24/7 startups, and unexpected pitfalls?

[Little Sherri]

Hurtling towards having been in nappies continually for 5 years, I was reminded yesterday that there have been changes, and not just of the diaper sort. My wife and I were looking through pictures from the kids' birthday parties on her phone, and I couldn't help but notice that, back in the before times, there was a good decade-long stretch where I was pretty svelte. I was training a lot, Covid was a word nobody had heard of, and my clothing was sized to fit over boxer shorts. I was never a "skinny jeans" guy - my thighs have always been tree trunk-like - but, I had a shape under my clothing that could be discerned from over my clothing. Drifting into pictures from Christmases and more recent family events, the kids changed enormously, of course, but so did I: I morphed into a frumpy, middle-aged man in baggy jeans and an overhanging sweatshirt or t-shirt at most of these events. I look like I put on 50 lbs, but really only put on 25; the rest of it is a visual effect that I will call "drapery", which is, of course employed strategically, to disguise the fact that I pretty much always have a somewhat bulky diaper on. Even the lightest-weight products that tape on are an order of magnitude thicker than cotton underpants. And I don't tend to employ the lightest weight products, because I'd be changing them 6 times a day. 

This morning, I am wearing a diaper at the bulkier end of the spectrum, a Mega Inspire+. I had thought that these were an Incontrol product now, but when I was thumbing through their website, I realized that they still sell these under the Rearz brand, even though they are a white diaper. They don't feature the numbered "parking spots" that the Incontrol products do, and these also give zero nods to discretion or trimness of fit - they're a bulky, crinkly, "overnight diaper" for people who don't mind being reminded that that's what they're in. Or, possibly, reminding anyone else that is looking at them. 

On the topic of changes, while the physiological side-effects of putting oneself back in diapers full-time may seem like they move at a glacial pace, if they occur at all, if you look at the seismograph long enough, you might see the needle tremble slightly. I did, yesterday, in our shared bathroom, after having an unexpectedly wine-soaked dinner for a Sunday, with a couple of good friends, one from out of town. I had changed out of my overnight diaper at around two in the afternoon, and put on a Tranquility ATN, thinking that it would get me through dinner, and then I could change into a product of the sort I'm wearing now - something that works around the house, where I don't mind looking like I failed potty training, when viewed from behind. 

Dinner went well, the conversation went long, more wine was consumed, and my friends left late (in an Uber). I realized towards the end of the gathering that I had not been paying attention to my diaper, and that the ATN was throwing signals that it was being pushed too far, like an economy car that puts up a good showing early in a rally race, but that is now on bald tires. A squishiness pervaded the core of the diaper, and there was a notable dampness even at the upper corners at the back, of a sort that I have never felt before in them, without already having leaked somewhere. But a cursory feel around my jeans when I ran into the kitchen suggested that containment had not been lost. 

So, I stopped using it. I was sure we were a few minutes from the end of the night, but then my buddy started talking about his new job, which was interesting, and the conversation stretched out, even as the rideshare app had been opened but not yet activated. I didn't want the night to end, but, my bladder did. Finally, the incoming car was 0 minutes away, the dog barked, and everyone said goodnight. Right at that moment, a sort of reverse latchkey event commenced - I wasn't the one going through the door, but the effect was the same. The tension at the gates of the liquid retention department went to Defcon 3, and I started feeling myself dribble. 

My wife raised an eyebrow when I didn't make a move to help her clear glassware from the table, but instead dashed upstairs. "Forget something?" she enquired. "Diaper!" I replied. I'm usually not that blunt but I couldn't think of anything else to say. 

I dropped my jeans and skidded into the bathroom, dispensing with the tabs on the ATN in two quick rips on one side. The soggy diaper plopped to the tiles, and then I was drip-drip-dripping across the floor towards the toilet. I dripped on top of the toilet seat as a I raised the lid, before embarking on a rare, glorious, but really not that long, standing wee in the potty. 

As I have done several times before, I had, as I fumbled with my diaper, tried to stem the flow, but my efforts went nowhere. My bladder was emptying almost in spurts - these were droplets the size of dollar coins, not teardrops. 

This is not a revelation, or an epiphany, but more a stating of something that is obvious, but still striking to me: I really do need to wear diapers these days. Had the the above sequence of events been playing out in an airport, say, a desperate dash to the nearest public washroom after an unexpectedly prolonged clearing of security, well, the front of my trousers would have been damp, and I would have owed the janitorial staff a coffee. 

That thought played out in my mind as I reached for the biggest, fluffiest, most secure-feeling product in my newly-restocked diaper drawer, this Mega Inspire +, that I then crunch-crunch-crunched back to the dining room in, to resume cleaning up after dinner. 

My wife eyed my big white diaper, three-quarters concealed under a baggy overhanging sweatshirt. "Better?", she enquired. "Better," I responded. 

 

[superabsorbantpolymer]

Wow that's quite an event! So you got a strong urge, but couldn't stop it, and your bladder just kept spasming and leaking spurts as you undiapered? It sounds like you have some degree of urge incontinence now. 

Do you wear plastic pants over a product like a tranquility in the day? I wouldn't trust myself not to have leaks, especially on a couch or similar. Do you have any absorbent protection under your diaper when you sit down usually? Have you experienced any seated leaks around the house? I imagine your wife wouldn't be pleased with that.

Btw I told you id update when my BeDry Elite arrived -- they have! They are very similar to the BeDry day except they have the hook and loop landing zone and tapes. The tapes are very lightweight but strong, so the fit is comfortable and the diaper is flexible. Something I've noticed with other hook and loop is that they can be more rigid on the front panel, so it's nice that is not the case with these. I haven't load tested them yet but I imagine it'll be similar to the regular bedry. I don't push it to it's true 10L capacity before changing, usually 6-10 hours. 

So far I can't say it's worth the extra price per unit for the better tapes but if you can get it at the introductory discount price I think it is worth stocking up. 

 

Edit: I went to change that first BeDry Elite, it definitely had spare capacity but I wanted to go in public with discretion. When I went to change it I noticed that the plastic backing had separated from the lining of the diaper. The separation happened at the top of the diaper above the hook and loop landing zone. My theory is that I fastened the tapes snug while dry, then wet the diaper causing the lining the swell, but the hook and loop tapes are so strong that they didn't budge. The stress on the diaper caused the exterior and interior layers to separate. I've never had that happen with another diaper so "user error" seems like a silly thing to call this. Hopefully that one diaper had a weak structure and they don't all come apart as they get wet. I don't think the damage necessarily compromises the absorption of the diaper, but it's not a great sign for quality control.

[Little Sherri]

15 hours ago, superabsorbantpolymer said:

When I went to change it I noticed that the plastic backing had separated from the lining of the diaper. The separation happened at the top of the diaper above the hook and loop landing zone.

