Swim Diapers

Summertime is time to hit the pool or the beach, which also means time to get swim diapers for little ones that are not potty trained. From my previous blogs, you may already know that I am a fan of cloth diapers. Although disposable diapers do have a time and place (hello air travel), cloth diapers have less impact on the environment and are gentler for baby and for our Earth. The idea behind swim diapers is exactly the same as regular diapers: cloth is the way to go. Why pay money for each diaper you use and create waste each time your baby swims? You can purchase a reusable swim diaper for anywhere from about $5 up to $15 or so, and it can last you the entire swim season (and then you can pass it on to another baby when you are done). That one diaper can cover tushies for many seasons of swimming, as opposed to packages and packages of the disposable plastic ones that serve the same purpose. Those disposable diapers just cost you more money and only add to the ridiculous amount of diapers found in our landfills today.
Cloth swim diapers are easy to use and can be thrown in with any load of laundry and do not need to specially washed (unless the specific instructions on your swim diaper say otherwise). I have always just thrown my son's swim diaper in with my suit, pool towels, and any other laundry from a day at the pool..
And if you are worried that those cloth diapers may not keep in a poop as well as a disposable... well, no need to fear! A recent study has shown that even brand name disposable diapers do not keep out diarrhea or watery stolls which can carry harmful bacteria. Check out this story on cbs for more details. The moral of this story is: if your baby is sick or shows any signs of watery stools.... keep them out of the pool and prevent the transmission of disease! Any swim diaper is only designed to keep in, well, turds. Anything more runny that that could potentially leak out of the diaper (talk about embarrassing!). So, yes, cloth works just as well as disposable and it won't weigh down your baby either! They are even slim enough to fit under a bathing suit or cute enough to wear alone! Happy swimming!