Strange days indeed - a 24 x 7 experiment

[oznl]

On 10/18/2019 at 3:01 AM, Little Sherri said:

Also, she sorted laundry from last week onto piles on our bed on Sunday night, and due to a knee injury that seems to be resolving itself, I hadn't gone to the gym in a week... so, there were precisely zero of my underwear in my pile of clothes. I'm not sure if she noted that or not - lately,  it's usually been maybe two or three pairs, corresponding to my two or three gym visits a week, and she hasn't said anything about that. Maybe she thinks I'm turning them inside out and getting an extra day out of them? 

Mine definitely noticed that.  There's only gym underwear these days and on the one week where I'd over-looked removing it from the gym bag I was promptly quizzed by her if my nappy thing was "getting even weirder" with me wearing them to gym as she'd seen zero underwear in the wash.

[Little Sherri]

On 10/18/2019 at 8:34 PM, oznl said:

Mine definitely noticed that.  There's only gym underwear these days and on the one week where I'd over-looked removing it from the gym bag I was promptly quizzed by her if my nappy thing was "getting even weirder" with me wearing them to gym as she'd seen zero underwear in the wash.

My spouse is generally pretty observant; I guess I should conclude that she's probably noted the phenomenon. Side note: I went fishing this past weekend with a buddy, and he wanted to head out onto a lake at 5 am and stay there for like 10 hours - he's much more into fishing than I am. I was wondering how to blend wearing a slim diaper seamlessly into standing on an 18 foot boat with somebody for 10 hours without having to change it, or, having "nappy butt" if I wore a serious diaper, or, it being noted when I unhitched my onesie and pulled down my diaper for the traditional pee off the side. However, the weather cooperated, and it was about 3 degrees when we headed out, so I wore snow pants, which meant I could wear a big diaper, without worry that it would peak up over my waistband, or that the bulk of it would be visible. I don't think he noticed that I didn't go for a leak during the 12 hours we were in tight quarters...

[Stroller]

My wife notices everything.  Always.  I don't try to hide anything much, as it doesn't work anyway.  She must know I've got no underwear any more, even though I do all the washing.  Nobody else ever notices anything, although our elder daughter tends to spot things too, so the excrement could hit the ventilator at some point with her.  She's grown up now though.

Addendum: mind you, my (real) elderly mother has noticed I don't seem to use the toilet when I visit, so occasionally I disappear in there for a minute, flush & come out again.  That's about as far as my deception has gone.

[oznl]

Most of this week I spent interstate on another trip.  The good news is that travel budgets are nearly exhausted at this point in our business year and I can see only two, perhaps three more domestic travel trips before 2019 is done. 

The dreaded “body scanners” are coming to Australian domestic airports.  I’ve seen them.  On arrival at my destination airport I had some time before meeting a colleague coming in from a different city.  I wandered over to Terminal 4 to check out the new 3D x-ray and body-scanners that were being trialled there.  Sure enough, massive, TSA-style lines with security staff cheerfully pulling around 25% of passengers for pat-downs and re-scans whilst other security staff shouted at the passengers still in lines as though this mess was all their fault:  the future of Australian domestic aviation it seems.  A handful of mad, blood-thirsty idiots besotted by an invisible friend inflicts misery and inconvenience (at varying severity) upon millions and for what...

As a frequent flyer, this will be a serious challenge for me.  Evidence has shown already that the “cranked up to max” scanners used by regulation-happy Australian authorities will detect even a dry nappy, pulling the hapless wearer in for screening.  Upon arriving for my return flight, I’m wet as it’s the end of a day and I plan to change in the Qantas Club.  Presumably this strategy will go out the window and I’ll face the dilemma of separating myself from colleagues for a pre-security-clearance nappy change at the airport, somehow, and then get groped anyway…

Anyway, this trip itself went smoothly enough.

I was reminded that paradoxically, an “XL” sized Gary waterproof PUL pant is more inclined to permit minor leaks around the leggings than a smaller “L” sized one.  I suspect the smaller size does a better job of keeping my nappy pressed up against me thus minimising alternate exits for wee.  As I had both sizes with me, I just switched and all was well.

On the last night in the hotel, I managed a pretty good job of flooding my night Molicare and thoroughly dampening the terry lining of my waterproofs covering them (this is what happens when you spend the evening in a pub with another DD member drinking pints).  I would have struggled to get them dry before another night without attracting hotel maid attention.

Arriving home last night, I gratefully collapsed into bed for nearly 3 hours sleep before at 2am, an enormous “boom!” followed by the whiff of burning electrical componentry and a sudden loss of power had me leaping from the bed to assume familial command in an emergency.