The exact same thing happened to me in a BeDry Night, which also has the hook/loop fasteners. There really were no repercussions to the "failure", and I hesitated to even use that word, because the diaper didn't leak, the fluff didn't succumb to gravity, and nothing really changed except that I noted when I opened it that the porous inner top-sheet had pulled partially away from the plastic cover, right at the top at the front. Teething problems on a new product, maybe? 

15 hours ago, superabsorbantpolymer said:

Do you wear plastic pants over a product like a tranquility in the day? I wouldn't trust myself not to have leaks, especially on a couch or similar. Do you have any absorbent protection under your diaper when you sit down usually? Have you experienced any seated leaks around the house? I imagine your wife wouldn't be pleased with that.

I don't often wear the ATN's, and when I do, not for extended periods of time, generally. The acronym "ATN" is supposed to mean All Through the Night, but to me, they are not a night diaper. They're a fill-in product for me, buying me a few hours if I don't want to waste a good diaper, because there is some reason where I'll have to change again - maybe I want to shower before going somewhere, or I want to be in a fresh diaper before a prolonged outing, or maybe I'm doing yard work and expect to be dusty and sweaty and, again, am going to shower. 

So most of the time, I'm in a better diaper than an ATN. In my office, where I spend the most time sitting in a gradually expanding diaper, I usually have a towel under me once I reach a certain point - Rearz products can be prone to back-of-the-thigh press-out leaks. Around the house, I don't, but I also wouldn't decide to sit down on the couch if I thought my diaper might betray me - if we were going to sit down and watch a movie or something, I'd go change first, if my diaper was approaching capacity. In bed, I tend to be in a nearly-new diaper, but I have a separate comforter that I fold under myself. It serves two purposes - first of all, my wife is going through "the change", so she sometimes opens the window in February, when it's -20 outside, but, second, it does give me the ability to experience a mild leak, and deal with it, without having to blow out all the linens and announce a Chernobyl-level loss of containment, 

[Little Sherri]

Well, I've once again run smack into that aspect of wearing diapers that probably challenges my loyalty to them the most. I was reviewing finances with my wife yesterday - always a real treat - and I noted that we had  discharged all tax obligations from our calculations for the moment, to which she interjected that, no, in fact, we hadn't - that she still owed some money from the previous year. I won't get into the arcane details of it, but her employment requires her to deduct some of her own taxes, whereas my company does it for me, making my tax returns relatively painless - I'm usually getting money back. 

We employ an accountant to manage these things, but he is reliant on her submitting everything he needs - it's the old GIGO conundrum with computers, basically. Put garbage in, get garbage out. She is notoriously disorganized in that department, and I am notoriously unqualified to help her, because any attempt to intervene gets muddied with her resistance to oversight in general, and to my oversight, specifically. Which I understand - I sure as hell don't want her attempting to run most of my affairs, either. Our accountant has dealt with her for years and is usually good at extracting or extrapolating what he needs from her, but apparently, this time, there was a miss somehow. 

I was (and am) vexed because we were talking through a financial decision, and I said, basically, "So, the tax question is put to bed for now, correct? The view out my windscreen is accurate?", and she said "Yup." When she knew there was still something in question. It's not a disaster but it's irritating. 

She, of course, didn't want to talk about it anymore - "Well, it is what it is...", whereas I wanted to look at root causes and prevent the issue from happening again, possibly at a junction point where the outcome might have been more critical. 

She became obstinate, and put on an air that I can read from a mile away - the "I know I'm wrong about this but I don't wish to discuss it so I'm going to pretend I already told you" look that she gets. "I'm sure I told you this..."

"NO! NO YOU DID NOT! AND YOU KNOW YOU DID NOT!", I wanted to yell, but yelling gets very little traction with her. Instead, I took on the calm, rationed tones of a diligent prosecutor walking a jury through understanding that, based on the facts as we have them, there was no way that she'd disclosed this information, or else decisions would have been delayed. No uncertainty had been put on record. There was only certainty, in her previous testimony. 

Of course, as I was doing my best Law & Order pitch to the court, I was standing there in a big plastic diaper. A white one, which I guess was at least somewhat more dignified than purple pandas or cartoon mice in balloons, or whatever, but, still,  is it really how the diaper looks, or just the fact of the diaper being there at all, that is more corrosive to one's authority? Sigh. 

[Little Sherri]

It's been a downbeat week. My wife has been in a lousy mood in general, mostly unrelated to my activities, but it's causing her to lash out at anything that moves. I've had to remind her a few times that we aren't actually in a fight, and I'm not yelling at her... she's the only one yelling. She comes walking into the room, for example, and starts complaining vociferously about whatever it is that has vexed her in that moment, and then she says that she's going to, for example, text a good friend of hers and tell her what she really thinks about something or other. I say, in a very even and library-polite tone, "Maybe wait until you're not as worked up before you put something in writing that might be difficult to retract...", and she turns on me, spitting fury, and says that I'm aligning myself with her (momentary) adversaries, and what kind of husband is that?!?

"I'm aligning myself with your best interests," I try to explain. "Sitting back and watching you set fire to relationships that you value, because you're having an off week, and saying nothing, is not 'being on your side'..." 

Cue the firing squad. 

How this is relevant to the topics typically addressed here is that it's been a joyless week in Diaperville. With her shooting daggers at everyone, and my sharing a bedroom and a bathroom with her, I keep having to trudge past the Eye of Sauron while wearing big stupid diapers. I've actually found myself, for the first time in 5 years, eyeing my diaper drawer like it was unopened mail from the tax department, wearily choosing my next plastic underpants, my current diaper hanging damply below me like a confession. I've mostly been reaching for the white diapers - wearing purple pandas would be like having a juggler at a funeral. 

I've entertained the idea that this ennui is partially the result of my hurtling towards breaking the 5-year barrier... I mean, wow, I've been at this for 5 years. Usually, that thought fills me like helium, a light joy that takes some weight off my feet, but today, for some reason, it feels more like crude oil, black and heavy. Sigh. 

But, per my self-imposed regimen, I continue reaching for my diapers, perhaps partially because I also can't imagine how pissed off she'd be about all those cases in the basement, if I just gave "this" up. I'll spend some time with friends this weekend, and probably feel better. I'll wear my bulky, plastic underpants like a good boy, and even if I don't derive much pleasure from them, I still think that if I jumped in the car over lunch, and went and bought some boxer shorts, that I wouldn't be any happier this afternoon. I'll have a nice big IPA at the end of the day, all hops and boozy goodness. 

"I don't have to wear diapers for the rest of my life, I just have to wear them today..." 

