Angela Bauer

Hi Adrian and everyone who wears diapers, Nothing helps make a diaper more comfortable than appropriately supporting it. Sometimes all it takes is a pair of knit undies, but the thing about a Snapsies is that it never has to be tight. The flap through the crotch transfers the weight of a soggy diaper to the shirt part. Your shoulderd do not take the entire load and neither do your hips. It is as if the weight of the wetness just disappears. See, this is why I have never worried about the cost in cash of a quality snapsies that fits me. It will last a long time and while I am wearing it the cost does not matter. Of course when we do find bargains, then they become special also. Angela

My sister Missy has tried many fabrics for Snapsies, and always they are most comfy when made from the sort of stretchy double knit used for T-shirts. This is why it is vital to hae a good serger or even better a professional multi-lock machine. That kind of fabric goes all to pieces if the edges are not sewn with an over-lock stitch. Simply taking a Gerber Onesies apart and enlarging it does not make a comfy Snapsies for adults. It does need to be somewhat tailor to fit the Big Baby. The fabric will stretch, but only so much. One way to start the design is to pick a new T-Shirt that fits the Big Baby's upper body, then attach some extra material to make the crotch flap. For the proto-type that part does not need to stretch, but when calculating the final pattern allow for some stretch there. Be sure to reinforce the area where the snaps will be located at the body of the shirt and the tip of the flap. Have fun making your Snapsies! Angela

Just bringing the link to the Carlos Richer website back to the top. This tells everything about making and testing baby disposables, all of which applies to adult disposables. Angela Bauer

Like others, I have both Bambino Classico Small (for me) and Medium (for my kid sister Missy) and I also have both sizes of Secure X-Plus. The Bambinos do have the extra front waist elastic. And Bambino Classico are decorated. Otherwise they are so similar to the Secure X-Plus you might think they were made in the same factory on the same machine. Sure, it is possible when the Bambino are being made the machine is set to put more pulp and SAP into the active absorbency zone. The link to Carlos Richer's website: http://disposablediaper.net/content.asp?2 He is the consultant of choice to baby diaper manufacturers and has a complete quality assurance lab. On his site he has instructions for school students who want to do scientific testing of diapers for science fair awards. The trick is you need to use a special sort of salt water to simulate urine. Reading about how to do the testing is fascinating, so go search for the information. Then make yourself a couple of gallons of that magic salt water, heat it to body temperature, and you can answer the question, does a Secure X-Plus or a Bambino Classico have more capacity. Then when you have the answer you can win the Daily Diapers Science Fair 2008! Angela Bauer

Hi Adrian, Well, ACD is a wonderful company. I wear their 36" square gauze diapers every night. But the Onesies they have on close-out are 2X Large, which I doubt would be a decent fit on you. Probably to avoid a nasty lawsuit by the trademark department of Gerber, we should not us the term Onesies which belongs just to Gerber, the spoil sports. Body suit or Snapsie are other terms and we all know what we mean. Seriously, in AB clothing you get only the quality you pay for. Making garments to fit us takes work and good materials. Just the way the edges and seams are overlocked makes all the difference in how long a given garment will last. So, check many vendors and ask about the price. I am lucky that my kid sister is not only more into AB than me (she also is even more profoundly incontinent than me) but Missy is an award-winning motion picture costume designer. She makes all our "Snapsies" and she has designed the flap so it snaps close to the waist in front. That is easier for our babysitter, and also much easier when we have to fend for ourselves as solo babies. My suggestion is to request that feature when discussing snapsies with a vendor. Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

A downside to having profound secondary nocturnal enuresis is that diapered or not, I am going to wet every night. This has been going on nearly 32 years, since I was 12. As a college student I doubted anyone could love me enough to marry me with my bladder problems in bed. Then after graduation, while I was spending the summer moving to law school, I could no longer control my bladder during the day. At least in law school everyone was so concerned about grades they did not care about my Attends 24/7. After law school a new associate attorney in a firm has no private life or spare time. Dating rarely happens, so I was not finding my diapers a social problem. After a few years as an associate I had just enough senority I could take a Saturday evening once a month for a real adult date. I dressed up to look as less like a lawyer as possible and used a thin disposable pad because I was meeting a man I had read about. He made me feel so comfortable. We had taked an hour or more at the table without me touching my drink. Don asked if I was okay. I assurred him I was having a wonderful time. He leaned in close so he could whisper "Angela, if you want to go change, I understand." That was the first time I kissed Don Davis. Sure enough, I went to the ladies room where I threw away the silly pad and put on an Attends like a good girl. Back at our table Don did not ogle me as a freak. His only concern was that I be comfy. Clearly that was when I fell in love with Don. He understood how to take care of an incontinent AB woman. There have been a whole lot of diaper changes since we became a couple in 1991! Angela

