Stroller

I usually just do it. The velcro on some washables makes even more noise! OK, if it's a quiet one, I do sometime wait until there's nobody next door, but I don't worry too much about it really. The more you do it, the less you worry.

There such a lot of labelling people with "conditions" and "syndromes" and treating them as medical or mental illnesses. But so much of it is just lifestyle choice if you look at it another way. "Dependence"? Well I'd only accept that as a label if I wanted or needed to give it up. Or if it was doing me harm. I drink alcohol and I want to keep doing that. Dependence? I'd resent having that label as I'm not harming myself or others in any meaningful way. I wear nappies and I want to keep doing that, and the same applies. What I don't have are underlying traumas that need treating in some way. I just have a different view of what I see as "normal for me" as others do for them. All part of life's rich tapestry as far as I'm concerned. How does it go in the Life of Brian? Brian: "You are all individuals". One lone voice in the crowd: "I'm not". Who wants to be the same as everyone else anyway? ?

Hi Flowering. Welcome to DD and welcome to nappies too!

Back on topic, more or less... What I find difficult to do is to remember to flush after I've changed myself in a bathroom. A real giveaway sometimes, particularly at home with visitors in the house.

We use a Protect-a-bed Premium. No idea just how waterproof it really is, as I've only ever had minor leaks so far. Mummy wouldn't put up with the discomfort of a plastic sheet, & I'm not sure I would either after the initial novelty of it. I've tried it in the past, and they're just too sweaty, even with a fabric mattress protector on top.

I'm home alone for the week as of this lunchtime, & now I'm watching the Sound of Music. Teddy's watching too. A bottle with white wine in it, my dummy in place (when I'm not drinking the wine). Not sure I'll be able to watch all of it before bedtime though. Looks like the Sound of Music has to be added to my list as well. Binkie's in his basket. These are a few of my favourite things...

I've still got a Meccano constructor outfit. It's not the same one I had as a kid - that got passed on to a younger boy when I was about 14, but I bought a bigger and better one when I was about 21. I've been to busy to do anything with it recently but it's part of my retirement plan, that's for sure. Just after I get my '50s jukebox back in action...

I'm a bit ahead of you along a similar path. So far, I've found that a cloth nappy doesn't hold as much as a disposable does, for the same bulk. I think I'll end up with three nappies per day, plus one at night. With disposables I can often get away with only two during the day. Trying that with cloth, I'm too liable to get leaks. A wrap-round cloth nappy is a lot less likely to leak than a disposable at night though - e.g. a kite-folded square or a fully shaped nappy with velcro closure. That's because there's padding round the hips too, which you don't get with disposables. You'll need a bucket or two, preferably with lids. Don't leave them more than 2 days from first wetting or they'll get too smelly. I wash everything on 60 deg Celcius, with a pre-wash. I don't soak the nappies beforehand. Read up about how to do it on the real baby websites that promote the use of cloth nappies - there are plenty about. By the way I only use cloth nappies for weeing in, so can't comment on how to clean up anything else!

My thoughts exactly!

No criticism implied - pronunciation always changes over time and distance and culture. And so it should. Anyway, we don't use the word over here much anyway ?

Geek report: Just checking my OED again, & it looks like historically the "a" wasn't silent in the UK. The preface to my edition was written in 1933, although compiling the dictionary took decades. Looks like the word came from ancient Greek and/or Latin.

Yeah. Not sure I'm quite meeting that at the moment ?. It felt good, but pride goes before a fall, & I had a leak. I think these Leakmaster contour nappies are too prone to leaking, & I'm going to be more careful about wearing them. They don't seem to wick well.

Yes, I used to find I'd return to nappies when I was stressed. And then when the stress had reduced, I'd gradually stop wearing. It's not like that now though, as I've become more accepting about what I am & what I need. I don't want to stop wearing any more, and I'm less stressed all the time now. Go with what you feel you need to feel better, just don't feel guilty about it. It works for me anyway.