 

[FretaBWet]

For what it's worth, I think you're doing everything right. Firstly, you come here to a safe space to air your complaints and you have many friends that will support and commiserate with you, myself included. Secondly, like always you use humor in your post to lighten the mood of a subject that's not necessarily funny. Thirdly, you understand the change she is going through is unasked for and unwanted unlike your changes. You know it's not really you or your diapers but her inability to control the hormonal changes happening physically and mentally. As Yoda would say, deescalate you must to insure tranquility in the force. Hang in there, you have a lot of people in your corner.

Hugs,

Freta

[Little Sherri]

3 hours ago, FretaBWet said:

Hang in there, you have a lot of people in your corner.

Thank you so much - this was great to read, you are so kind. And, it has helped my mood! Hugs right back. Now, onto that beer...

[oznl]

I’ve had similar days/weeks mood-wise.  The way I try to look at it is that my diaper thing just raises the background mood temperature but isn’t of itself, a ticket to some nirvana-like state of bliss.

I can’t explain your other half’s mood.  If I could, I’d build a business out of it and be living on my private tropical island.

I could speculatively generalize and say that menopause can cause otherwise civilized women to suddenly take offence at our existence for no apparent reason (for naturally, I am blameless in all aspects 😁).  That’s been my experience 😒

I can recommend hiding as a countermeasure.  That's what I do.

[superabsorbantpolymer]

On the topic of "the change", have any of you given thought to the day your spouse hypothetically requires some protection? By 65 the rate of leakage in women is very high iirc. You've all described various degrees of "diaperphobia" from your other halves, so I imagine when the day comes they won't be thrilled, and will probably opt for the most discreet pull up or pad type protection. 

[Little Sherri]

On 2/9/2024 at 6:55 PM, oznl said:

I can recommend hiding as a countermeasure.  That's what I do.

That's what I did this weekend. I practically lived at my buddy's place. I stayed over there Friday night by plan, and I think my wife was fine with that. We went to a pub and knew we were going to drink a bunch of big beers over the course of the evening so we had one of our wives (not mine) drop us off, and I had packed an overnight bag. Ironically, from the perspective of this conversation, one of the reasons we had convened was to have a beer with a friend of ours who just split with his wife. He had it all... great job, his house was paid off, two kids both doing well... and then she started spending a lot of time with her personal trainer, sculpting her figure... for, it turns out, the personal trainer. That my buddy was paying. 

I had a rare, non-catastrophic but recordable loss of containment in someone else's house that night. I'd put on a BeDry in size XL, which is a decent amount of diaper, even for Sherri-on-the-sauce - I don't usually wet a lot overnight. I woke up in the midst of a dream where I was, strangely, walking around a construction site, and looking for an empty, half-finished room to pee in - but, in the dream, I was wearing a diaper, and, strangely, some kind of medical grade diaper cover, that felt like it was made out of that disposable bootie material - if you've ever been given shoe covers in a medical setting, that stuff. Why I needed a private room to conduct my pee in, when I was walking around in a diaper and that absurd puffy blue disposable cover, I don't know - dreams aren't meant to make sense, usually. Anyway, I found a room and I started peeing it it, and then the wave of relief triggered an alarm, and I woke up to find myself on my side. I flipped onto my back and finished the job, then felt around... and found a wet spot maybe two inches in diameter where my hip was. I had awakened just in time - it could have gotten ugly. I had a towel with me so I blotted it in the dark and then slept on top of the towel, and in the morning, it was indetectable. 

On the Saturday night, we accidentally ended up drinking together again, and at some point I looked at my phone and realized that driving home wasn't on the option list, legally, and I didn't want to take an Uber home and then another one back to get my car in the morning, so I went back to the same bed I'd slept in the night before. I don't think my wife noticed - she didn't text to ask where I was. 

Today is the Super Bowl, and although I have no skin in the game - neither team means much to me - I'll be getting together with some friends and their kids, and eating chicken wings and drinking big IPA's. My mood after a weekend spent mostly in the company of men, has improved. I haven't waivered from my path, I'm sitting here in a lightweight disposable, trying to figure out what diaper I should wear that will be discrete enough for hanging around with my friends' wives, but that will also give me a few hours of unconcerned wearing. This might be a job for a medium MegaMax. 

On 2/9/2024 at 8:33 PM, superabsorbantpolymer said:

You've all described various degrees of "diaperphobia" from your other halves, so I imagine when the day comes they won't be thrilled, and will probably opt for the most discreet pull up or pad type protection. 

My wife had surgery for a skiing injury of the lower extremities when she was in her teens, which was before I met her. Immobilized, she described once waiting for a nurse to come with a bed pan while she was high on painkillers, and then losing control and wetting the bed, after which, they unceremoniously put her in a diaper. She refused to use it, until she was so desperate that she had no choice, and then when she did, it leaked, and left her in the same situation - lying in damp bedding and waiting for the nurses to have time to help her. 

So now, she says she'd rather be dead then wear a diaper again. Although after two pregnancies, those Poise "minor bladder leak" pads have made an appearance in our bathroom cabinet. But they don't read as "diapers" to her.  

It's surprising how the walls we've built up in our minds come crumbling down in the face of medical reality, however. I was amazed how quickly my stepdad adjusted to wearing diapers, when he was hospitalized for a few months last year. A proud man, ex-military, strong of personality, manly and cantankerous, I would have thought he'd have chosen medically assisted death over dignity briefs, but, he was playing the long game, and he put up with being diapered by a rotating cast of men and women that he'd never met, and never tried to kill either himself, or any of them.  

[oznl]

18 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

That's what I did this weekend. I practically lived at my buddy's place. I stayed over there Friday night by plan, and I think my wife was fine with that. ill either himself, or any of them.  

At least she grants you the airspace to escape.  My beloved is intensely interested in whatever I do (with the marked exception of diaper technology) and wants to be part of the action. I learned very early on in our marriage that “weekends with the boys” were a thing of the past.  I tried it exactly once.  It’s odd because I not only don’t mind her regular “weekends with the girls” but actively help her get to them.

18 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

 so I went back to the same bed I'd slept in the night before. I don't think my wife noticed - she didn't text to ask where I was.

Uh, ok, that in my humble opinion is just TOO much airspace.  What if you were, instead of drinking and partying,  hanging upside down from your safety belt surrounded by broken glass and airbag pyrotechnic watching the cabin temperature sink on some remote rural highway three feet from the arctic circle?

18 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

I flipped onto my back and finished the job, then felt around... and found a wet spot maybe two inches in diameter where my hip was. I had awakened just in time - it could have gotten ugly. I had a towel with me so I blotted it in the dark and then slept on top of the towel, and in the morning, it was indetectable.