Running around the property with a high powered LED torch at night,  looking for the electrical fire, shouting instructions back to a concerned wife, and then going outside to progressively isolate circuits, half trouble-shooting, half to defend electrical appliances against the mysterious brown-out, it was only later that I realised that I was doing all of this in a rather thick, wet cloth nappy that wasn’t particularly well concealed with a broad swathe of plastic pant visible above my pyjama shorts.

Oh well.  It was pretty dark.

I figured out that the AC transformer on a power pole near our house had exploded, leaving the strong burning smell and about 80 volts of residual AC to make most appliances dark, others work erratically with that lighting that WAS still working, flickering alarmingly.  I was able to eventually convince the electricity company that it was their infrastructure and not my house that was smouldering and at around 4am, we got a shiny new street transformer and our power back.  It seems like they don’t have telemetry on their network down to a street level in my area.

Of course, my usual body trick of “you’re up now so it’s wakey time” had kicked in and so that was it for Thursday’s night sleep.

[Little Sherri]

10 hours ago, oznl said:

Running around the property with a high powered LED torch at night,  looking for the electrical fire, shouting instructions back to a concerned wife, and then going outside to progressively isolate circuits, half trouble-shooting, half to defend electrical appliances against the mysterious brown-out, it was only later that I realised that I was doing all of this in a rather thick, wet cloth nappy that wasn’t particularly well concealed with a broad swathe of plastic pant visible above my pyjama shorts.

Wow - I have had that happen before, in a previous house, where a transformer on the street exploded with an ear-splitting bang and then started spewing sparks. It wouldn't happen in my current neighbourhood (pun intended), because all of the electrical is buried. Or, it would just happen underground? Anyway, I haven't experienced a transformer explosion in the 10 years I've been here. But, in general, this is one of my worries. I have had to leap out of bed and throw shorts on over my nappy when the dog starts throwing up at 3 am, or when a thunder storm starts up and my younger daughter appears in the doorway like an apparition in the dark and requests sanctuary, but some kind of emergency outdoors takes it to the next level, particularly in a cloth diaper, which doesn't fool the eye as effectively as a disposable, at least in my experience. High five, @oznl. 

As an aside, I haven't worn a cloth diaper in front of my wife yet - I have slept next to her in one a few times but I haven't had occasion to be in one for an extended period while she's been in the house. Part of my concern is that she, ever practical, will suggest that I don't need to buy so many disposables, and with diapers, I am a bit like a woman with purses and shoes - I like to have a bunch of different ones in inventory. Diaper X is perfect for situation Y, diaper Z is better suited to situation M, and also, sometimes I just feel like wearing something for no logical reason I can ordain. I treat diapers more like craft beer than like one's brand of cigarettes, although I know I'm taking chances, so I'm always conservative wearing an untested brand. 

[nappylover78]

2 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

and with diapers, I am a bit like a woman with purses and shoes - I like to have a bunch of different ones in inventory. Diaper X is perfect for situation Y, diaper Z is better suited to situation M, and also, sometimes I just feel like wearing something for no logical reason I can ordain. I treat diapers more like craft beer than like one's brand of cigarettes, although I know I'm taking chances, so I'm always conservative wearing an untested brand. 

I'm definitely like that as well! Although I have a few main brands, I do like the variety and the choice, and to just be able to decide what kind of nappy I feel like wearing. After all, non-nappy-wearers don't have all their underwear exactly the same, do they?

[Stroller]

56 minutes ago, nappylover78 said:

I'm definitely like that as well! Although I have a few main brands, I do like the variety and the choice, and to just be able to decide what kind of nappy I feel like wearing. After all, non-nappy-wearers don't have all their underwear exactly the same, do they?

I'm not particularly like that though.  When I wore underpants I wasn't too worried what they looked like, just how comfortable they were to wear.  They weren't all the same, but I wasn't really bothered whether they were or not.  I'm still like that with my nappies.  I tried a load of different ones to find what worked for me, then I stuck with them.  What do I wear now?  Well, two different types of cloth nappy, and at the moment 3 different types of disposables plus some pullups - I only wear disposables when I haven't got access to a washing machine.  I'll only try different ones if I'm looking for something that's functionally different.

[ozziebee]

Don't worry Oz - a high-powered torch renders the person behind it almost invisible, from the glare of the bright light rendering the observer almost blind.  What a fun experience though!

[oznl]

21 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

But, in general, this is one of my worries. I have had to leap out of bed and throw shorts on over my nappy when the dog starts throwing up at 3 am, or when a thunder storm starts up and my younger daughter appears in the doorway like an apparition in the dark and requests sanctuary, but some kind of emergency outdoors takes it to the next level, particularly in a cloth diaper, which doesn't fool the eye as effectively as a disposable, at least in my experience.

