www.incontinentsupport.org

Sandy,
Yes, it does go against the normal thought, that going without complete protection when you know you might leak somehow seems wrong. But it's really not when you think about it; you actually are wearing some protection, a bottom made of many layers of absorbent fabric, and only leaving out the plastic cover. If absorbent enough, it will hold quite a bit of liquid without leaking, and on a hot day you will sweat a lot and won’t wet very much anyway.

It is interesting that incontinent folks put so much effort into keeping their clothes dry, at least on the outside, that they sometimes forget that there are garments that are supposed to get wet, swimwear for example. What your friend is making looks like a swimsuit, is worn like a swimsuit, and serves the same purpose as a swimsuit; therefore it is a swimsuit. Nobody but family or close friends will ever get close enough to notice anything different.

I believe in keeping up proper appearances when out in public, but when at home and in private, comfort becomes more important than appearances. Where I live, it is just too hot in the summer to wear plastic pants outdoors if you don’t have to. The plastic makes you hot and sweaty and causes rashes. And when you live in diapers 24/7, you need a few hours break from the plastic every now and then.

Tom

Tom,
Thank you for your most interesting post about considering wearing NO waterproof protection over a diaper in the summer time.

That has not come up in some time! You are right on the money when you point out that babies in the old day wearing cloth diapers seldom wore plastic or rubber pants while they were playing out in the yard. Rubber pants were added only when clothes were going to be added for going out or for when coming back into the house.

Now, babies can get away with the same diaper all day for the most part with evaporation keeping up with their voiding but babies void much smaller amounts and more frequently than older kids and adults. I can recall complaining about my rubber pants "hurting" in the summer heat when I was a youngster. It was the 1950s and I don't think there was much in the way of plastic pants for kids my size....I was into Bitner rubber pants that started with a four year old size and went up to adult sizes. That attempt to go without the waterproofing just didn't work out between the puddles I left and the dirt mess that got on my wet diaper as I was always playing cars, trucks, etc in the dirt and sand.

Years ago I tried the experiment again, this time as an adult, of course.

As Sandy points out, if you leak thru your diaper you are, in effect, peeing in your yard or on the patio or the patio furniture. This is not a good thing because now you need to deal with hosing down the affected areas or discover later some objectionable odors around the yard.

Now, if we ignore the aspect of peeing in the yard, and move onto the question of comfort and relief from summer heat, well, I found it not to be comfortable at all.

The experiment I conducted lasted about half a day. I had adequate privacy in the yard but still wore shorts over my diaper but no plastic pants. At first it was wonderful; that lasted perhaps an hour. Then I started noticing the wetness gradually building up the next couple of hours.

Had someone come along about then, the shorts would have provided no coverup since they were obviously dark stained in the front where wet.

Continuing on, I was mowing the lawn, and the walking movement was not comfortable. The wet cloth diaper and wet shorts started chaffing like crazy! After a while longer, I felt urine running down my leg and into my socks and sneaker! That ended the experiment for me!

I changed into a dry diaper and dry shorts and included my usual plastic pants this time! And back to mowing the lawn. A few hours later, I was still very comfortable since I was dry on the outside while I had ofcourse gotten progressively wetter on the inside. The plastic pants, tho a bit sweaty, were far more comfortable for walking than the wet diaper and shorts chaffing against the thighs.

That's all the proof I needed to abandon the notion that not wearing plastic pants would be more comfortable on a hot day.

Now, back to if you don't move, but lay around, such as poolside, well then we are back to do you want to pee on the ground or deck or poolside concrete or what have you? Certainly not in the company of others but even if you are lounging alone, leaking thru the diaper and creating a puddle creates work in clean up-hosing down and so on- and runs the risk of odor which none of us needs. It seems it is much more practical and convenient to wear plastic pants and keep the urine contained properly.

One area that this should work would be a beach at the ocean. You can lounge at ease in the sand, somewhat near the water's edge. You can even forget the diaper! and just wear a swim suit. When you void, it goes into the sand. The tide comes in and the tide goes out, taking care of all sanitation issues involved in peeing in the sand.

So, I just wanted to add my observations to what seems like a very practical idea. It didn't work out for me; but others may have different results so I say give it a whirl if you are so inclined!

JoeK

Hey Joe K
I'm with you on wearing plastic pants over my cloth diaper. I do admit I will go around the house in my cloth diaper only after my evening shower under my robe. I do like the fealling of the soft cloth against my leg. Once I feel some dampness on my thighs, I'll throw on a pair of plastic pants. My wife thinks it's a good ideal to help get some air movement. I usually don't flood so I can stay reasonbly dry for an hour or two.
I usually will add some baby powder between my legs and plastic pants. That helps alot! ...............Paul Martin

Yes, indeed, Paul! You made a good point and an important one for those who may not think of it as being a big deal. Powdering between the inner thighs and your plastic pants makes for a big comfort improvement.