Yep.  I wear those big goofy fluffy-lined plastic pants 100% when in hotels/friends places.  I just can't stomach the risk otherwise 🤣

[Little Sherri]

2 hours ago, oznl said:

What if you were, instead of drinking and partying,  hanging upside down from your safety belt surrounded by broken glass and airbag pyrotechnic watching the cabin temperature sink on some remote rural highway three feet from the arctic circle?

I read about something like this the other day - a trucker went off the road on a corner and managed to punch through a couple of hundred feet of bush and small trees, before the 80,000 lb rig came to a rest, thoroughly broken up. He was then trapped for more than 24 hours before they started looking for him, all while it was -10 outside. I suppose my absence could have gone down that way. I don't think that she didn't question my whereabouts entirely out of a lack of interest; I think she fell asleep at 10 PM, knowing that I'd be out until at least midnight, and when she woke up in the morning to my side of the bed still being empty, I'd already texted her that I was on my way home, and did she want me to pick up a coffee for her? 

I'm in a better mood so far this week. Although it is only 10 AM, and my wife is still asleep. I had a very "unalarming" and thoroughly banal diaper exposure moment yesterday in a medical setting, that I wasn't expecting, and that I handled rather well, in my opinion. It went like this; I'd gone into the pharmacy that we frequent almost exclusively, to get vaccinated, and I was expecting to have to take my jacket and sweater off, in order to give them access to my upper arm. The decision to go get jabbed had been a spontaneous one - it was on the agenda for the week, but I hadn't thought I'd be doing that when I left the house. However I had to go to the pharmacy to pick some stuff up, the place was lightly frequented (it being a Sunday), and I had some time to kill... maybe I should get it over with? 

However, I had on multiple layers - under my jacket, I had a sweater on in a colour (red) mean to irritate one of my friends who hoped to see San Francisco prevail in the Super Bowl (they didn't), because he's irritated by Taylor Swift. And under that, I had a long-sleeve buttoned shirt. So I said, jokingly, to the pharmacist, a nice, younger lady (30's) that we've known for a few years now, and who knows our kids by name, that she'd have to give me a minute because my poor wardrobe choices meant that I'd need to find a changeroom to give her access to my upper arm. I was kidding - I meant to just take my jacket, sweater and shirt off, leaving me in a t-shirt within the semi-private injection enclosure. However, she said, actually, I can give you this one subcutaneously, in your waist, just roll up the bottom of your shirt. 

I blinked - I hadn't known that was a thing, but apparently, it can be. So, I delicately started pulling my shirts up and, in the case of the inner two layers, out of my jeans, aware that I had a white plastic diaper on, but not a "high rise" model - this was a white, medium-sized MegaMax that I figured I could keep below my beltline for the 30 seconds or so that getting a shot would take. I revealed a strip of belly/hip skin above my jeans, and steeled myself for the jab. 

She took an alcohol wipe to the area first, and when doing so, used it, and her thumb and forefinger, to push the waist of my jeans down a small amount... and revealed a narrow band of white plastic, which she then helpfully tucked back under my jeans with her gloved thumb. 

"Ready," she asked, and I nodded, looking down at her stooped-over, lab-coated form, with the needle poised. In it went, pretty much painlessly, while I held up my shirt. Then, she went over the spot with the alcohol wipe again, turned back to her table, and opened a bandage, while I had already started to tuck myself back together. 

"Hang on, I want to put this over the injection site..." she said, and then she used the side of her hand to slide my jeans slightly down again, once again revealing a half-inch strip of white plastic. She applied the bandage, then said that I should remain in the pharmacy for ten minutes before leaving, in case I had any reaction to the vaccine. I tucked myself back together, thanked her, and walked back out onto the floor to think about what had just happened, while I looked at Magazines on a rack that I wasn't planning to buy. 

This lady has seen me buy diapers before - not a lot of them, but, some. A box of pull-ups for my daughter here and there that she had to know were not for me, but we usually buy those at the grocery store because they're cheaper there. The odd package of toddler diapers - not many, I have little use for them, but if Pampers or Huggies launches a larger size or some new feature, because I like to remain a Subject Matter Expert, I might buy the smallest package size they offer. Again, presumably, she did not think those were for my own use. However, while store shelf adult diapers are for the most part useless, I have bought the odd bag of them here or there, once or twice for my parents, and also, for myself, when they have them on sale for a stupid amount - 50 cents a diaper, for example - and I think to myself, well okay, at that price, even though they're useless, they could serve to bridge me across, say, an outdoor task that was going to end in a shower, something like that. It's an impulsive decision, and not necessarily a good one, but part of me will always favour having more diapers over having fewer of them, even if some of them shouldn't actually count, like lame horses shouldn't be counted towards battle readiness. 

I figured that she would have assumed they were for one of our parents, which she probably did, but now, if I ever do that again, presumably when I belly up to the counter with a bag of Depends or Tena's, she might think they were for me? Not that it matters, not that she cares, and not that I should care... but, still. 

[Little Sherri]

I had a pretty crazy diaper dream last night - I'll try and spit this out before I forget it. There were all kinds of elements to it that are pretty hard to pull together into one cohesive thread, as is often the case with dreams. This one had no overarching plot that I can recall, either, although I have always suspected that, to a certain extent, we impose a narrative on our dreams in the process of remembering them, in any case. Because, the human mind craves a narrative, as they are easier to follow and to recount, than a stream of consciousness (or unconsciousness) slide-show of madness would be. 

So, here are snippets from my slide-show of madness:

- I was on vacation somewhere, or at least, I was not at home. We were in one large space, maybe a condo, and I was with group of people that I can't identify, but that I felt comfortable with (evidently, more on that anon). They were friends - nobody from my immediate family seemed to be with us. 

- There was a small bear hanging out with us - it was someone's pet. By small, I mean, bigger than any dog you've ever seen, but, it didn't weigh as much as a Kia. I remember thinking, wow, this thing is friendly, but if it decided to, it could probably kill us all. It kept walking up to people and nudging them to pat it, including me, and it liked having a ball thrown for it. 

- I had a bedroom, and from inside it, sitting on my bed, I had a vantage point to a large dining area with a table that could seat a group of 12 or more. There were various people coming and going from the table, and at one point, I walked out there and sat down and was talking with some of the people. 

- The diaper aspect: the whole time I was there, sitting in my room, or sitting at the dining room table, or playing with the bear-dog in the expansive living area, I was wearing a sweatshirt - I recall it being a zip-up hoodie - and, a big plastic pull-up. 