 

Well, one daughter has already fled the nest but next daughter (19) so was woken by the explosion but chose not to leave the comfort of her boudoir because "if it was important, you would have knocked..."   I've already had the "assume your parents have already succumbed to CO toxicity so you should save yourself" conversation upon previous (false) household fire alarms but apparently there is no point in tweeting about those kind of conclusions so why bother...

10 hours ago, ozziebee said:

Don't worry Oz - a high-powered torch renders the person behind it almost invisible, from the glare of the bright light rendering the observer almost blind.  What a fun experience though!

Yep.  That is 100% true, it's a 10w LED CREE torch that has, on previous occasions, kept neighbors pinned to their walls in dazzled confusion until they've established their identities but if it HAD been a structure fire,  i'd have been severely caught short in the underwear department at some later point...

 

[oznl]

I woke up early this Sunday morning to again find my night nappy thoroughly wet with me having absolutely zero recollection of having wet it.

I’ve no idea if I wet whilst asleep or, stirred to do it during the night but woke insufficiently to actually create any memory of it.  I suspect the latter but I’ve no evidence one way or the other.

This has happened a handful of times now.  Bedwetting was never a particular goal although I was well aware it was on the cards.  This experience would seem to contradict a lot of anecdotal evidence that daytime incontinence is the antecedent behaviour to unconscious night wetting.

The bottom line (no pun intended) is the same: I awake with an empty or near-empty bladder and can just drift off back to sleep for my Sunday lie-in without waking myself properly by getting up.  On the down side, I find the sensation of wetting to be vaguely pleasant and of course in this scenario, I missed it.

[ozziebee]

I had a dream the other night that was so lucid, I was dreaming I was wetting my nappy, waking up from that dream to realise I was actually in the middle of wetting, getting so excited about it, but realising I'm still dreaming, and then waking up fully from all the excitement to suddenly realise it was petering out, and wondering to myself "did I just have a pee dream?"

The majority of times when I get a night-time urge, the uncomfortable pressures and pain wake me up enough that I immediately release the flood gates.  

I have recently started to wake up a few times in the morning to "Oh, I don't recall waking up to wet.  Oh! I have a dry nappy!!".  Nope, the flood gates open on waking, and my seemingly dry nappy and night, is now quite wet...

[oznl]

22 hours ago, ozziebee said:

I had a dream the other night that was so lucid, I was dreaming I was wetting my nappy, waking up from that dream to realise I was actually in the middle of wetting, getting so excited about it, but realising I'm still dreaming, and then waking up fully from all the excitement to suddenly realise it was petering out, and wondering to myself "did I just have a pee dream?"

The majority of times when I get a night-time urge, the uncomfortable pressures and pain wake me up enough that I immediately release the flood gates.  

I have recently started to wake up a few times in the morning to "Oh, I don't recall waking up to wet.  Oh! I have a dry nappy!!".  Nope, the flood gates open on waking, and my seemingly dry nappy and night, is now quite wet...

I too went through a stage of having "pee dreams".  I had anticipated that these might become more frequent or even default but in fact, they melted away but that wasn't because I was serially bedwetting.  The possible-bedwetting incidents are quite isolated, weeks apart.  There are probably more frequent incidents of me waking up to find myself wetter than I think I should be.  That is a more common scenario but it's impossible to deduce exactly if sleep wetting occurred. 

It's been months since I had a "pee dream" I think. The couple of times I have woken inexplicably wet, I've been unable to recall any dreams.

There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern either.  Saturday night I went to bed and the next thing I know, it was Sunday morning and I was wet.  Sunday night I went to bed and I can clearly remember stirring three or four times during the night and wetting myself a little each time.

I've never experienced involuntary wetting on wakening.  I don't need to pee on wakening but I think that's because I've periodically gone through the night and my bladder is fairly empty.

[Little Sherri]

 

14 hours ago, oznl said:

It's been months since I had a "pee dream" I think. The couple of times I have woken inexplicably wet, I've been unable to recall any dreams.

I have had a handful of diaper-related dreams, not very many but a few, and they pretty much all had the same theme - I had just a diaper on down below, and I was out in my car for some reason, and something happened that required me to get out of my car, in a busy public space, and I had a moment of panic, but the circumstances were such that I had no choice. I had a series of these in a row over the course of a couple of weeks a few months ago, and none since. I have never had a dream that involved peeing in my diaper, which is curious, because I have had dreams about peeing, though very infrequently, but in the dream, it is usually occurring either outdoors somewhere, such as into bushes, or, in a bathroom. Whenever I have had a dream about peeing, it has almost invariably resulted in a wet bed, which is why it seems strange to me that I haven't had such a dream while wearing a diaper to bed, since I've slept in diapers for over two years now. On the rare occasion when I've woke up with a wet diaper that I have no recollection of deliberately wetting, I haven't recalled any dreams about wetting, wearing diapers, or anything else. 

