Another Way

Swim diapers are a relatively new phenomenon. If they existed when my kids were kids, they weren’t on my radar. I once saw a documentary about their development. It involved hours of testing with 20-gallon fish tanks, human babies, and purple-dyed cooked oatmeal. The oatmeal simulated the normal contents of a diaper and the dye made leaks easier to detect. The whole idea behind the invention is “what happens in the diaper stays in the diaper.” They’re not the least bit absorbent. If they were, you wouldn’t be able to lift your baby out of the pool. But urine is sterile and easily handled by pool chemicals and filters. Solid waste; not so much. I learned something new about swim diapers last week: they’re reusable. If they haven’t been pooped in, you can wash them in the delicate cycle, air dry them, and slap them back on. That’s big news, especially when you consider what they cost.