- On that pull-up, apparently, I invented it, just as I invented everything else in the dream: picture a MegaMax or like a Rearz BeDry Night - a white, high-capacity, plastic backed diaper. What I was wearing looked and felt like that, except that rather than wings with tabs that reach over to engage the front cover, there was instead a panel of stretchy material on each side - a white MegaMax with about three or four inches of white stretchy fabric integrated between the front and back panels. The material was of the sort that the sides of a Goodnites pull-up is be made from, whatever that stuff is, nylon, polyester, spandex... 

- In the dream, I hung out with this group of people, wearing just that pull-up and a sweatshirt, generally going about my business comfortably. I recall noticing that one other person we were with, who was sitting at that dining table, also had a pull-up on - she was a younger female (by younger, I mean, maybe in her 30's), seemed to be of South Asian descent, and she had on a longish t-shirt that could almost have served as a dress, or, maybe it was a nightshirt, and at one point she sat cross-legged on a chair, and I could see that she had a multi-coloured pull-up or diaper on, something cloth-backed, and, she evidently didn't care who saw it, either - hey, I was already standing there in a pull-up, playing with the dog-bear, so evidently she didn't need to be self-conscious about her poorly concealed pull-up or whatever it was. 

 

[Little Sherri]

I had another "Universe tapping me on the shoulder" moment last night. I got home from a pub (which I seem to do a lot, these days), and crept quietly up the stairs, not wanting to test the limits of my wife's mood, however I quickly discerned that she was awake, because I could hear the TV from inside our room as I got closer to the top of the stairs. 

I opened the door, and despite the late hour, she was watching something or other. Hmmm... not good. She can't sleep? She may have a hair trigger. I walked into the room, and tried a casual "How are you? Does the dog need to go out?", friendly and responsible. She looked up and said, yeah, maybe take the dog out one more time. No irritation betrayed within her tone... maybe, just maybe, I can get into bed without taking any fire. I took the dog out. 

Returning to the room, I walked in and commenced my bedtime prep process, while she watched her show, which was an early 2000's female-oriented comedy/drama that she's rewatched endlessly on streaming services. So, sort of her The Sopranos or Breaking Bad , but, with way, way less violence and almost no meth. 

I took my jeans and tops off, leaving me in a somewhat wet, but far from finished Rearz/Incontrol BeDry, a white plastic diaper with tapes that punches above its medium weight, in terms of reliability and capacity. I'd put it on right before heading out at 8 PM, so it had about 4 hours and three pints on it. I pulled a light blue t-shirt on, and went to brush my teeth. Climbing into bed, I put my pacifier on my bedside table, and settled back to watch a few minutes of the show, not wanting to summon any content of my own on my iPad or phone, because I planned to fall asleep very shortly. 

I've seen 7% - 27% of all of the episodes, at least 10 times in my life, so, much like dropping in on a random new episode of a soap opera you haven't seen in a decade, I found myself getting caught up pretty quickly on where everything was in the various story arcs. Oh, right, this is the episode where the character who recently had a baby, finds out she's pregnant again, after believing that her husband had had a vasectomy, when in fact, he hadn't. 

Here's the Universe tapping me on the shoulder part; keep in mind, I was sitting in bed, in a diaper and a t-shirt. I'm paraphrasing here, but this is not far off:

Pregnant lady, to her friend: "I can't do this again... I've changed 4000 diapers, and I have 4000 left to go! If this ends up being a girl, I'll use even more! Boys seem perfectly happy sitting in their own filth, but girls will want to be changed more often... that might be 26, 27 diapers a day!"

Friend: "Babies are about more than diapers, aren't they? What about that wonderful baby smell, the cuddles, the cute clothing..."

Pregnant lady: "Diaper rash! Potty Training! Diapers, diapers, diapers...!!!" 

This scene went on for about 5 minutes. My wife did not look over at me, as far as I could tell, and I didn't dare attempt eye contact with her, but I could feel the scene hanging in the air, when they moved on to whatever they moved on to. You could say that the moment was "pregnant"... 

[Little Sherri]

Well, I'm back to being happy in my diapers, for the most part. I spent the last few hours thoroughly cleaning the bathrooms... and I recognize the irony of the person who wears diapers being the designated bathroom cleaner, but nobody else will do it the way I want it done, so it falls to me. The perfect outfit for crawling around toilets and scrubbing the inside of shower stalls is an old t-shirt fit to be thrown in the wash, and, well, a diaper, fit to be thrown in the trash. I put some music on, put on waterproof slippers, left on my slightly damp Rearz Lil' Monsters that I'd put on at bedtime last night, and I got to scrubbing. Then, I vacuumed, and ran some laundry, and tidied the laundry room, before taking a break, and coming up to the office to see how @Reddyis doing on his fascinating and well-documented journey to incontinence in Mexico.

And now I'm sitting in my office in my diaper, trying to figure out what comes next. I'll probably put snow pants on and go clear off the driveway; we got about 4 inches of snow a couple of nights ago, and I was hoping that it might auto-clear if the sun came out, but alas, it isn't going to be appreciably above zero until next Wednesday. Then, I will take a shower, get into a fresh diaper, and go watch the hockey game somewhere (probably with pants on). And drink beer, ideally. This is a long weekend for most Canadians (Family Day), and for the US, it's Presidents' Day (is that the day that all mattresses go on sale?), which I believe is a federal holiday, but observed at the state level in the majority of states, as well. 

Don't get me wrong, it's great to get an extra day off in February, but if they asked me, I would have taken one more long weekend in the summer, over a day off when the average temperature is -5 and the sun sets by 6 PM. We don't, for example, have a long weekend in June - we have one in May, Victoria Day, which is also called "the May 24" both because it is often on or around the 24th of May, but also, because beer is sold in cases of 24. The next one we get after that is Canada Day, which is on the first of July. Then, there is the Civic Holiday (because we love our Hondas) at the start of August, and Labour Day in September. So, a long weekend in June would be great, or, stick one in the middle of July... just a suggestion. 

[Little Sherri]

Having warned someone else not to trust the Rearz Select (see above), I am, right now, trusting a Rearz Select. Well, sort of. It's a holiday Monday here in the frozen North, and I'm sitting on my own couch, watching a hockey game, wearing comfy clothes, so, the risks are minimal. I was in an Incontrol Elite - one of a couple of this discontinued diaper, that I found I have left in my bin of odds and ends - last night while drinking wine and eating a later dinner with a buddy. I ended up wearing it to bed, where it held up well - I didn't leak into the sheets. But when I went up to our washroom after breakfast to take care of the necessity for a #2, and I pulled back the hook/loop tabs on one side, I was reminded that dinner the previous evening had come with a side of asparagus. So, the diaper might have had a bit of capacity left in it, but, I wasn't going to go hang out with the family, vaguely suspecting that I smelled like an untended toddler. So, I took a shower, and then I reached into my diaper drawer, and my hand fell to one of the Selects that I bought the last time Rearz had them on sale for some price that was too low to ignore - even dodgy ABDL diapers are a good deal at $60 for 36. A Select on its worst day holds more than 3 Depends could. 