[oznl]

An update largely for the sake of having an update really.  It’s been an uneventful week without travel, significant leaks, marital strife or indeed anything to speak of.

Work has been stressful.  Layoffs and restructures (yet again).  “Spill and fills”, intrigue, org charts with less squares, whispered corridor conversations, all part and parcel of life in a multinational corporation “clearing out the dead wood” for Christmas.  So far I’m still there.  There will be a lull over Christmas and a next wave in early 2020.

I wonder if my nappies are working to lower my anxiety.  It’s hard to tell.  As a 50-something white male breadwinner (aka “dead wood” to a younger, “woke” HR), there ARE significant anxiety levels at all of this.  To tell you the truth at times I barely notice my nappy now but still the thought of not wearing one fills me with nothing but dismay so logically, I must still be happier in them.

Last night was another of those nights where I woke up a lot wetter than I thought I should be.  I went to bed late after some quantity of alcohol (dinner party) and fell asleep dry.  I remember waking around 2am and peeing a bit.  I woke to get up around 7:30am.  Again, there was relatively little pee stored but upon changing, my night nappy was actually pretty wet.

Seven months contiguous 24/7 next week…

[Little Sherri]

Congrats on almost seven contiguous months, and congrats (I guess) on nocturnal auto-wetting; we've talked about this before - it's a strange thing indeed to offer someone congratulations on, but, when it happens, it feels like both a disturbing breakdown, and, somehow, an accomplishment. I consider myself one of your students - I don't think I would be on my path if I hadn't encountered your thread. 

I'm pretty sure my nappies work to quell my anxiety. Though sometimes they are also the source, for example, my recent conundrum about wearing nappies in a hotel room shared with a relative stranger - how could I get through that without wearing nappies? It's like an Escher drawing. 

As to the "woke" HR department, I am wondering when they will wake up to the reality of ageism being as valid an "ism" as any of the others that need to be rooted out, although, in saying that, I am aware that I sound like one of those hand-wringing Christian's decrying that "These days, Christians are the only minority group you're allowed to publicly denigrate", while living in a country where Christmas and Easter are national holidays, and there is still an entire branch of the public school system handed over to Catholics. Yes, 75% of upper management are older white men. But the bell tolls for us, the middle-aged white men with aspirations of climbing another couple of rungs before being put out to pasture. Luckily, where I am, for now, anyway, what you know and can demonstrably accomplish seems to be valued more than what you represent demographically, which means I could someday end up with an accomplished female boss who's ten years younger than me, but still be able to feel that I'm a valued member of the team, "living wood", in theory. 

[oznl]

As I head off into month 8 as of yesterday, I was trying to think of some kind of meaningful update.  I was originally planning to point out that I have developed sufficient nappy-competency to travel through a working week leak-free.

Never do this.

The first warning shot was a Wednesday damp patch about half the size of a dollar bill on my left lower buttock at the lower line of my plastic pants.  I only noticed when I stood to leave for the gym towards the end of the day.  I suppose I’d been quite well hydrated that day and some of it had, well, just seeped out really.  Why?  Just because.  This happens.  No biggie.  The damp spot on my pants was barely noticeable, it was changing time and my pants dried during my work-out.

Having survived the starter, the main course was more substantial.  Later that evening I was home in my evening nappy, alone (fortunately) downstairs watching TV thinking about changing for bed.  I peed a bit.  That happens quite a lot.  It’s not automatic but nor does it require any thought or effort.  As nature took its course, the ensuing warmth down there seemed somehow, free-ranging.  Then I noticed that my left hip was wet.  That’s odd.  Maybe I’m imagining it.  No I’m not.

It was time for my shorts to go into the washer and to get some paper towels to deal with the chair-puddle.

It was just another of those random things.  My nappy was already wet of course but not saturated.  Things must have just been at a funny angle down there and pee just ran my crotch and out onto my thigh (reclining chairs).  I typically don’t wear plastic pants over my evening nappy because it’s not on me long enough to be risky (which sounds a lot better reason than “can’t be @rsed”).  Without that insurance policy, I managed to wet my pants and my chair instead of the inside of my waterproofs.  Fortunately, it’s a leather chair and can be easily dampened and wiped.  That I returned to our boudoir clad only in a T-shirt and a fresh night nappy (sans shorts) attracted no attention as she was fast asleep.