Please add me to the category of "fastidious" babies who does everything possible to avoid a pooped diaper! I mean, I have been known to take off an otherwise fresh diaper just because I feel the need to poop. Honestly I do not remember before I was toilet trained, but in our family where most of us had puny bladders, for trips and special events we were asked to be put back in diapers. The theory was that way Dad would not need to stop the car because someone needed to pee. Of course, sometimes we also needed to poop. That was a real thrill, sitting in back beside a sister who had messed her diaper! When that would happen often 2 or 3 of the rest of us would suddenly poop. The stench would cause Dad to find a place to stop. Mom would then rush to get us cleaned and changed, the bag of dirty diapers in the trunk. Normally I sleep in pinned gauze diapers, but at all times I have a case of Attends Youth Briefs with the poly plastic back under my changing table for nights I feel sick enough messing is probable. Maybe demanding an immediate change out of a poopy didee violates the AB code of conduct and I do not care! The best part of being in touch with my inner AB is that I can get away with an intollerance for frustration. I want what I want and I want it right now! That includes a poop-free diaper. Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

Happy Recent Birthday and Welcome to the DD Forum MintCola, Just having a bag of Bambino Classico decorated diapers that fit you is impressive. To have found a soulmate into AB is marvelous. Unfortunately there are some very nice AB who just never locate the right someone who digs them. Yada, yada, yada, us older gals are suppose to caution about rushing ahead. Trust me, if you do not take a leap of faith, you might regret it for years afterwards. Before I fell in love with my husband I had dated a whole lot of men, but only a couple of guys who understodd my diapers. So when I met Don, whose late first wife was a famous big baby girl, I figured I had a chance he would dig me as well. This will come as a shock, but there are judgmental folks out in the world who do not dig our attraction to diapers, the silly fools. My e-mail address is used as my website here and you can always send me a message through the DD message function if there is anything I can do to help you feel more conforatble about all this, that we are not a bunch of kooks who need diapers emotionalls as well as physically. Have fun with your fellow during your time off school, Angela Bauer

Wow, Girlfriend, you do ask the hard questions. Expecting me to pick between Bambino Classico Small and AB Universe Medium is like asking a mom which of her kids she loves best. Both brands of decorated adult diapers are high quality obviously made by experienced professionals using state-of-the-art equipment. The baby disposable consultant of choice is Carlos Richer, who started fisposable manufacturing in Mexico, where most Pampers for the USA are made. He has a fascinating system to test disposable capacity which involves using heated dilute saline solution to replicate human urine. This is important because most disposables use SAP gel, which does not work correctly when wet with tap water. Well, I have no dilute saline and no way to heat it. Maximum capacity is a moot point with me because I change my diaper before the urine goes stale, or when I need to potty to make poopsies. As it happens we also have a few Bambinos Classico Medium and Large. When I compare the B Med with the ABU Med, the shape is very similar, but the Bambino has elastic at the waist front and back, sort of like Attend Waistband. Both have elastic leg gather leake guards similar to most modern disposables. On me the ABU fits higher because it actually is too large, but that is okay because some older style Adult Youth and Small were very high waisted and that reduced leaking. To make the ABU Med fit me, we cut off the back tapes and double over the next part of the flap, holding the tip to the main part with a small piece of double sided tape. Then we put a fresh piece of double sided tape to the inside of this new tab, temporarily leaving the release paper on the tape. Thus in use it works like a single tape baby disposable with a wide enough tab I can make it seal over my hips and waist. The result is a super babyish disposable. About the poly plastic outer layers: Drat, our home is equipped with neither a mass spectometer or gass column chromatograph to do scientific testing of the plastic layers. However, my guess is they were made by the same firm on the same machine to the same spec. They are retro poly with a slight matte finish and both fairly soft and as crinkly as a 1990s Pampers Baby Dry or classic Attends. A major difference is the landing zone. I happen to prefer the AB Universe approach in which the decoration is printed into the plastic and there is no over coating of clear plastic rendering the landing zone stiffer. Even in the Bambino Small that landing zone is excessively wide for me, which is why I tried the AB Universe in the first place. Obviously Banbino Classico has fans. So, although by the time we use two layers of the thinest double-sided tape we can buy the tabs of my modified ABU Med are thicker than the two tabs per side of the Bambino, the ABU Med on me is far more comfy. The rest of the diapers feel identical to me. So, if ABU starts making a diaper similar in shape to an Attends Breathable Small (ideal for hips 20-32") I will be less likely to re-order Bambino Classico Small. Because in my family I am not the only one who wears Youth and Small (we buy cases of Attends Youth and Breathable Small) and are getting effective modifying the ABU Med, we just placed another order for 4 cases to be delivered when they catch up. Those of you who are big enough for medium and large have choices. The people I know in person who are even more AB than me (if possible) do prefer the comfort of unmodified ABU over Bambino Classico. But who knows, perhaps another bunch of random AB would vote for Bambino? So, what if we set up parties for ABDL in several places and let everyone large enough try both Bambino and AB Universe, then all will write reviews. Sound fair? Baby Angel, girl reviewer