I like the way these feel on me, and I like the way they look - the vintage one-tab-per-side look of Pampers from three decades ago. And the tabs are mighty, as is usually the case with Rearz. I just don't appreciate that the one tab design requires deciding if I want the waist to be snug, or, if I am going to concentrate on the legs. Today, I went legs, deciding to keep my shirt untucked, so that it has no opportunity to stumble into the yawning front of my diaper, and start wicking dampness up my front. This diaper only has to last me a few hours, and then I'll put something professional grade on, a Critter Caboose or a BeDry Night, that I'll be able to wear overnight, and well into my workday tomorrow. 

Later in the week, things will get more complicated - I'm taking a couple of days off to travel with some buddies, in order to surprise another buddy, on the occasion of his 50th birthday. We couldn't very well surprise him on his birthday, and then also surprise him with the news that all of us were staying at his place, so could he please make accommodations ready for three overnight guests. "Enjoy your special day, but before you settle into doing that, make up three beds, if you don't mind..."

So, we conscripted our friend who works for a hotel chain, and he got us a screaming deal on a room, but, it is to be shared. Ergo, I will once again be navigating staying in a hotel suite with a couple of friends, while wearing secret underpants. I've done this before and it has always worked out, but it does ramp up my anxiety a tad. It reminds me very much of what it felt like to make the cross-country journey to aunt so-and-so's place, where I was going to be sleeping on an air mattress in my cousin's room - and my last appointment prior to going to bed was to meet with my mom in secret in the bathroom or some back bedroom, to get my diaper on, before tucking my pajama shirt about a foot into my pajama pants, and then dashing into my assigned bed and under the covers like The Flash. 

My one buddy, I'm about 99% sure, knows that I wear "something" unconventional, although we have never spoken of it - I've told the stories here before about the plumbing and garage door emergency repairs that had me squatting and rolling around on the ground in tight spaces, where I knew that my diaper was sticking up out of my pants at least momentarily. The other guy, as far as I know, knows nothing, and I'd like to keep it that way, so the usual protocols will be in place, and I'll be skulking back and forth to the bathroom with rolled up track pants in my hand, and "going down to the lobby to get a coffee and the newspaper" while attempting to transport a weighty parcel, unnoticed, to a trash can in a public washroom. 

Hopefully, the TSA will once again be entirely uninterested in the two stacks of folded diapers taking up 1/4 of the capacity of my carryon, and they won't eviscerate it on a table in public view. Nobody is more careful than us diapered folks are about not inadvertently leaving a bottle of undeclared liquid in our bags. And hopefully, whoever is manning the body scanner will know exactly what they are looking at, and will give me a cursory review before sending me on my way, rather than suspecting that the bulk in my nether regions is either incendiary in nature, or, comprised of contraband. It's just slightly damp SAP, officer. Can I go? 

[Lil Miss Potty Pants]

I had a few stints of 24/7 once I started a full WFH job. I decided to go all-in on the lifestyle choice. While I didn't have a goal of losing control, I didn't make any conscious effort to preserve it and knew that could be a likely outcome.

I decided that I was going to use diapers as diapers rather than as a fetish item. I like diapers but I really wanted to incorporate them into my life in a more utilitarian way. I decided to wear 24/7 with no exceptions except the shower. The biggest rule was no holding, no forcing. Any time I realized I need to pee, I'd let go and allow it to happen. Doesn't matter if I'm in a meeting, at the supermarket, or anything else. Same for poop- I made no conscious effort to hold it and instead let my body decide what to do with it. Nighttime was a little trickier because I'd wake up to pee, but I just made an effort to relax and let it flow without moving or thinking and fall right back asleep.

What surprised me was just how fast my body adapted to this new lifestyle. I never wet my diaper without realizing it, but it took about two weeks for my body to just let pee go without asking me permission first. Shortly after that I started waking up with a wet diaper too! It's entirely possible I was waking up and wetting but not waking up enough to remember, but that might as well be the same thing. I never got to that point with pooping but I did reach the point of noticing I needed to go any my body not trying to hold it back.

Ultimately this lasted about three or four weeks before I stopped. There were a few challenges. The biggest was that I have really sensitive skin that doesn't like being diapered all the time with pee/poop held up. I started doing small, frequent micro-pees and didn't have the budget to change every single time, and my skin paid the price.

It was also a huge lifestyle drag. I do a lot of hiking which isn't a diaper-friendly activity. I go to the gym 4-5× a week and I'm really attached to my routine; wearing diapers is a major problem when I like to change before and after my workout. I also go camping with my wife a lot and don't always have fast, easy access to a shower. And wearing diapers means needing to shower like 4-6 times a day (I'm not great at cleaning myself with wipes alone). I also like wearing bikinis at the beach, going clubbing, and have a lot of other activities that make diapers either a functional problem or impossible to hide.

If something changed in my life and I had a full-time caregiver I'd strongly consider going back into diapers permanently, but I'd need them to really be all-in on supporting me in that lifestyle. I don't have that so considering it is neither here nor there.

[Little Sherri]

16 hours ago, Lil Miss Potty Pants said:

And wearing diapers means needing to shower like 4-6 times a day (I'm not great at cleaning myself with wipes alone)

For me, the only solution was not to use my diapers for #2. Not that it never happens, but, I decided early on that it's way too inconvenient, because the cleanup takes more time than just using the potty, and, socially, I didn't intend to ever end up in a position where smelling like I had a load on board wouldn't matter most of the time. Ergo, I was going to be practicing "selective pooping" anyway - I wasn't going to blow out my baby pants while sitting on a bar stool with some buddies, or while watching a movie on the couch with the family. Inevitably, I'd be "going" when it made logical sense to do so - before I headed out, or after I got back, etc. So, since I was almost never going to be able to allow myself to "just go", anyway, I might as well go when I'm sitting on the throne, and save myself the agricultural cleanup. 

Although, speaking of that, I had a thank-God-I'm-in-a-diaper moment this morning... I woke up feeling a little weighty in the solids department, but my wife was in the bathroom, and the dog needed to go out, so I waddled downstairs in my slightly-wet Rearz Daydreamer (and pants), fired up the coffee maker, put on a jacket and headed out. Upon hitting the bright sunlight sparkling on the snow-encrusted ground, I almost immediately delivered a mighty sneeze... and... (view discretion advised)... I emitted what can only be described as a "shart". A perceptible slickness hit the radar out back. 

