Wearing Outside The House

[carsfan]

Hello! I have a few questions about cloth diapers that I couldn't find specifically answered in another thread apologies if this has been discussed previously.

I'm very intersed in trying out cloth diapers. If not for the price and the fact I live with other people I would have a long time ago. I get that what you wore as a baby might contribute to your preferences as an adult ie cloth vs disposables and I understand for bed wetters that cloth i soften a better optio.n I'm curous though how many folks out there if any ,who don't need diapers for medical reasons wear cloth by choice. If you do, do you wear cloth in public too or do you swicth to disposables for going outside?

Also, if you wear cloth diapers does that mean that you need to have a diaper pail? Or, is there some alternative method of holding dirty diapers I dont't know about.

Cheers

carsfan.

[Bettypooh]

My 'medical need' is very small but does exist. My emotional need is very large and I've been wearing 24/7 over two years now. I prefer pull-ups at work and for most 'daywear'. I use the toilet so I can get through the day at work without a change there, but not always the rest of the time. Nearing the end of the workday I may wet if I want to. I have had some bad days and needed to change at work. I always keep a change in the car and have access to it if needed

Occasionally I will wear cloth diapers away from home I've done this at least two dozen times: a few times while working and not around anyone else for long, and once when at Mom's for a family thing No problems wearing yet save for a couple times where I misjudged and leaked I usually wear pull-ups outside of home or the plastic-backed Depends.

With roomies it likely won't work for you but my cloth diapers get rinsed then put into the washer for a cold water soak till I do laundry (always within 24 hours). I run them through a rinse cycle then add the other clothes and soap to wash them all together- always only cold water No odors and everything comes out clean. I do have a 'diaper pail' but it's for holding disposables. It is a turquoise colored 5 gallon paint-style bucket and lid from WalMart which would do OK for cloth I guess

Were it not for the extra maintenance and the bulk when wearing I would wear cloth more often As it is they are my nighttime diaper mostly, with some Saturday and some evening wear at home. I want to keep my wearing private, but were that fact that I wear become widely known I would wear cloth diapers far more often as nothing else lets you feel the wetness like they do

Bettypooh

[willnotwill]

I usually don't wear cloth out, but I have. If I anticipate being out long enough to need a change, just bring a diaper bag with an extra plastic bag to bring back the dirties. I always carry extra kitchen bags in my diaper bag even with disposables from time to time you don't find a trash can in the bathrooms (damn electric hand driers).

[Craisler]

Cloth diapers can be worn away from home. About the only thing you need to be aware of is that they don't have the capacity of a disposable unless you wear a nighttime diaper. So, I typically wear them when I'll be returning home within a few hours.

Cloth diapers typically come in two different weights; daytime and nighttime. I find the daytime diapers can be safely used for 4-6 hours without any leakage problems. Nighttime diapers, by their nature, are heavier, bulkier, and have more capacity. They can easily be worn overnight with no leakage. However, I wouldn't try wearing them under my jeans during the day as they would be far more noticeable than daytime diapers.

Basically, cloth diapers are quite useful when you're not going to be away from home long enough to not need a change. Changing a cloth diaper means that you now have to store and transport the wet diaper until you get home. Often, there isn't any very convenient way of doing that unless you carry a diaper bag and zip lock bags to store the used diapers. Disposables are far more convenient on trip since you can just dispose of the used diapers in the nearest trash can.

Using cloth diapers, in general, means that you need a sealed container to store them until you do the laundry. I have large sealed kitchen garbage can that I use as a diaper pail. It can handle about 3-4 days of used diapers before I need to do the laundry. When traveling and using cloth diapers, I have a waterproof fabric bag (made out of waterproof pant type material) with a drawstring where I can store the used diapers. I usually wash the diapers every other day then.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Back inthe heyday of DPF, you could get some kind of powder to put in cloth diapers that would turn liquid into gek and extedn the time between chnages. I do not know if that is a good idea because if you put the material inside the daper, it will mean that the wet will not be absorbed or wicked away but anyway some DPF-ers swore by it

[Honu]

I wear cloth diapers at home and disposibles outside the house. Yes, I was put in cloth diapers, pins and baby pants as an infant, but I don't remember those days. Yes, my first thoughts of wanting diapers, to avoid the embarassment of wetting the bed, were of cloth diapers, pins and baby pants. All that in my past doesn't mean I'm stuck in the past. Infants today may also be in cloth diapers and while it may be pre-folds with pins and baby pants, it could also be pocket diapers, AI2s or other PUL based washable products because they are less expensive over time, easier on the environment (argueable and I don't want to take that on) and more "cute" on those babies. These are the products I have been hoping would cross over to our market, but haven't yet.

We wash diapers every morning. They are put in a plastic bucket that is open, but if you have a top loading washer, you could just put them straight in it and then do a prewash. We do general laundry once a week, on Saturday, after the diapers have been put in the dryer. Hope this helps!

[BabyJune]

I don't wear diapers out in public, but I do wear when walking between my mother's house and my house. I can only wash and dry the diapers in the privacy of my own house when my brother is there. That means I don't have a diaper pail; I wash and dry the diapers and waterproof pants right away and stash them in my basement storage room. I've worked outside wearing a diaper under my clothes--mowed the lawn, washed/waxed the car, and even painted the house. But I wouldn't take a chance driving anywhere or go into a store wearing a diaper. Too much of a risk of something going wrong.

[Bettypooh]

..... Too much of a risk of something going wrong.

