Are diapers articles of clothing for you, or are they more akin to a consumable, like paper towels?

[Little Sherri]

This came up for me when my wife pulled a diaper out of my drawer and left it in the bathroom for me because she went to bed early. I was curious as to what her criterion was for selecting the diaper she did, because it was not the one at the top of my drawer (she chose a Bambino Skooldoodle, for those who are curious). The occasion caused me to remember a conversation I had with her years ago, wherein she asked me why I wasn't using up one box of diapers before I opened another, almost as though they were like paper towels, rather than like articles of clothing. 

I treat them like clothes - I like to have lots of options, both in terms of appearance, and also functionality. However, I realize that some people treat their diaper brand like their cigarette brand, sometimes having just one go-to, or, they treat them like paper towels - you might buy more than one brand, but you don't spend much time thinking about which one to open, and you use one roll up before you open another. 

[ValentinesStuff]

I didn't answer your survey because none of the answers fit me. Diapers are clothes, but even back when I had big boy and girl undies I didn't really care what they looked like because no one was going to see them. I have only one kind of disposable diaper, plus some emergency pullups, because they are the kind I like.

 

As for cloth diapers, I have a wide variety of them, because I make my own.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Now you know why I only wear cloth and never thought of thro-aways as "real" diapers. Reusable cloth, being worn multiple times and feeling like cloth obviously are clothes. The material for pampers was the same as the original Handi-Wipes, which was midway between paper and cloth. These could be used about 6 or 8 times then thrown away. Pampers, because of the kind of things they were used for, were to just be thrown away after one use. It was at this time that it was thought that the cloths of the future would be made of this material. They would be worn once or twice then thrown in some bin to be recycled in some way. This appeared in some short stories by Lary Niven that were gathered together in the LIMITS anthology and were set in the near future. A few celebrities, mostly female, wore clothes of this material to some functions during the late 1960's. That turned out to be a fad, that was pretty much forgotten by 1973. It was part of the "too rich" syndrome that was part of the culture of prosperity of the mid '50's to the late '60's

As to options, I have two with respect to size. half and full, the full being two halves. One can also use the stay dry liner which adds another 50% longer time between needing a change since your body remains dry for a MUCH longer time. It was also understood that diapers were to be changed well before they were soaking wet. The Half BabyDoll goes for about 6 hours while the Petite BabyDoll, a Half BabyDoll with the liner goes for about 8. The Full BabyDoll would go for about 10 and the Frnch BabyDoll usually makes it to 16 and has gone for a full day before needing to be changed. So there are options. But since I am in skirts, dresses and babydolls the overwhelming bulk of the time I am in a French Babydoll. and changed twice a day, just before   breakfast and shortly after supper time. and they can be pulled down to do #2 and pulled back into place. The full-size BabyDoll is definitely for girls since it is doubtful that you could wear any reasonable type of pants as an outer grament over it or even a skirt that is not very loose, or it would shw as a bulge

[rusty pins]

I look at diapers this way as related to clothing.  I wouldn't wear a heavy winter coat in the summer when it's 80 degrees out.  I wouldn't wear shorts and a tank top to church, a wedding or to my office.  Likewise I wouldn't wear a tux for a day at the beach.

I have multiple diapers and they have their place.  For example, I have many packages of store type brands like cloth backed 4 tape Attends, McKesson and Prevail diapers.  Usually on a day I have off work I will get up around 6am and use one of these lower type brands of diapers because I may only be in a diaper for 2 to 3 hours before I dress normally for the day.  I get most of these lower end diapers at Goodwill or thrift stores for about $3 to $4 a package of 18 to 22 diapers.  At $2.50 TO $3+ for a premium diaper like Betterdry (a package of 10 TREST diapers cost me over $44), why would I waste a diaper that is designed to last 8 or 10 hours when I'm only going to wear it for 2 to 3 hours?

When I have the day off work and the house to myself, I may wear a Betterdry that will last me 7 or 8 hours.  Likewise when I go out of town Christmas shopping I may also wear a Betterdry diaper knowing I can get all my shopping done without needing to change diapers.  If I have a shorter day with the house to myself, I may choose an Abena L4 or Molicare that may last around 5 to 6 hours before needing a change if I can't spend that long diapered.  If I have the house to myself for 7 hours but plan on messing my diaper, I may forgo a premium diaper and go with a couple lower end diapers like cloth backed Attends or Prevail, because I can mess my diaper, change after an hour or two into another cloth backed disposable and not waste a more expensive higher end diaper when I can't get 6 or 7 hours out of it.

I plan a trip in about a week and I will start with a TREST diaper so I can go quite a while driving and a few stops before I need to change.  I'm timing my diaper choices so I will only need to change once before I get to the hotel.  Let's say for some reason I may need to change twice before getting to the hotel.  I won't waste two TREST diapers so I may go for a Betterdry as my second diaper.  Let's say I need to change the second diaper around 8pm, but I know the diaper I change into won't last me all night.  I may go with a lower end cloth backed diaper good for about 3 hours, then before bed change into an XP5000 that will get me through the night until I get up.  I may again use a Betterdry and run back to the hotel to change when I need to, but again if I have a tour planned to start at a specific time and know I won't be able to change in the middle of the tour when I need to, I may start the day in a slightly less absorbent Abena L4, then change into a Betterdry before my tour to make sure it will last.  Planning out what diapers you will wear throughout the day makes sense to get the most out of your diapers and change when it's most convenient based on your plans and schedule. 

In essence, there are many different diapers with different levels of absorption, bulkiness and comfort, same as different types of clothing.  I don't buy one or two types of diapers and wear them until they are gone or in all situations, I choose different diapers to best fit my different situations.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Pampers are more on the order of paper towels because that is how they are treated: Use once and thrown away. That, of necessity makes them consumables. And expensive consumables. But then, there was a line of thinking in the late '60's that saw clothing and other things as consumables. Some compnaies sell IED light fixtures as consumables, when the LED goes out, you take the whole thing down and toss it. Given where these things are usually made. you can do that with products of slave labor. This is just the working of the "throw-away culture". To quote from BRAVE NEW WORLD, "Ending is better than mending". However, their is a backlash. NIMBY being applied to dumps....erm....landfills. If they can go after plastic bags and plastic straws, why not the whole throw-away culture. Disposable diapers may end up being restricted to medical institutions which will have special means of disposal. Convenience can only be good to a certain point, beyond which it becomes sybarism and its practitioners are looked at like the 10-year old who throws the candy wrapper on the ground wherever he happens to be and expects others to pick up after him. Another brake on this trend is the fact that the prosperity that spawned this attitude has not existed for over a half century. The main reason why that has not dawned on us as a culture is the credit card that encourages indebtedness (as opposed to the debit card whereby the money is withdrawn from the account immediately), giving the illusion that one can live beyond one's means and driving up prices significantly. These financial instruemnts, in the form of things like "Diners' Club", were restricted to the more well off. Now, it is getting so bad that you almost live or die by your FICO score. That is the one thing Dave RAmsey is correct about. In this kind of culture, everthing is a consumable

[tommyneedsdiapers90]

this is an interesting question. for me its a bit of a mix of both, like clothing but also a consumable that i have to have on hand and make sure i dont run low, just like actual parents and baby diapers. there is one type i usually like to stick with at a time but i do like some options. the thing is the older i get, the less i wanna try new diapers or new patterns just cuz im sick of being disappointed by tapes or capacity or whatever.