I realized that something was off in the intestinal department, and immediately cinched up, but, some damage had been done. However, being in a diaper, I was able to continue with walking the dog, and when I went back in the house and realized that my wife was still using our bathroom, I was able to go about my business as usual, having a coffee, eating some fruit, reading the news. I was aware that I had to tend to "the situation" eventually, and I had some urgency back there that I didn't want to give landing priority to, or else I would probably have to then deal with a loss-of-outfit incident, but, I had the luxury of being able to make choices - I didn't have a gun to my head. 

So, yay diapers. 

That Rearz Select I wore yesterday ended up performing surprisingly well - I had taped it on perhaps more snuggly than I usually do, knowing that it tended to leak "before its time", IE before its capacity was really overwhelmed, due to the fit limitations inherent in having only one tab per side. That setup works great on babies, toddlers, and children, but there's a point on the growth charts where a magic line is crossed, and one tape is not longer capable of managing both the leg fit, and the waist fit, and you need two tabs per side. On a side note (pun there), so far, I've found three tabs per side to be gratuitous - I've experienced that setup on a couple of youth diapers and on the abysmal Depends products they sell in grocery stores here, and I've never been able to discern an advantage to having a middle tab added. Two seems to be optimal. 

However, that Select I had on yesterday did not leak or attempt to ingest the hem of my shirt, until I had to to head out to run an errand in the evening, and I decided it was too damp to be trustworthy for a couple of more hours, away from home base. I had been in it for 6 hours or so... not a bad showing for a diaper that cost me less than $2. 

[superabsorbantpolymer]

How did the eventual cleanup go when your beloved vacated the facilities? Did she notice the smell as you passed?

I'm a lot more liberal about letting my diaper handle my back door waste, I don't do it around people if I can help it but I have IBS and love coffee and nicotine so when I am alone and get a strong urge I don't hold back. I definitely have noticed a lot more frequently and urgency with time. Sometimes but not frequently I've had some brown deposits in the pull ups that I wear when I am at work. 

Your pelvic floors muscles are probably pretty weak in general now, you've had a few poopy accidents in the last while right? Do you feel like your control is slipping there? How often did you poop yourself while walking the dog before returning to diapers? 

[Little Sherri]

I'm back, baby. Or, baby is back. Or, unconvincing fattish adult in a baby diaper is back. Take your pick. I once again waltzed through TSA screening entirely unmolested, once, and then, on the return journey, I got flagged for a second scan, got a "please pull your pants up snugly" third scan, then got a supervisor who looked at the output of the contraption and said "He's good." Translation: this man has a diaper on, not a belt laden with explosives or trousers full of narcotics. 

I survived having my luggage screened while standing with posse of buddies, and did not get called over to explain why 1/3 of the space inside it was taken up with nappies. Or why I'd forgotten to, say, declare a bottle of hand sanitizer that my wife threw in there, underneath the nappies that were tossed aside during the search. 

I sorted out that disposing-of-my-diapers issue while sharing hotel rooms with friends, by once again making myself personally responsible for taking the garbage out. Our suite had a kitchen and we created enough beer can and water bottle debris to justify daily solid waste transfers out to the bins in the parking lot, and I was more than happy to conduct those transfers, and to quietly slip my rolled-up plastic underpants into the bin with the napkins and pizza crusts. 

On return, I got asked an interesting question by my spouse: do I have any boxer shorts? I was confused by the question. She hasn't seen any on me, or in our laundry stream, in about 5 years. But did she assume that meant I still have them? In fairness, she has all kinds of stuff stored around the house that she hasn't used in 5 years or longer. So maybe, to her, it was an entirely reasonable line of inquiry. 

I was more curious as to the why of it, and the answer I got to that made me even more curious. It turned out that one of her friends was fostering a dog that had just had its reproductive equipment severed, and the idea was, to put the boxer shorts on the dog backwards, so that the frontal opening became a tail porthole, and the material would keep Rover from chewing at the stitches where his balls used to be. 

I saw flaws in this reasoning, chief among them the witnessed reality that a motivated dog can chew through thin cotton underpants in about 20 seconds. We've seen it happen, although more often with girls' underpants than with mine. But well less aggressively cut, mine are not made of anything more robust than the frilly pink triangles of material our previous dog used to disinter from the kids' laundry and rip to shreds. 

I also came to wonder how that conversation went... "My husband might have some you can use... he's not using them these days, anyway..." The imagination takes flight. And why in Christ's name would you want to borrow someone else's underpants? If I found myself in need of some, I'd go buy them, surely. I would not ask a friend for a handout. 

So, I looked at her with what I assume was a puzzled expression, and then I said, "Uh, no... I don't have any boxer shorts anymore." I left "Dot dot dot, because I only wear diapers these days" part unsaid, but it was there. Almost immediately prior to being asked the question, I had bent over to search the pockets of my suitcase while she was standing in the hall with me, and I knew that my diaper was sticking out of my pants - I'd just taken off my shirt to throw it in with the rest of the laundry I was pulling out of the valise. I think that might have been what prompted the question. 

She shrugged and said, "Well, I thought I'd ask, in case maybe you had a pair in the back of a drawer that you could part with." 

"Nope," I said, "it's been a few years since I've owned any." And then, I decided to entertain myself a bit by dotting the I's and crossing the T's. "Between socks and t-shirts and golf shirts, diapers and diaper shirts, my dresser is packed, so I took anything I'm never going to use out of it. In any case, I'd assume she'd want fresh ones, no? I'd pay ten bucks not to have my dog lounging around in a strangers reversed underwear, wouldn't you?"

That provoked a chuckle, and then the conversation moved onto other topics, but there you have it. I don't think I ever actually announced to my wife that I'd thrown away my underpants close to half a decade ago. So that's something. Part of me wonders if she was testing a theory that when I go away with my buddies, I put aside childish things (in the underpants department) and just wear boxers for a few days, and that I might pull a pair of boxers out of my suitcase and say, "Here, she can have these", at which point my wife would have her "gotcha!" moment and could thenceforth insist that I wear manly underclothes when we go visit her parents. But, nope, my fealty to "this" goes beyond the possibility that I might have to someday explain to my buddies why my underpants come in cases of 36.  

On 2/21/2024 at 3:35 AM, superabsorbantpolymer said:

How often did you poop yourself while walking the dog before returning to diapers? 

Basically never. Although I wouldn't say I've had "a lot" of accidents lately, adding any number to zero produces an infinitely larger number, and these days, the number is not zero. 

[Little Sherri]

I'm writing to offer grudging admiration to the people at Rearz/Incontrol, and their BeDry Night diaper. I put one of these on this morning after my usual schedule was thrown off last night by a pub visit that went unexpectedly long, causing me to go to bed in a diaper that needed to be changed by shortly after breakfast. Well, here I am 12+ hours later, and I'm actually getting a little bit tired of how wet my bottom is, but, the diaper has not leaked, and even though I can't bring my legs together, the tabs are holding fast. At this point, it only makes sense to wear this until I can take a shower and put another diaper on for the overnight shift.