What wonderful messages and sharing Turtle Pins and Moogle Love! All my life I felt sure that when I reached puberty I would lose my bedtime control and maybe all my control. Granny, Mom and her sister Aunt Betsy had limited control. That was considered a family medical problem, no more embarrassing than having a limp. We were raised to consider diapers and vinyl panties just another kind of underwear. Sure enough since I was 12 I have wet my bed and at 21 I needed diapers 24/7 to finish law school. Yet I was 26 before I even knew some very nice adults actively wanted to be incontinent enough they were paying for hypno tapes! That alone made me feel so much better and so did using a pacifier and baby bottle. Within a couple of weeks of reading about AB, I joined DPF. I was first in the Dec 1990 roster. By profession I am an attorney, so I always knew I had protected rights as an incontinent person. To me AB has been a successfull coping strategy. Yes, I try to be even more discreet about acting out as an AB than when I change my day diaper in a public ladies room. What might surprise some is that in the 32 years I have needed diapers and thousands of changes in public ladies rooms, nobody has ever made a snide or rude comment. some toddlers have pointed and been admonished by their moms. My approach as a 12yo girl who wet her bed was to be open as possible about that with gal pals at school. When they came to our home they saw two changing tables, one for toddlers and the other for adults and in the large room that served as nursery for infants and diaper central for the rest there were stacks of diapers and a selection of vinyl panties, none fled in terror. When I went on a sleep-over I brought my own waterproof sheet and diaper bag. Sometimes gals sleeping over at our house asked to try a diaper and if their mom gave my mom permission, that gal was diapered. Once I did take up AB, I would use a pacifier when alone, even in hotels while traveling for my law firm. Sometimes co-workers would see me. That was a time when a lot of young adults used pacifiers at raves and others to stop smoking. I was never asked to explain. None of the doctors treating me have managed to stop my wetting, so I hardly expect that to happen next week. Long ago I owned my wetting and try to avoid leaks. What would the public prefer, that I hate being in diapers? Monday of this week I got messages on VEOH from a stranger who begged me to include her as a friend. She claimed to have been incontinent herself, then her next claim was that her 11yo daughter suddenly started wetting her bed. That would not be so unusual if the girl had reached puberty and an older 11yo could be at puberty. This person next claimed her than 14yo son suddenly started bedwetting a year after his kid sister. Now that is very rare. The claims continued to be wilder. For example, both are the same size, the girl 14 and the boy 16 and both wear Attends Youth Briefs. Well, since I can still wear those, it is possible for the girl, so long as she is no more than 5'3" and 110 pounds. But give me a break, are there 16yo boys that small. Because of male anatomy he would need to be under 5'2" and 95 pounds. Is this likely? So when I mentioned I own a case of that size, but generally wear Attends Adult Breathable Small, which are slightly larger, suggesting her son would be more comfy in an Adult Medium, this person replied "I just don't condone AB or DL individuals." What am I to say? A liar writing sick fantasy, after wasting my time as I tried to help her (or more likely he) find urologists is now passing judgment on those of us who are discreetly AB or DL? This is the kind of sick folks that give bigots a bad name? We need to be true to ourselves and ignore those who have closed minds. Angela Bauer