Are there risks of 'something going wrong'? Certainly But there is far less risk than you think. I didn't plan on becoming 24/7 nor did I want it at first. I worried about the 'risks' terribly, but in time I have found them to be almost non-existent. Your mind blows your worries out of proportion and the bigger the worry the bigger the mind's exaggeration Being the bolder type, I decided to try 24/7 and see what happened- I sought the truth and had seen that many are 24/7 with no problems so I had to find out for myself After a couple 'discoveries' (including one rather blatantly obvious unwanted exposure) and a few leaks I discovered only after they happened, I have come to realize that the biggest problem with wearing 24/7 is in your head If you want to do it then do it. If not then don't. It's really that simple and with forethought you aren't going to have as many problems as your mind tells you that you will.

Sometimes a mind can be a terrible thing

Bettypooh

[clothbaby]

As a cloth diaper wearer for many years,I wear them out all the time. I use the daytime thickness.2-4-2,plastic panties with stretch at the waist womens jeans. No issues ever.

[rusty pins]

I usually wear disposable diapers when I go out. Like cloth diapers, disposables can be thin, or thick and noticable. It all depends on what you wear and how you wear them. Sometimes if I'm going to be gone out of town shopping or running errands all day, I will put on 2 disposables, one over the other, and maybe top them off with plastic pants. Yes, I am somewhat bulky, but when one diaper is wet, I can slide the other one down, take off the wet diaper and slide the outer diaper and plastic pants back up and have a new dry diaper already on and waiting. It saves a lot of time when having to change a diaper in a public restroom where someone may come in at any moment. Plus, sometimes people just like the feeling of extra bulk when out and about!

I have worn cloth diapers and plastic pants out and about a few times, especially when going fishing in my boat with a DL friend. We usually start with breakfast at IHOP at 6am, and last time we had to wait for them to open up. Naturally, we were the only 2 customers and I know I was very thickly diapered and bulky in heavy cloth diapers. Still, no one seemed to notice. My DL friend usually wears cloth diapers when we have lunch at the buffet. He has a way of layering several diapers so he has his protection where he needs it and washing and drying is a lot faster since it's several diapers thickly layered as opposed to just one really thick and heavy diaper. I can tell he has a diaper on under his jeans, but that is because I know he's wearing and I know what to look for, since I'm usually diapered too. No one else ever seems to notice he has diapers on, even the people he knows that he stops to talk with. And, like I say, he wears many layers of cloth diapers. As I said, it depends on how you diaper yourself and how thick your diapers are, plus what you wear over your diapers when out and about. Still, as has been said here many times, people are in there own little world. They never notice that someone may be wearing a diaper, even if they look bulky. Only other AB's and DL go around looking for it. People just don't even think that another adult may possibly be wearing a diaper. Unless you are AB or DL, that though dosn't even turn on the general public. Even if someone should notice a lot of bulk under your pants (and you would have to purpously diaper yourself so thickly that it would be very obvious), they would think you had a medical need and leave it at that. I can't be sure, but I think I'm pretty safe in saying that to the general public, the thought of some adult wearing diapers would be a bit of a turn off even knowing that they have an incontinence problem. Not something people would most likely comment on or say anything to you about. Now, if you do get a turn on by wearing thick bulky diapers out and about in public hoping other people will notice you, then you don't have to worry about the bulk of wearing cloth diapers out and about in the first place, since a reaction is something you are hoping for anyway!

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

I wear diapers 24/7 (incontinent) which means I wear outside the home daily. I use both cloth and disposables at work. Today I am wearing cloth. I've never had a problem. Wearing a concealer with a snap crotch helps as it keeps sagging to a minimum. I wear cloth the most but keep disposables on hand just in case I need a change at work or if I run out of clean cloth diapers.

[BabyJune]

Are there risks of 'something going wrong'? Certainly But there is far less risk than you think. I didn't plan on becoming 24/7 nor did I want it at first. I worried about the 'risks' terribly, but in time I have found them to be almost non-existent. Your mind blows your worries out of proportion and the bigger the worry the bigger the mind's exaggeration Being the bolder type, I decided to try 24/7 and see what happened- I sought the truth and had seen that many are 24/7 with no problems so I had to find out for myself After a couple 'discoveries' (including one rather blatantly obvious unwanted exposure) and a few leaks I discovered only after they happened, I have come to realize that the biggest problem with wearing 24/7 is in your head If you want to do it then do it. If not then don't. It's really that simple and with forethought you aren't going to have as many problems as your mind tells you that you will.

Sometimes a mind can be a terrible thing

Bettypooh

Let me explain about "something going wrong." Last May, I was trying to figure out a way to get a skirt and panties from my mother's house (my skirt and panties--not hers) to my house around the corner without anyone noticing. My brother lives in my house, so I'd have to sneak the clothes inside when he wasn't there. For safekeeping, I put the garments in the glove compartment of my 1972 Volkswagen. I took the car to work intending to park it in the garage when I got home and put the skirt and panties in their hiding place in the storage room at my house. As luck (bad) would have it, some idiot plowed into the back of the Bug and totaled the car. I couldn't drive it home, and the clothes were still in the glove compartment. So was my registration, which the police office needed to see. I had to quickly pull the bag of clothes out and shove them in my lunch box hoping that the officer wouldn't think I was trying to hide something illegal. Fortunately, he didn't see me stash the clothes in my lunch box before I handed him the registration and insurance papers. But now the saga continued. The tow truck driver gave me a ride home, but I had to go to my mother's house for dinner. That left a cute skirt and panties in my lunch box, which I had to sneak upstairs quickly and re-stash the clothes until I could figure out another way to get them back to my house. That's the type of risk I'm talking about. And that's why I'm very careful about what I wear--even secretly--and would never go to a store wearing a diaper or my little girl panties. Remember Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will.