I’m traveling all week next week, ruefully contemplating lugging a large suitcase to accommodate the 14 – 15 nappies I will have to take with me.  At least I have plenty to choose from.  I picked up another case of BetterDry this week and my order for Molicares came in.  Additionally, I’ve orders some ID Slip Maxi as they were on sale and I’m curious to see if they are effective.  They are less expensive than the Molicare slip Maxi but have a higher absorbency rating.  They may be a cheaper/better night nappy option.  I’m not going to road-test a new nappy in a hotel though.

[Little Sherri]

How do you like the BetterDry's, @oznl? I have a bag of Crinklz, which I understand to be identical to BetterDrys, except for the print. It took me a while to get used to the tape-over-a-tap re-fastening system that they use, but once I got that down, I really liked them. Let me know as well which version of the Molicare's you bought, and what you think of them; I haven't had much experience with Molicare, but there is a local supplier here who has good prices on cases.

I'm in the same boat you are when it comes to travel; I generally bring all the nappies I think I will need with me, rather than trying to source some where ever I am going, because of the abysmal state of nappy options in most pharmacies and supermarkets generally. The one exception was my trip to Europe this summer - I would have had to bring an entire second suitcase, at a notable expense, to bring as many as I would have wanted to have, so I brought enough for a few days, and then reluctantly turned to the French store chain Auchan, where I found a passable store-brand diaper that I could reasonably push to about the 50% level before making a prudent safety swap. 

I have not, up to now, worn plastic pants over my nappy when I'm out of the house, because I find them too bulky, but I know from experience that I am definitely letting some diaper capacity go unused during the day, and I am also playing diaper roulette. Up to now, most of the leaks I have had have been minor and easy to conceal, but, I know a day of reckoning is coming. However, I would have to re-purchase my business wardrobe one size larger if I wanted to make plastic pants a part of my daily routine, so I only intermittently wear them, and only around the house, generally, or in bed. 

[Stroller]

16 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

I have not, up to now, worn plastic pants over my nappy when I'm out of the house, because I find them too bulky, but I know from experience that I am definitely letting some diaper capacity go unused during the day, and I am also playing diaper roulette. Up to now, most of the leaks I have had have been minor and easy to conceal, but, I know a day of reckoning is coming. However, I would have to re-purchase my business wardrobe one size larger if I wanted to make plastic pants a part of my daily routine, so I only intermittently wear them, and only around the house, generally, or in bed. 

I'm in cloth nappies most of the time, but even when I'm in disposables I still wear plastic pants over the top.  Mine are thin polyurethane, which is not bulky at all, and they're still pretty strong and long-lasting.  A lot better than vinyl in my view.

[oznl]

Back from a whole week of business travel but more on that later...

On 11/12/2019 at 4:17 AM, Little Sherri said:

How do you like the BetterDry's, @oznl? I have a bag of Crinklz, which I understand to be identical to BetterDrys, except for the print. It took me a while to get used to the tape-over-a-tap re-fastening system that they use, but once I got that down, I really liked them. Let me know as well which version of the Molicare's you bought, and what you think of them; I haven't had much experience with Molicare, but there is a local supplier here who has good prices on cases.

Well firstly, I’d have to confess that left to my own devices, like Stroller, I’d probably wear cloth but practicality, odor control and marital status dictate otherwise…

The BetterDry came about through operational necessity: I needed a diaper that would reliably and repeatedly last through 8 – 9 hours of office wear without failure or at least egregious leaking.  After a miserable few days trying to hold Tena Maxi to their marketing hype, @ozziebeestepped in and suggested the BetterDry and she was absolutely correct.  They are an all-day-diaper.

To wear, they are very comfortable, almost voluptuous, wet or dry.  It’s a bit like having your own personal cushion down there and have made me reconsider my derision for disposables.  Eventually, they will leak at the rear of my thighs though.  I suspect this is because they become very heavy after a lot of use, start to sag and eventually, the pee molecules form an escape committee and a few, during a release, make it over the side into my waterproofs before they can be absorbed. 

One of the more challenging aspects of the BetterDry is its remarkable expansionist tendencies when wet.  I actually wear a compression garment over my plastic pants and nappy which serves to both quieten down any nappy noise but also to make it look less like I’ve stuffed a dead wombat in my pants at the latter part of the day.

There are TWO variants of Molicare that I use.  The first is an el-cheapo “slip maxi” finished in an unattractive duck-egg blue.  I use these stand-alone as my ‘evening at home’ diaper and at night under a terry-lined insurance policy.  They are, well, ok…   They work as described but can feel and sound a little bit like wearing a supermarket plastic bag stuff full of scrunched up newspaper.  They need to be used with NASA-precision body positioning to prevent leaks sometimes.  