Hi Everyone, Recently I added my name to the nomination list as Female Representative. Although I am relatively new as a member of Daily Diapers, I have been incontinent since June of 1976 and an active Adult Baby girl since late 1990, when I joined DPF. From the August 1991 DPF Newsletter until July 2001 I wrote a monthy column for DPF, as well as many articles for Infantae Press circa 1991. Don and I appeared together to discuss AB in a positive way on the Feb 23, 1992 Montel Williams show which is still being repeated. To help other women better understand AB and get to know we are not a bunch of kooks that do this, I made 2 videos which were distributed by DPF, the first released in 1992 and the sequel in 1993. I understand that many copies of those were shared by ABDL ever since, which to me was the whole point. I wanted them to be seen by as many people as possible, and it was never my goal to make Tommy rich. I respect that in this election there are a lot of highly qualified candidates. I am sure I can bring experience and dedication if elected to this Board. With Luv and Huggies, Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

My 2 cases of Medium arrived at 12:15 pm today. Of course I was working, but that was when my husband Don sent me a text message, "FedEx landed" Trust me, I nearly rushed home that second. Cooler heads prevailed, since we still had the after lunch Court session, and Federal judges can take such a narrow view of litigators requesting a continuance just to rush home to try on a fresh diaper shipment. Yes, as best I can tell, this shipment is identical the first AB Universe diapers we bought whenever. I normally wear either Attends Youth Briefs (I can just fit in those) when I need a poly plastic disposable for bed or Attends Breathable Small Briefs, which have the cloth-like outer layer and some really good Velcro-like refastenable tabs. So, yes, the Bambino Classico Small also fit me. Now I have the best of all decorated worlds, Bambino and AB Universe. Sort of like the choice, Huggies or Pampers? Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

Hi DD, After long consideration and consultation with my husband and Daddy Don Davis, I have decided to put my nmae in for the Female representative. Angela Bauer, Esq. aka Baby Angel

Hi Aleia, There must be millions of reasons the Pampers Division of P&G uses two brand names, Cruisers and Baby Dry. The basic difference is the intended use. Cruisers are very soft and supple, intended to prevent leaks when a toddler is active. Baby Dry are not as supple or form fitting, because they are intended for naps and bed, while a toddler is not very active. When relaxed there is not much difference in size between a Size 6 Baby Dry and a Size 7 Cruiser, but on actual bigger toddlers, the Size 7 Cruiser will fit heavier kids than the Size 6 Cruiser. The length of the diapers does not need to increase, but the way it stretches does matter. Because Baby Dry are intended for use on napping and sleeping toddlers, they tend to be longer than Cruisers. So, a 45 pound toddler can still fit in a Size 6 Baby Dry so long as she does mot move a lot. Probably that same girl when active would be too large for a Size 6 Cruiser, so she needs a Size 7. Frankly back in the plastic days they got it right for naps and sleeping. Bedding slides by a shiny plastic outerlayer, and clings to cloth-like. That momentary cling when a person turns during sleep causes momentary gaps at the legs and waist due to bedding cling. These are responsible for mysterious damp spots even when inspection shows the diaper did not come apart. Unfortunately Pampers and Huggies so over-sold cloth-like as better for the baby (when it is more an advantage when a mom carries a crawler in her arms) that they do not want to revert to plastic. However, a major sea-change will start later in 2008 and continue. All the manufacturers have never solved the manufacturing difficulties of baby/toddler pull-ups. Those machines run much slower than the tape-on lines and the pull-up lines have much more downtime due to jams. Fairly recently a vastly inmproved Velco-like baby diaper fastening system has been perfected at affordable prices. This system allows many re-positioning and re-fastenings, like a cloth Velcro diaper. Currently a new series of larger baby diapers are undergoing tests to replace pull-ups. The concept is that a kid who can use a pull-up will be able to release one tab, slide the diaper down to go potty, then slide it back and re-fasten it as easily as using a pull-up. Generally tape-on leak a lot less than pull-up when toddlers nap or sleep, so this new series could be a major win-win for manufacturer, parents and toddlers being toilet trained. We can expect to see these in sizes up to 60 pounds, which might be a Size 8 probably with a different name. There is no solid evidence KCC is attempting to use that technology to replace their current GoodNites pull-ups. KCC made their peace with the production problems on those machines years ago. In fact, they might re-purpose some of their newer baby pull-up machines to add GoodNites capacity. I must say that the people in the know at GoodNites are very good at keeping their future plans secret. Let us here it for gentle, humane go-slow toilet learning! Angela Bauer