However, I have to take the dog for a "walk" - more like a waddle. The sudden reappearance of winter at my door, like an angry, jilted ex, will assist with reducing the likelihood that I'll encounter anyone on my nocturnal wander, and even if I do, winter clothes will act as camouflage. However, I am going to cut this short, because I want to get the mutt walked, and then get back before my wife gets home, so that I can take a shower and get into fresh clothes, because if she gets home before I get back, she will install herself on her side of our bed, and I will have to undress and squelch past her with my diaper reaching longingly for the ground. Not that she hasn't seen that before, but in a capacious product like this, it will be, I suspect, a little more obvious than it usually is, how badly I need to change. So, off I go into the night. 

[Little Sherri]

I missed the target yesterday, unfortunately. I got home with the dog just after my wife got home with my daughter, and my daughter wanted to take a shower, and to use our bathroom for that (shower stall vs tub), so, I had to sit around for another 45 minutes until that process was finished, and then once we had the room to ourselves, I could finally think about changing my diaper. I'd been concerned while sitting on our bed, watching TV and waiting for the bathroom to be free, that I might leak into the sheets, but the BeDry Night held - I hadn't spent much time up to that point reclining, so I guess some fresh real estate was opened up. By the time I dropped my jeans and slunk sheepishly past my wife, my diaper was notably swollen. At least I got my money's worth out of it. 

I took a shower and put on a Critter Caboose, and I'm still in it - I didn't really wet overnight, so its shift started this morning when I got up, call it 9.5 hours ago. This diaper also feels appreciably wet now, although not at its limit. I'm trying to decide if I want to run an errand tonight or leave it until tomorrow - if I go with tomorrow, then I might wear this until a relatively early swap over to pajamas. If I decide to leave the house, then I'll go with one of the ATN filler diapers for my running around, and then another substantial diaper for bedtime. 

I cracked in the face of a rally good sale at Incontrol, and ordered some more diapers. They arrived on the porch when it was raining and I was in a meeting, so my wife dragged the boxes into the entranceway and then texted me: "Your Pampers are here."  Were it that that was the case! I'd love to be able to order Pampers that fit. 

That precipitated another funny conversation; I was lugging them down to the basement, when my wife asked me to do an inventory of the paper and cleaning products we store down there, because she was going to stop by a Costco. I came up and told her my findings, and then she tilted her head, and said, "It's too bad you can't get your diapers at Costco... can you? Have you ever looked? I bet they'd be cheaper there." 

I shook my head. "Nope, all they sell are pull-ups, and honestly, they're abysmal. First of all, I'd hate wearing them, and second, I'd burn through several a day, and I'd still need to buy diapers for overnight. They would not be cheaper, except maybe in terms of what a package costs upfront."

"No fancy designs on them either, I'd imagine," she said, while fixing me with a raised eyebrow, suggesting that what I was primarily concerned about was the absence of cartoon characters, and not an absence of functionality. I blushed slightly, then regrouped. 

"No, I could fit into XL adolescent pull-ups, if I wanted superhero or rainbow themes. None of them hold a fifth of what a real diaper can. I've done the legwork on this, trust me."

She shrugged. "Hey, if you want to wear big crinkly diapers, that's up to you. It wouldn't be what I'd wear." 

It was my turn to shrug, albeit slightly self-consciously. "Well, that's what works best for me." 

[superabsorbantpolymer]

Wow, I love how involved she has made herself in your diaper supply acquisition. If only Costco did sell good adult diapers! Obviously it's been 5 years but it must be very affirming for you that she just assumes diapers for her husband is just another potential item on the shopping list. 

[Little Sherri]

2 hours ago, superabsorbantpolymer said:

Obviously it's been 5 years but it must be very affirming for you that she just assumes diapers for her husband is just another potential item on the shopping list. 

I may be fooling myself, but I do think of it that way. Or when she just buys diaper cream or baby powder because the stock in the linen closet is dwindling and she happened to be at the store. She did once buy diapers for me, years ago - they were on sale at 50% off or something, terrible Tena breathable cloth-backed diapers that barely fit and only contained one wetting. Regardless, I thanked her - it was the thought that counted!

I've been burned once again by the inconsistent performance of the Rearz Select, their vintage Pampers-inspired single-tab-per-side white plastic diaper that they've discontinued, allegedly (although they did that once before and then brought them back). I got them for a screaming deal, at least in terms of ABDL products - at less than $2 a diaper, even if they're not the best (and they're not - more on that anon), that's what the cheapest Depends in the store cost on sale up here, and those aren't fit for the dead. 

I've sworn off of these things before because I've been burned by them - the one-tape fit tends to cause the front to yawn open and swallow the hem of my shirt, or the front folds over and wicks into my pants, or I get a leg leak, if the front is snug. I railed against them here a while back, but then wore one after that, and... it did okay, for some reason. I was in it longer than I thought I would be, maybe 6 hours or so, and it didn't leak. 

So... I put one on this morning, knowing that I was going to be leaving the house in the afternoon, and would be out for the evening, so I'd be putting something fresh on at that point, regardless of what I had on at the time. I'm not going to go have dinner with friends in a diaper at 50%+ of its capacity, that I've been in for 8 hours at that point. 

This time, on the FIRST wetting, the Select I'm wearing leaked at the top of my left rear thigh, dampening the back of my trousers. I'm at home in my office so it's not a disaster, but it is irritating, because I'd pulled these pants out of the laundry this morning and thought that they wouldn't be going back in there immediately. Also, I'm often sans-trousers in my office, and I wish I'd pursued that policy today, because my chair is waterproof, but I had pants on because I'd been running back and forth to my car and had just left them on, rather than streaking across my driveway like some kind of diapered apparition. 

I pulled plastic pants on over my diaper, because it still had probably 70% of its capacity remaining, but... I'm mad at myself. I should have known better, I guess. My results with these diapers are SO, so inconsistent. I guess it's plastic pants from now on, when I'm in these. 

[oznl]

3 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

I pulled plastic pants on over my diaper, because it still had probably 70% of its capacity remaining, but... I'm mad at myself. I should have known better, I guess. My results with these diapers are SO, so inconsistent. I guess it's plastic pants from now on, when I'm in these. 

I find that plastic pants definitely have their place in a multi-layer defense strategy although down here in steamier climes, I prefer PUL to flat-out plastic for some level of breathability and use them pretty much every day.

As many have pointed out, plastic pants don't stop leaks over disposable diapers (although they can delay them).  What they DO though is stop wicking which would otherwise frequently be the agent behind damp spots on outerwear.