That works for cloth nappies too. Got the Snappis just right today!

Of course - how could I have missed him out! And Peter Pan. That pesky crocodile still has me trying to hide behind the settee.

I made one, from an acrylic butt plug, with hand tools to shorten it & drill a hole. It works well. You're unlikely to manage a 1" hole unless you're already used to taking a fairly big plug. I'm not, & mine is about 3/4" I think (it's locked away in the garage at the moment so I can't measure it quickly). You need a plug that's about at your limit or it'll just come out. And you need to keep your poo soft. Going vegetarian does that for me anyway, but other solutions are available Not sure acrylic plugs are around these days - you can work acrylic with a wood saw, sandpaper, and a wood drill, as long as you don't let it get hot. Hence the hand tools, rather than electric. I've worn mine overnight a number of times without a problem, & my nappy usually fills automatically the next morning some time after I wake. True loss of control, which I love. Occasionally it blocks up if my poo's not soft enough, & then the plug tries to escape instead. A shorter plug is a lot more comfortable for long-term wear, for me anyway.

Loads of other stuff I watch because I'm not a grown-up yet. Harry Potter, Narnia, Sound of Music. An ancient pre-Monty Python kids comedy programme called "Do Not Adjust Your Set". The South Park Movie. But it's only Mary Poppins I have to be careful about watching as it's guaranteed to have me acting like a 2-year-old every time. Thumb in mouth, wanting my dummy, bottle or a booby. And I'm never going to watch it again without a nappy on, as I really wouldn't be happy.

I sometimes stick my tongue out at people. Only family though. And my thumb will creep into my mouth later in the evening.

Has to be Mary Poppins for me.

Hi Mike - welcome to DD!

When I can wear 24 hours a day (like now) then it'll be one overnight, & either 2 or 3 during the day. Depends on how much tea I drink & whether I go for a beer at some point. I seem to be managing without changing more often, even though I've largely switched to cloth nappies. More risk of leaks though, as I try to work out which nappies work best for me.

Difficult to answer this one. If you're not going to wet, then anything will work. If you're going to wet, then either you need to be able to change at work, or you need a solution that will hold a day's worth of wetting - 8 hours or so. Changing cloth nappies in a public lavatory is a tricky one, & you still need a nappy bag to store the wet one/s. To go for a full working day, a cloth nappy will be pretty bulky, so you'll need to be wearing baggy clothing. That can be done - I wore the same cloth nappy yesterday for 10 hours, went to the shop, walked Binkie (dog) for 5 miles, worked at the computer. I'm checking out various cloth nappies at the moment trying to find the best ones for me for daytime use. The only one I've found so far that I can wear for that length of time is a Contislip from Snuggleblanks.co.uk. This is a shaped cotton/microfleece nappy with a lot of velcro making it really secure. It's fairly bulky but comfortable enough. Yesterday it held 890ml without leaking - like I say I've been checking them out. I've no idea whether you can get anything quite like this in the US.

Napkin was correct, although outdated. Oxford English Dictionary: "A square piece of linen...used for other purposes [ie other than as a table napkin]; a small towel". Nappy is just a fairly recent diminutive form of napkin, that has now replaced the original word in the UK in the context of babies' nappies. It's not used over here for table napkins, which retain the original name. The name "diaper" comes from the fabric napkins were often made of, with a diamond (!) shaped pattern in the weave (OED again). The word was rarely used in the UK until recently if you weren't a stonemason, although adult disposables are starting to be marketed here as "diapers". Diapering features as decoration in old buildings here, again meaning diamond-shaped decoration.

Hmm, two nations separated again... Diamond doesn't have a silent a over here!

Some of us are luckier than others with what our skin will tolerate. I never have got rashes or skin problems much. That means I can get away with wearing wet cloth nappies most of the time. So far I've only got nappy rash once, & Sudocrem sorted that out quickly enough.