I even carry in the car a small container of baby powder (I prefer the cornstarch variety). For use during the day. Often I'll use an odor control powder...such as "Shower to Shower" since it provides the dry lube effect of powder for comfort while walking and some odor control that is helpful for the minor weepage that can occur at the leg bands.

Your wife is right on the mony, Paul, any air-out time you can get is very beneficial for your skin health! I do the same thing, delaying putting on plastic pants for as long as I can, when I have the luxury of time. Usually I have to get going and can't enjoy that luxury.

Another good air out technique if you have the privacy, is to sit naked on protected furniture on some diapers while you watch TV or play around at the computer. You may be able to get a few hours here and there, and it all adds up to benefit the skin health.

JoeK

I would agree with you Guys about getting some air down there. I've been blessed with not getting many diaper rashes but the one time of year that is always a struggle for me is July and August.

I often times will sit at the computer or in the lazy boy undue my diaper. As long as I'm still sitting on the diaper I'm usually safe. Other times when it's your seat that needs air I'll put a protective pad on the bed and lay on my tummy. But doing this I've found it best to put an extra towel down in case I flood. Those pads never seem to have alot of capacity.

There's another thread that could be started on what protective pads/furniture pads work best. I've never explored that myself I'm at fault for just buying cheap pads. But at the same time I'm just using them to catch a leak from my diaper. But if you were to go without a diaper and sit/lay on a pad only what would you want to use.

I'm going to start a new thread on the kind of protection area.

.......................Sandy

It seems that many of you like to keep a breast of what Jane and my young friend are doing.

Well my young friend is getting along well she has had to put the incontinent swim wear on hold for now but has been getting use out of the ones she made. She is currently making six brides maid dresses for someones up coming wedding. She is also working on some other formal wear for some other people as well. I haven't spoke to her much in the last couple of weeks in fact I've seen her mother more then her that's a switch

Jane isn't getting as many hours at work as she was and her husband is still a jerk but maybe not as bad as he was. Her kids are doing good. My husband and I are talking about asking Jane to come and work for us or more like with me. We haven't talked to her yet but I'm thinking she will jump on it. We'll pay her at least two bucks more an hour to start with then she's getting now at the gas station. She will be mainly working in the office with me helping out with customers in general and help with some of the billing and ordering she may also get into some washing and cleaning boats etc. Basically take some of the burden off of me

As far as what's going on with me and my husband it's very busy. Or as my Husband say it Balls to the Wall busy Whatever that means?

So anyway that's the cadenced version of what's going on around here
................Sandy

Sandy,
Sounds like Jane has a good offer there. I think she would really enjoy working with you. Glad to hear your husbands work is going well. With the economy as it is, it's great his business is slammed. ........Paul Martin

Jane her kids and I were together yesterday We had a nice time. her kids are so much fun We went to a few parks and let the kids go run and play. Jane and I just talked about girl stuff in general.

her husband has got to the point that he's more of a room mate then a husband Jane says (I feel so bad for her) She says he is still great with the kids. But says he still seems resentful of her Jane is such a wonderful young lady I feel lucky to have her as a friend sometimes

We did do some shopping. We found a good deal on some jeans that were on clearance that fit Jane well. They were some off brand they were big in the seat but the waist fit her well. She could wear alot of Diaper in those Jeans. Wish I could have found some to fit me

Well needless to say the Kids weren't enjoying this part of the day. So we were at Walmart later and I bought each of the kids a teddy bear that seem to smooth things over

Jane and the kids stayed over for supper last night. My husband called Janes Husband and invited him over but he wouldn't come We popped the Question last night about Jane coming to work for us.

She said are you kidding We said no we aren't kidding we've discussed it and we want you. We explained to her what she would be doing. She seem concerned about working on the computer and a few other thing but we said we would teach her. . Shes going to give the Gas Station a two week notice. Hope the owners don't hate us for stealing one of their employee's

..........................Sandy

Jane has now started working for us as of yesterday So far so good she is great with customers. That was one thing I noticed right off with her at the Gas Station. The way she could interact with a customer even one with a bad attitude. I'm not sure if it's her eyes or her smile or both that has a way of settling a bad situation.

She has no clue when it comes to a computer that may prove a little more interesting. But shes a smart young lady I have no doubt she'll get it.

It was cool yesterday so we cleaned a few boats outside. It's so much fun working with a friend And just having some help for a change. My husband has a good relationship with the Guys in the Shop and that's not to say that I don't either. But there Guys and I'm a girl so it's not the same (Am I making any sense) I've never had a Female to work with here I think this is going to be a real nice change

..................Sandy

Sandy,
That's great news about Jane. I believe she'll make you a good employee and a co-worker. You two have a lot in common.
I hope her husband didn't give her any grieve doing the move. Has he let up any? ................Paul Martin