Thistle

I actually like these a lot more than I thought I would. For me, it's not about the fact that they are supposed to be diapers that's fun. It's the fact that they are supposed to be underwear. For people who are trying to bring diapers into their relationship (yes, it can be done if you are respectful and patient), this is a great in-between step. My significant other already accepts and often participates in my fetish, but viewing these as a mix between pull-ups and underwear is somehow easier for them. Plus, it's fun to hear them say "put on your pull-ups". :-) The whole idea of pull-ups has taken me years to come around to anyway. When I was growing up, they didn't exist. I ignored them for years until I realized I could actually fit into Goodnites. Actually, I was impressed with the absorbency of these. It's been sooooo long since I've tried a Depend product because I moved on to better quality diapers. They don't take multiple floodings well, but they're not designed to. Anyway, I'll buy these again, just for fun.

I'd heard the news that Bambino was now offering the boosters, but I hadn't decided whether I wanted to order them. So I opted not to order the booster sampler with my most recent order, thinking I'd try them out at some point down the line. But when I got my order, I was pleasantly surprised to see they had included a sample of one of each booster size for free. Now that's truly awesome service. I'm not sure if they did this for all customers or just for repeat buyers, but I have to say it was a really cool touch. I've said it before on DD, but I just have to say it again. Bambino is an incredible product, and I've been so impressed with how they do business. This is a professionally run company making amazing products, communicating with the community that sustains it, working to keep costs down and not afraid to change/tweak/reboot. Anyway, that's all I got. I figure people are really quick to criticize (which I totally respect) but not always as quick to compliment. My only criticism? Bambino needs a copy editor (I should know -- I am one) ... The web site and the informational flyers they sent out have a few glaring grammatical errors that could have been easily caught before they went live/to print. But if that's the only nitpick a company gets, I'd say they're batting nearly 1000. Here's hoping they can grow and stick around.

I'm in the City. Not really sure about meeting up with people or anything, but I'm here if it makes you feel less alone. :-)

Hey all. Just got back from a trip to Japan and thought I'd share an interesting find. I was coming back to my hotel late one night and decided to stop by the vending machine to buy an ice-cold beer. Yes, you read that right. In Japan you can get beer and tons of other crazy stuff from vending machines that are scattered almost everywhere you go. Some of you who have been to Japan probably already knew this, but it turns out you can also buy baby diapers from some vending machines too, especially in places like hotels and resorts. I don't know why, but I was totally amazed by this. Diapers? In a vending machine in a hotel lobby? I've seen them here or there in the states, but it's very rare and always in airports. And then they're only in unappealing steel cases like the ones you buy condoms from in rest stop bathrooms. Yuck. But there they were in this Japanese vending machine, there for the taking. Now, even though I have a small frame, there's still no way I can wear baby diapers (believe me, I've tried), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see what these were like. I could see they were cloth-backed, unfortunately, but I've accepted the fact, grudgingly, that the days of plastic-backed baby diapers are over. So I dropped in 150 yen (about $1.50) and sat back to enjoy the show. In Japan, some vending machines are your typical pop-and-drop affair. But many of the machines are becoming pretty sophisticated. This one had a robotic arm that unfolds from the side of the machine, zips over to the coordinates you input, grabs the item and drops it in a bin for you to collect. My prize came out tightly rolled up and wrapped in plastic. I shoved it my bag and headed back to my hotel room. As I made my way upstairs, it occurred to me how great these machines must be for young DLs in Japan who are embarrassed about buying diapers in public, as most of us are. All you'd have to is wait until the middle of the night, head to one of these machines, drop in some coins and scoot out of there. It's not ideal because they're not adult-sized, but hey, it's something. Turned out there were two diapers included in the packet. Each was white with coloured Mickey and Minnie mouse pics printed along the tape landing area. They also have light blue Mickey and Minnie patterns on the rest of the diaper. Disney is very popular in Japan, btw. They're one-tape diapers with a light blue elastic gather and even a yellow-line wetness indicator, which I found a bit odd. You usually only see that on adult diapers like Depends. One other thing I noticed was that they didn't have much of a scent, for whatever reason. Here's a small pic. apologies for the quality - I was using a cell phone camera: Anyway, this may be old news for a lot of people here, but I found it pretty cool. Anyone else have pics of (or info on) diapers from Japanese vending machines or machines from other countries? I know IKEA offers free diapers from vending machines in the bathrooms of some of its stores, but I've never gotten one because the bathroom is always so busy...