The second Molicare variant is the more up-market “premium slip maxi” (white diaper).  This has some BetterDry characteristics insofar as it is almost decadently comfortable to wear, wet or dry.  It has more capacity than the “maxi” but it’s not as good as the BetterDry.  I tend to use these on longer evening shifts that may involve beer.  Over here, the price differential between the “maxi” and the “premium slip maxi” is miniscule and I might just live large and ditch the maxi altogether in favour of the premium.  As I always wear plastic pants over my nappy, the relative insecurity of the cloth-like outer liner doesn’t bother me.

Both types of Molicare share one Homer Simpson trait: they will disintegrate in the face of a hard day’s work.  At the end of a day’s suburban yard-toil, I often find that I’ve been wetting a piece of plastic covering my crotch whilst the padding has all taken refuge down between my legs somewhere.

 

On 11/12/2019 at 4:17 AM, Little Sherri said:

I'm in the same boat you are when it comes to travel; I generally bring all the nappies I think I will need with me, rather than trying to source some where ever I am going, because of the abysmal state of nappy options in most pharmacies and supermarkets generally. The one exception was my trip to Europe this summer - I would have had to bring an entire second suitcase, at a notable expense, to bring as many as I would have wanted to have, so I brought enough for a few days, and then reluctantly turned to the French store chain Auchan, where I found a passable store-brand diaper that I could reasonably push to about the 50% level before making a prudent safety swap. 

 

Yes.  This week was early morning Monday until Friday late afternoon which mean large suitcase/few clothes/empty on return trip.  If I remain diapered (and remain employed), I will probably face a USA trip next year which will force some kind of in-flight refuelling diaper-wise.  I'll look at my options later on.  The store brand diapers I've seen at Walgreens etc are dismal.

On 11/12/2019 at 4:17 AM, Little Sherri said:

I have not, up to now, worn plastic pants over my nappy when I'm out of the house, because I find them too bulky, but I know from experience that I am definitely letting some diaper capacity go unused during the day, and I am also playing diaper roulette. Up to now, most of the leaks I have had have been minor and easy to conceal, but, I know a day of reckoning is coming. However, I would have to re-purchase my business wardrobe one size larger if I wanted to make plastic pants a part of my daily routine, so I only intermittently wear them, and only around the house, generally, or in bed. 

 

Ok, this one has me scratching my head.  What on earth are you wearing in terms of "plastic pants" that would necessitate up-sizing your clothing?  Lego ones?

 

Putting aside the (admittedly slightly bulky) terry-lined waterproofs that I use over disposables at night, a basic pair of plastic pants for me has been an essential ingredient in making 24/7 wearing viable. 

There’d be just too many damp patches in my life.  Maybe I’m doing it wrong.

 

For sure, with a serious leak, a plastic pant is going to at best simply delay the inevitable (unless it is terry lined in which case it could also trigger upscaling of your outer-wear due to bulk) but it seems that for me there are near constant minor “damp bits” around leggings for which my plastic pants save the day.

The term “plastic pant” itself is a bit of a misnomer.  My default day-wear waterproof pants are actually Gary PUL (polyurethane laminate) ones.  These might be similar to what @Stroller is using.  Pure polyurethane pants do exist however but they are noisy, at least the pair I have are.  In contrast, PUL are (somewhat) breathable, quiet, comfortable to wear but still have the Polyurethane benefit of amazing toughness and longevity.  I'm yet to wear a pair out.  They seem to work better with a slightly tight fit so I wear large rather than XL. Over cloth I will wear more traditional vinyl waterproofs.  If I’m in a cloth nappy I’ve largely abandoned visual discretion anyway so it hardly seems to be any point fretting about plastic pant noises.

Over a disposable at night I will wear a (bulky) terry-lined vinyl pant (Babykins usually although Gary make them too).  With those, stretchy pajama pants to comfort dear wife or on my own, don't bother wearing anything over them.

 

 

[Stroller]

1 hour ago, oznl said:

The term “plastic pant” itself is a bit of a misnomer.  My default day-wear waterproof pants are actually Gary PUL (polyurethane laminate) ones.  These might be similar to what @Stroller is using.  Pure polyurethane pants do exist however but they are noisy, at least the pair I have are.  In contrast, PUL are (somewhat) breathable, quiet, comfortable to wear but still have the Polyurethane benefit of amazing toughness and longevity.  I'm yet to wear a pair out.  They seem to work better with a slightly tight fit so I wear large rather than XL. Over cloth I will wear more traditional vinyl waterproofs.  If I’m in a cloth nappy I’ve largely abandoned visual discretion anyway so it hardly seems to be any point fretting about plastic pant noises.