Hi SS502, according to the most recent statistics available, at the end of 2006 there were over 25 million USA residents who need adult diapers. Compare that to the total number of toddlers in the USA under 4 years of age and it is much greater, and growing up from less than 20 million in 2004. No wonder Depend is getting competition from store brands, most made by the same people as make Secure or Tranquilty. The former PaperPak, now Attends, sells so many adult diapers under their own brand names through on-line and to hospitals that they have cut back making generic brands for stores. You would think that a big chain like CVS would provide new employees with some sensitivity training so as to keep customers who do buy adult diapers loyal to their store. Did the man who said they were for the hospital mean he worked there and they ran out? Or did he mean someone who was in the hospital would need them when discharged and the hospital pharmacy was either closed or charging way above a fair price? I assume there are people I meet in person who have no clue I am incontinent. Within my office this is not a huge secret. So it has to be random that I hear people making diaper jokes. Everyone sees the TV commercials for Depend, and now HDIS is running commercials on cable. This makes sense because adult diaper customes tend to be very brand-loyal. Take me, I started out wearing Attends Youth when they were owned by P&G and soon grew to need Attends Small. I use a half case of those each month, so my standing order with Care Givers Partnership is a case every other month. In addition I wear cloth diapers to bed when home and often just a slip-in pad during the day, which I make by cutting away the elastic leg gathers on Size 4 Pampers Cruisers. Turns out those Pampers go on sale frequently and even at Target or Cosco retail are less than adult slip-ins and way more comfy. Yes, I have tried Secure and Tranquility Adult Small, which are fine, yet I keep ordering my Attends. I became an Attends gal in 1981 when I started university, back when they had TV commercials starring June Allyson, remember those and remember her from "Good News" and "The Glenn Miller Story"? Angela Bauer, showing my age

On Friday Feb 22 my husband Don got a call from jenny at AB Universe that their cargo container had been released by Customs and was already at their warehouse. Both the 2 cases we ordered for me to be shipped to our home and the bag we ordered to be shipped to a good friend in Texas were received by FedEx Friday afternoon. We have the tracking info e-mails from FedEx. As I said in a post on another section, back in mid January, when I used the last AB Universe diaper from the first batch, I immediately tried to re-order and got the message they were sold out until the next container arrived. At that time Jenny told me the ship was not scheduled to doc in Seattle until Feb 15 so she did not expect to be able to start shipping them out until Feb 22. To me this seems on schedule. But, sure enough when I got the e-mail about Customs, I looked on their website and saw they were announcing Feb 15 as the shipping date. That was overly optimistic. Yes, I also have worn Bambinos and I have a bunch of them currently on order. I am slightly small for the current ABU medium, but I make them work. Bambino has a size small that does fit me nicely. Both are excellent diapers. They are fun after wearing Attends, Secure or Tranquility Small, all of which work, but are not exactly fun, without the decorations. Baby Angela, ake Angela Bauer

Hi Elo, Let me start off by saying I have wet my bed every night since I turned 12 and have had hardly any day control since I was 21, so after years of being treated there is no question I am bladder incontinent. The largest incon support organization is the Simon Foundation and they define incontinence as any need for diapers. Your emotional need to us qualifies you as incontinent. I assume since you call them Nappies that you live in the UK or related country. Just remember that while to Simon Foundation you are incontinent, do not assume you can get free nappies of diapers at public expense. Everyone is correct, no legit physcian will do anything to deliberately render you incontinent. Like others say, if you start wearing diapers 24/7 you will soon wet without effort, so it will seem like being incontinent, which the advantage you probably will be able to wear big boy undies if you decide you need to in the future. People like me do not have that option. Yes, I can wear fancy undies, but they will be wet soon. Only you know why you told your female friend that you wet the bed. I do not approve of telling lies to friends, but if you do deliberately wet in bed, then you are a bedwetter. Be sure to protect every mattress you sleep on. Today there are fantastic waterproof sheeting systems that to an outsider feel like ordinary bedding. I personally have been using the Secure sheeting ever since Gary Hirsch invented them. When on visita and trips, carry your own waterproof sheets. Also face the reality that you are an infantilist even if you do not think of yourself as an adult baby. A deliberate use of diapers makes you an infantilist, and this is a lifetime condition. Psychologists cannot change that, but should it interfere with ordinary life, they can help you find ways to balance your diaper affectation with other responsibilities. What a shame you did not balance your desire to tell everyone you wet the bed with being a better friend. Now that desire to tell people with absolutely no need to know sounds like the mental problems of exhibitionism. Mention that to a shrink and you will be treated because in most places exhibitionism violates the law. Perhaps a psychologist can help you stop telling people. Best wishes, Angela