Well, it's been said many times in this thread but it bears repeating: You rock, Rachel/Little Faerie. It took a lot of guts to do what you did, and we are all in your debt, seriously. You presented yourself as who you are, and that's all we can ask of people in the community who interact with the mainstream about our particular interest. I also have to commend your boyfriend, who seems like a truly open-minded individual. I wish you both the best of luck, and thanks for putting a genuinely human face on this fetish/life choice/interest/whatever you want to call it. Rock on.

I've thought about this question a lot and I honestly don't know. I've always been really bad with ages and dates, but my earliest memories of diapers are of getting into an emergency stash my grandma kept in the bathroom closet at her house. This was well after I was out of diapers. I'm guessing I was between 8 and 12. I would "go to the bathroom" for extended periods of time, but really I was locked in there playing with the diapers. And that was really my only access to diapers for a long time. It wasn't until I was in high school that I started driving to the next town to buy adult diapers.

Thanks for the quick reply and, as it turns out, a superior product. I totally understand that shipping times can be an issue (especially with USPS). I guess my confusion was with the 'processing' label on my order. I expected to see it change to 'shipped' once it left your hands, so I was concerned that there might be a problem with the order. Now that I know that 'processing' is what it will say from order generation through delivery, I'll know what to expect. Again, thanks for the reply, the free sample and the great customer service. Review coming soon.... -Thistle

Never mind! Of course, just after I posted the above, the mailman rang my bell! Thanks, Bambino!

Any others in the winners circle not get their free samples yet? I used my coupon on 3/30 - it's 4/5 and still no sign... On their site, my order is still listed as 'processing,' but the shipping info page says samples usually take 2 - 3 busines days to arrive. Just curious if anyone else is having the same issue before I send them an email to check on it.

I guess my response to this question doubles as a manifesto of sorts. Adult-sized plastic-backed babyish diapers as we know and love them are going the way of the dodo. It seems every month we hear about a new corporate adult diaper brand transitioning their products into cloth-backed ones. With Bambino, we finally seem to have a serious private company committed to manufacturing a baby-like plastic-backed diaper that's, in many ways (from what I've read) better than some of the "adult incontinence" products we've all been forced to use for years and years. Shouldn't we support that? Yes, they're a little pricier than buying from Kimberley-Clark, P&G, Tena, Abena, etc. But they're made for us, with us in mind, and they're trying to connect with the community to get feedback. You won't see any of the above doing that. If we're not paying attention, if a few years you won't be able to buy plastic-backed adult-sized diapers on the mass market at all. It's already happening, and to me, that's a scary thought. Personally, I've been waiting for the marketplace to recognize the opportunity that exists in the AB/DL sector, and I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. Is Bambino different than some of the other companies that have tried this (often halfheartedly) in the past? I don't know. And that's why I'd like to try their free samples. It they're great, I'll support the company. If they're not, I'll give them feedback and tell them why. If they actually listen to customer response and make an effort to tweak their product so they can a.) Satisfy their customers and b.) make enough money to make the venture worth their while, then that's a good thing for all involved. Here's what I've heard about the Bambino diaper so far: Plastic-backed, of course; plastic tape-landing area; front and back elastic on the top; no wetness indicator (thank god); fairly thick. Someone's been reading the forums.... I've used Secure Personal Care's products for a while now, and they're the closest thing I've found yet to what I'm looking for. Not everyone wants what I do, of course, and that's fine. If you want to stick with big medical-looking purple Molicares, that's great. If you really like those scratchy cloth-covered Depends, more power to you. Get off on yellow and blue wetness indicators? Great! But I don't, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people out thre like me. I want some free diapers, yes. But that's not the only thing that motivated me to write this. If we don't support companies like this while we can, we'll wake up one day and find that there aren't any more of the diapers we like around. Those that do remain will be expensive, and we'll have to take what we can get from them. I'm not saying Bambino is the answer - they're new, I've had no experience with them, and it remains to be seen whether they have staying power. But I'm eager to give them a chance, and I hope they deliver..... literally!