In my case they really are plastic pants, fully waterproof, thin, very quiet, and hard-wearing.  They're polyurethane, not PUL.  I suppose I get through about half a dozen pairs a year.  I tried various options, but when I found these there was no going back for me.  Far more comfortable than any vinyl pants I've ever worn.  They're UK-made: http://www.arizona-care.co.uk/PUpants.htm

[WBxx]

I’ve been using a similar pant (night only) for about year.  To my ears they have a faint rustle which along with feel remind me of genuine rubber pants I wore as a child.

http://www.fetware.com/wick-ultraflex-polyurathane-pants-p-6.html

 

[oznl]

Back last night from an entire week of travel, starting with a conference at a marina resort about 200km north of Sydney and finishing with meetings down in Melbourne. 

From a nappy-logistics perspective, everything went according to plan: I suffered no major leaks, stayed within budget on nappy consumption, left my emergency nappies untouched and avoided embarrassing myself at all venues at which I stayed.

Whilst the resort had miniscule bins and restricted privacy, the marina it was built on had a dizzying array of large wheelie-bins for the moored boats.  Basking in the midday summer sun filled with discarded picnic food and fishing detritus, there was nothing my nappies could do to make their smell any worse and I had no guilt about leveraging them.

A strange thing happened on the Monday afternoon however.  As a kind of consolation prize for the 2 days of powerpoint-based-haranguing we were to endure at the conference, we were taken out on a yacht for a three hour cruise (insert the Gilligan’s Island reference of your choice here).  This was no problem.  I’d changed out of my flight nappy into a BetterDry just before we left and I was comfortable that this would easily last the cruise and follow on dinner by the pool.

Despite the horrendous amount of smoke in the air (there are enormous bushfires in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland right now), the yacht cruise was very pleasant.  The wind off the water was cool, conditions were reasonably calm but with enough breeze to travel under sail.  The scenery was gorgeous, the dolphins were jumping at the bow of the boat and the tab running at the bar below deck was unlimited.

We dropped anchor in a small bay where those who wanted, could swim.  A director-who-should-know-better, with plenty of beers on board had decided that I should swim with him (and the bull sharks that he was too pissed to have noticed) and announced his intent to throw me over the side.  

In a BetterDry that would have made for an interesting re-boarding.  Fortunately, a sharp-ish word and a death-stare after he persisted persuaded him otherwise.

For the hour or so sailing back to the marina, I was sitting on an awkwardly shaped plastic bench on the front deck, drinking beers with colleagues.  I was a little wet but not particularly so.  I’d had quite a few of the free beers and I was beginning to wonder where they were going as there was no sign of them reappearing in my underwear.  I’d become aware of a need to pee but nothing seemed to be happening.  I assumed that the bench was compressing my urethra and all would resolve when I stood up.

Upon mooring, as I was leaving the boat I realised I had, for the first time I could recall since going 24/7, a rather strong urge to pee.  As I alighted though, nothing seemed to happen.  This was strange.  At this stage of nappy habituation, I can pee effortlessly whilst walking or in pretty much any other position.  I walked all the way back to my villa unit but despite the protests from my bladder, things were “stuck”.  By the time I got inside, I was experiencing waves of pretty serious urges.  Since my nappy had to last until bedtime, the magnitude of pee urges was telling me that I must have at least 3,000 gallons in my tortured bladder, and I was in my hotel room, I decided that I’d break my rule and use the toilet.

I pulled down the front of my nappy in front of the toilet and waited, waited some more and waited again, all the time, my bladder yelling in protest with waves of spasms.  Still nothing happened.  I felt the metallic taste of adrenalin in my mouth and wondered if I was facing some kind of medical emergency but at last, a couple of drops appeared, followed by a spurt and a couple more drops but that’s all I could muster.  I stood there for maybe a minute watching an anaemic drip and dribbling whilst my bladder spasmed painfully.  This must have been going on for nearly a minute when a colleague knocked on the door for me to join him heading down to dinner.  I couldn’t afford any more time for this so pulling my pants back up, I left with him for dinner, still dripping and dribbling in my nappy along the way.

It took ages (well, probably several minutes) before I realised my bladder wasn’t hurting and by the warmth and weight in my pants, I was probably done.

I’ve no idea what happened.  It had been 218 days since I’d made any effort at bladder control and I certainly haven’t tried any since then in case I don’t like what I find.

[Little Sherri]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:24 AM, oznl said:

Ok, this one has me scratching my head.  What on earth are you wearing in terms of "plastic pants" that would necessitate up-sizing your clothing?  Lego ones?