Hi BaBy GiRL, let me add my own welcome to Daily Diapers. Although I am relative new here, I have been an active big baby girl since late 1990, and have worn diapers every night since I was 12, then 24/7 since I was 21. You are always welcome to contact me personally, and when I see your questions in Lifestyles I will jump in to answer. Alas, I have difficulty reading written baby talk so I do not regularly read that section. Here you will find a handful of adults even younger than you and mature citizens in their mid 70s who are young at heart. We all can expect a second childhood, and some of us jump-started that! Be happy and be Pampered as often as you like, Angela Bauer, aka Baby Angel

Please remember to read the pinned message at the top of this section. This is where we discuss incontinence as a medical condition and not how to become incontinent. For ages general practioners and later early pediatricians assumed the only way to toilet train a toddler was to transition him or her from pinned-on diapers to cloth trainers. Obviously it is unsafe to allow a real toddler to handle diaper pins. So it is possible there was a coore of truth to the theory. If you feel the need to go pee or poop on a toilet and you cannot remove a diaper in time, you either hold it longer than you like, or you wet your diaper. More modern thinking is that the thing to avoid is any urine or poop outside the diaper area. Our skin there is naturally resistant to urine and poop, but the rest of our skin is not protected and thus if we sit in wet clothing or bedding, other parts of our bodies suffer. So, the medical thinking is the benefit of wearing a diaper are greater than the rish wearing the diaper prolongs or delays re-gaining control. Several of the AB I know well and in-person are not incontinent. Most have been into AB for years, so have little trouble wetting while diapered and in their AB mode. Yet if they must switch to big-boy or big-girl panties during a Sunday night so they can leave for work Monday moring in conventional undies, they can do so without wetting accidents. If you are incontinent, then you need to have frequent check-ups by a urologist and internest for men and in an ideal world a gyno-urologist plus the internest for women. Angela Bauer

In your area do you have a comprehensive infant-toddler store, such as a branch of Babies-R-Us? Our local Babies-R-Us has a whole section devoted just to feeding systems, meaning various styles of bottles and nipples. The long-time baby bottle standard was the Evenflo. Many manufacturers made bottles with the same opening and screw size, so rings and nipples would interchange. More recently another standard has emerged, called the wide-mouth. Because the opening is bigger, the base of the nipple more closely resembles a breast. My suggestion is to go to such a display of nipples and bottles with your boyfriend. At your age the clerks will assume you are planning a family. Look at the various choices to find out what interests your boyfriend. The Munchkin Tri-Flow bottles and nipples I like because while using one of them I can adjust the flow to suit my mood, come in both Evenflo standard and wide-mouth, but apparently are only sold on-line. Our Babies-R-Us carries many Munchkin products, but not the Tri-Flow. Same with Target, Wall-Mart and K-Mart. So if you decide on a nipple shape that your boyfriend craves, you can always increase the flow by enlarging the hole using a hot needle. At those kinds of stores nearly all the pacifiers will have one of three kinds of nipples. The 0-6 month size generally have the same shape nipple. The 6+ month size can have either a conventional nipple which is slightly longer than the smaller ones, or the orthodontic with is longer with a larger base closer to the face shield. I use the MAM clear silicone orthodontic nipple pacifier, with the best ventilated face shield, but that is my preference. Your boyfriend might like something else. This is why you have to look together. Trust me, the two of you together will cause less interest than if he goes to a baby department on his own. Your alone would not be noticed, but without him you do not know which to buy. In fact there are many choices for AB just in a mainstream baby store. In addition there are a lot of adult pacifiers and nipples on the market. Good searching together, a really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon! Angela Bauer

