitting pretty. You haven’t needed one yet; that means that you’re not going to have to buy one, right? Next year. Next year, you’ll buy a swim diaper.

Then the dreaded invitation comes up: one that you can’t turn down. Maybe it’s a swim party for a family member. Maybe it’s a day at the lake with friends that you don’t get to see very often. Or maybe your husband is surprising you with a weekend at the beach. Whatever the case, suddenly, you’re not going to be able to get by without a swim diaper anymore. Sure, you could just try keeping baby out of the water…but you also know that’s probably not going to happen.

When choosing a swim diaper, you have a couple of options. You can shell out for an actual swim diaper (and you’re probably going to need at least two, just to be safe), or you can take a couple of old pocket diapers and designate them as swim diapers. Just don’t add inserts (swim diapers are intended to absorb poop, not pee), and baby is good to go.

On the other hand, there are some advantages to an actual swim-style diaper.

On a smaller baby, they fit better. If you have a tiny baby (whether in age or just size), one-size diapers may just be the right size with an insert in them. Remove the insert, and you may end up with gaps, a sagging bum, and a poor fit. If your baby is bigger, just tighten it down a rise setting—you’ll probably get a better fit for swimming that way.

You don’t have to worry about ruining a “good” diaper. Some moms will tell you to just pull the inserts out of a diaper already in your diaper bag. This sounds great in theory—it’s one less thing you have to remember to pack, right?—but in practice, it’s a good way to ruin a diaper. Chlorine and salt water are both bad for PUL, and muddy lake water can stain your diaper. If you have a designated swim diaper, you don’t have to worry about this happening to one of the good ones.

You can choose a pull-up style swim diaper. This is great in theory, but not necessarily in practice. If your baby is still in the smushy, mushy poop stage, a pull-up diaper can be more trouble than it’s worth…if it actually has to serve its purpose. If your baby is only wearing it “just in case” and unlikely to actually poop while in the water, then simply pulling the diaper on and pulling it off again is a quicker, easier step than adjusting the fit of a snap or Velcro closure.

Whatever you end up deciding for your swim diaper solution, make sure you take along an extra wet bag or two. They’re handy for storing electronics that you don’t want to get wet (your camera or phone, for example) and for making it home with wet swimsuits and towels.

By Emily


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