Regrettably, my plastic pants collection betrays my stone-age understanding of the technologies available. And the term "collection" is an exaggeration in itself; I only have four pairs. All the ones I have are of vinyl construction. I have, it would seem, at least in so far as the diaper world is concerned, unusually large legs, such that, in most brands of disposables, I would be a medium in waist size, but inevitably, I won't be able to pull the bottom tape or tapes over far enough if I went with a medium, so I purchase the large size. In plastic pants, I sometimes have to go with an extra large size, in order for the leg cuffs not to become tourniquets resulting in embarrassing end-of-day gangrene. Case in point: I ordered a pair of blue vinyl plastic pants from Rearz in size large, only to discover that the leg cuffs would barely go over my upper arms, let along my thighs. I may have to go to a 2XL in these. But other than the leg cuffs, they are voluminous in every other respect, as is the case with the others I own - the fit over diapers of any description, including the very bulky cloth diapers I have. So, under a heavy trouser, such as an over-sized pair of jeans, they kind of disappear, but under work pants, which are generally made of a lighter material, wearing them would probably result in a topographical map of weird creases on my backside, I suspect.  

I should look for some PUL-type pants, but I am wary of having to engage in two or three failed $30 experiments before finding a style and size that would work for me. 

[oznl]

Here is some news that I can only deliver “after the fact” because in some bizarre case of “quantum-indeterminacy-meets-nappy-usage”, any thought of reporting on this whilst it is still underway seems to negate the outcome:

(Drum-roll….)

 I have just completed an entire week with absolutely zero nappy leakage! 

(wild applause)

I do believe that this may be the first 100% leak-free week of the year (week 43 YTD) and by reporting it, I shall probably awaken tomorrow to find myself cold and damp, 6 feet up a tree in an adjacent suburb having been swept away in a tsunami of last night’s wee.

Although some hard-won experience on how to put them on effectively and which brands work best may have something to do with this success, doubtless another factor is that my bladder capacity seems quite small now and so I pee little and often: a scenario that seems to work well with my nappies as they quite like the chance of getting used to things gradually.

In the only other notable event in this otherwise-uneventful 24/7 padded week has been watching my long-suffering wife tie herself in logistical knots attempting to avoid looking at me in just a nappy.

An afternoon office event earlier in the week meant that I could not get to gym for a change and shower and so I found myself arriving home from work floating in a rather wet (and rather swollen) BetterDry (and yet I did not leak!).  Consequentially and unusually, I needed a diaper change and a shower immediately upon returning from work.  My wife had arrived home at roughly the same time.  She agreed that my need for the shower was probably greater than hers and so, grabbing a fresh nappy and some non-work clothes, I retreated to our ensuite bathroom.

Not so many minutes later, I emerged rinsed, dried, sudo-creamed, re-diapered and re-dressed before flopping down on our bed under the ceiling fan.  A soaked BetterDry the size of a dead Ibis was balled up and stuffed in my nappy hamper to be given a state funeral at a later date.

She was still cluttering around somewhere outside our bedroom.  I was asking questions about her day and she was shouting replies from the far end of the building.  After this long-distance shout-versation  had gone on for a while, I called out that “the bathroom is free if you want it?”.

“Oh” she called back.  “I didn’t realise you were done”.  Well, she must have known I wasn’t in the shower.  I could talk to her.  She came back up the hall but paused at the doorway and visually checked me out before entering.  Apparently satisfied with my state, she then proceeded to the bathroom.

I’m fairly sure she was trying hard to avoid encountering me during a nappy change or potentially just with exposed nappies and the quick visual check was to ensure the coast was clear.

I do wonder how realistic an ambition for her to never to see my nappies in her lifetime would be.  Especially since I’ve long since stopped bothering to hide them within the relative privacy of our bedroom and en-suite.  The next day’s plastic pants and sometimes the next morning’s nappy are usually on top of my clothes hamper in the walk-in-robe before we go to bed.  The weather is hot now too and on a couple of nights, I’ve just gone to bed in a nappy and t-shirt, dispensing with pyjama pants because I can do without the insulation.

If this is because she seriously wants to avoid seeing my nappies then all I can do is watch on in a curious combination of mild depression and mild amusement.  If this is because she has misunderstood my insistence that she “ignore them” (which was the only reasonable demand I felt I could make from her as an alternative to constant criticism) I’m probably going to have to send some kind of smoke signal to let her know that it’s ok, and I don’t really mind if she sees me in just a nappy.

[Little Sherri]

On 11/22/2019 at 12:28 AM, oznl said:

Although some hard-won experience on how to put them on effectively and which brands work best may have something to do with this success, doubtless another factor is that my bladder capacity seems quite small now and so I pee little and often: a scenario that seems to work well with my nappies as they quite like the chance of getting used to things gradually.

This is very true, as I have discovered through hard-won experience. If I get distracted, and essentially forget to forget to hold my wee, and find myself with holding it to the point where the neurological alarms start intruding on other thoughts, I know that I am in the danger zone, and unless I'm wearing a fresh, high-capacity nappy, I have to moderate my mitigation of the situation over several minutes, or else I'll create a river somewhere, and rivers always find a way.