Ok, so Attends still makes retro-style briefs in Youth for hips less than 22" and Small of hips under 34". Bambino has a Size Small. So does Tranquility. Secure has a couple of style briefs in Size Small. Recently on DD we have discussed why adult diapers need 2 or 3 tabs per side. I know, I am not shaped the same as I was when I was 4. The thing is back then, Pampers had no tapes or tabs. Parents were expected to pin on disposables until a genius invented a way of making tapes a part of baby disposables. I think that was 1972, long after I was toilet trained. Back then my whole family hugged tress and would not think about disposables. But I remember being on a short trip the summer of 1972 when my kid sister Missy was not quite toilet trained. Of course all of us gals in the car were diapered in pinned Curity gauze so Dad did not have to stop frequently. That was normal and we accepted it. Then on the second day Missy got really runny poop. Mom had to change her once an hour, so we were running out of clean diapers. Before lunch that day, Mom had Dad find a supermarket in Bakersfield. My oldest sister was sent into that store to buy a bag of the largest Pampers available, a first for our family. By the time Big Sis returned to the car with them, Mom had turned the tailgate into a changing station, with Missy cleaned and ready. Mom had to study the instructions on the bag and she wasted one Pampers before she figured out how to use the tapes, so Mom at least might have preferred using pins on disposables. The thing is I have always been too large for baby Pampers, Huggies or any other brand. I could close Size 7 around my waist, if my hips did not get in the way, and Size 7 are not long enough to reach my waist. So what I suggest to all the many manufacturers of both adult and baby disposables is to stop considering this as two separate markets. This is 2008, when sensible parents take a go-slow approach to toilet training and today many 4yo are larger than 7yo when I was a girl many years ago. Tape-on diapers work much better in bed, and in bed slick plastic slides past bedding better than does cloth-like. Maybe when you are very active cloth-like stretches better than plastic, but none of us move that much in bed. What we need is to continue single tab Velcro-like re-fastenable baby-style disposable diapers beyond current 45 pounds Size 7, to 55 pound Size 8, 70 Pound Size 9 and 85 pound Size 10. Practically speaking 85 pounds is the lower limit even for Attends Youth size, which are two tapes per side and not re-fastenable. Baby diaper Guru and Business Consultant to all the biggies Carlos Richer (a super kind man) has written that the way of the future for baby/toddler is to phase out pull-ups, which are a huge problem to manufactur and replace them with larger disposables with such good refastenable tabs kids who today can use pull-ups will be able to release their diaper to go potty and then refasten it on their own. KCC decorated GoodNites for big kids, so there is no reason these Size 8, 9 and 10 should not be decorated like Size 7 Pampers Cruisers. Then we also need 2 tabs per side diapers for smaller people. Maybe that would be Smaller Youth? To me they all should be decorated. AB Universe and Bambino have the right idea. Diapers should be fun, not just utilitarian. Gary Hirsch designed the Secure diapers and many other adult brands, so he is the Guru to adult diapering as Carlos Richer is to baby diapering. Fortunately the two of them are friends. Maybe they can help the current manufacturers see reason. I believe Mr. Richer when he says P&G does not care about the tweenie and adult diaper market. They are the ones who sold out Attends to PaperPak long after P&G stopped doing Attends R&D and Depend was taking over in the store shelves. Nobody can tell P&G anything since they do not listen. Maybe the deal was that Attends cannot make a diaper smaller than the retro Youth which is the same as when P&G designed it. Same for the Attends Small, which to me is identical to those I bought circa 1985. But Secure and Tranquility never belonged to P&G so if they want they can get into this tweenie business. Or maybe what we need is for a new firm to invent a Size 8, 9 and 10 decorated Pampers-like diaper, with the softness of a Cruisers inside and larger so older kids can wear them. Maybe the Size 9 and 10 should be made with both single and double tabs to fit bigger kids with one tab and smaller adults with 2 tabs. Make them and we will buy! Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

Back toward the end of January I realized I had just used the last of my supply of the AB Universe Medium decorated diaper. When I went to their website I saw the message that the first batch had sold out but they expected the ship with the next batch to dock about February 15. I went ahead and placed the order charged to our PayPal account. On Jan 30 Jenny phoned us. I was at the office so Don took the call. She said that she was not expecting to have access to the cargo container until Feb 22, and she wanted us to be okay with that before she processed the order. Don said that was no problem, and he increased our order to 2 cases, plus a pack of 20 to be sent to a good friend in Texas. Therefore I was somewhat surprised to get the e-mail last week, before the ship was due to dock, that Customs put a hold for inspection on their container. Gee, I sure hope Customs, ICE and DEA are inspecting such container very carefully, because the same chemicals that are part of disposable diapers, and motion picture film for that matter, are known to make the odor of cocaine and explosives. The e-mail said Customs was not working on Monday Feb 18. Again, since that is the Federal holiday President's Day, I was not surprised. The good news is a couple of hours ago we got a call from Jenny saying she was putting the shipping lables on the 2 cases going to our home and the 20-pack going to our friend. So as far as I am concerned, that is exactly when she told us the new diapers would be shipped before we were charged. Jenny did need Don to get back to her to confirm the Texas address and she said that they were working downstairs doing the shipping so she was having trouble hearing her toll-free WATS 800 line upstairs. Don sent her the address by e-mail and left that as a message on their 800 line. Sometimes we talk about imported diapers as being better or different than US made diapers. When was the last time you looked at a bag of Pampers? I use about 20 Size 4 Cruisers a week as slip-in pads during the day, so those I buy in really big cartons. I do not remember the last Pampers I bought that were not made in Mexico. Since my current case of Attends Small briefs does not say made in Mexico they probably are made in North Carolina. What about Depend, Tranquility or Secure? Are all of them made in the USA, or designed here and manufactured off-shore? Does any of that make a difference, unless your used to make Pampers for P&G in Cincinnati or ran a loom for Kendall Mills in Mass? Baby Angela

As others have said, DailyDi, you have asked a fascinating question. The fact is I am bladder incontinent and consider myself lucky I can control my bowels most of the time. This summer I will have been back in diapers for my wetting 32 years, during which time a whole lot of urologists have not cured my incontinence. So I am sure I have no control over my wetting. In 1990 I made the concious and informed choice to adopt Adult Baby play as a coping strategy, on the theory: "Since I must wear diapers to avoid soaking furniture I might as well enjoy them." Of course by then I had started my career as an attorney, so I knew I had to set limits how I would behave as a big baby, when and where. This is why I answered yes that I am in control. BTW, for me AB is not a "fetish." I prefer the term "affectation." I answered no to the question could I give up AB. Even if I were to stop wearing cute AB outfits to bed, I still would be wetting my diaper, so what would be the point in giving up the thing that makes me feel good about being incontinent? I think for me not being an AB would be insane. What could I possibly suck on while sleeping that is any safer than my pacifier? Is there anything better for my health I could drink from a bottle than the water, milk, juice or Ensure I use to fill my Evenflo? Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I rest my case and ask you to decide in favor of my client. Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer

Hi Sabrina, What lack of professionalism by the desk clerk, since a baby would not add to your charge. It is no secret I am a litigation partner in a major law firm with offices in many cities and clients all over. Since the summer between my first and second year of pre-law (1981) my work has required me to stay at hundreds of hotels. I have needed diapers in bed all that time. I always carry two waterproof sheets. Like you I am discreet tossing wet diapers. If my stay is going to be more than one night, and that hotel is new to me, I phone the head houskeeper to say I have placed my own waterproof sheet on my bed and I want it to stay there as long as I am in their hotel. I also ask that they make a note so the next time I stay there they will have made my bed with a waterproof sheet. Before I leave I fold and pack my waterproof sheet and if at the next hotel they already gave me one, super. I try to be careful about powder, and I also always over tip the room maids. That way I have a wonderful reputation with the housekeeping staff. Perhaps it is because when I present my CC the hotel clerks see the name of my firm and figure it best to treat me like gold, but I have never had any similar incident. If anything like that were to happen, not just the clerk but also the manager would be hearing my complaint from their corporate head office. Sure, in hotels there have been incidents involving me and coworkers. Many times I have answered my door with a pacifier in my mouth, and nobody says anything. Within my firm it is no big secret I am incontinent, but I do not advertise I relax as an AB. Each hotel and motel guest has rights, but unless you are willing to demand top treatment, sometimes staff will be lax. Still, a generous tip to the maids goes a long ways to reducing harassment. At least that works for me. Angela

Diapers never embarrassed or scared me when I was a kid during the years from being toilet trained until I started wetting at night at puberty. I was so lucky that my Mom, Granny and Aunt Betsy all were responsible adult women who had lost bladder control at puberty. So their approach was to leave piles of gauze diapers and vinyl panties out in plain sight in their own rooms as well as in the nursery. If any of us wanted to wear a diaper for fun, that was fine and an adult or big sis would change us. By the time I did start wetting again I already found diapers comfy and the concept of a cold wet bed scary. Trust me, the second I woke the first time I wet my bed at age 12, and I must have become wide awake with just a little dribble, I was asking my Mom for a diaper. Within a couple of days she had coached me so I could pin my own diapers. Because of her open-diaper policy, there were several pair of vinyl panties in my size. Mom also ordered more of those right away. Between the first dribble and me learning to change myself I had been examined by my own pediatrician, a gynecologist and a urologist. Later when I started law school, the classes were so long I decided it was safer to wear diapers for class, and then I saw no reason to be undiapered for a date. I have worn 24/7 since then. I honestly believe knowing I will never need to pause my statements in court to use a toilet make me a far more effective litigator. The fact I sleep soundly diapers make me more productive and a better wife. Why should an incontinent person need to be embarrassed to say far from resenting my diapers, I embrace them as part of who I am. I am entitled to find some fun and pleasure. For me that is playing as an AB, but others might ignore the pacifiers and be DL. Why not? Baby Angel, aka Angela Bauer