What Is the Very Best Swim Diaper for a Baby?

March 14, 2017 7:46 AM

My eight month old is starting swimming classes in a couple of weeks (YAY!), plus we're planning to do a lot of swimming this summer both at pools and lakes. What is the VERY VERY BEST swim diaper we can get to prevent horrifying catastrophes?

I've googled this but it's so hard to get good, reliable information on this stuff. The thing I care about the most is that the diaper absolutely 100% prevent anything gross from escaping. What is the very best, most reliable swim diaper I can possibly get?

Other considerations that are way less important include:
1) Sizing -- she grows super fast and it'd be nice if I didn't need to buy a new swim diaper every month or so but I will if I have to
2) Machine washability -- totally not a requirement but would be a pleasant bonus
3) Cute is nice (octopuses, whales, polka dots) but she has cute bathing suits so this matters a lot less
4) Price -- obviously it'd be nice not to spend a zillion dollars on this but if it's a "get what you pay for" situation then I'd appreciate knowing that

Thank you so much for any suggestions or additional information you can provide!

posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl to Shopping (12 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh no, I hit post and immediately remembered an additional but less importation criterion: attainability! Available through Amazon would be great, internet is definitely best, it'd be hard for me to get to a physical store but if that's literally the only way to procure an effective swim diaper let me know.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:47 AM on March 14, 2017

I've been taking my munchkin to swim lessons for a while and I've never seen any escaping grossness from any of the many, many kids. They basically all work fine. I like the disposable ones because they're disposable, but any of the highly rated ones on Amazon will do equally fine - just make sure they fit her ok.

Have you had bad experiences in the past? It really just seems like they basically work now.
posted by brainmouse at 8:13 AM on March 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

I agree with brainmouse. I've never observed a swim diaper failure in 1.5 years of under-3 swim lessons plus a summer of extensive public pool use with toddlers. I think this is less of a problem than you're imagining.
posted by juliapangolin at 8:27 AM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Long before my little guy was even starting potty training we had him in the pool and never had a problem. I think they're all basically the same, so I don't think you'll have a problem. Like the others, I've never experienced any child causing a problem in the pool.
posted by SoftSummerBreeze at 8:29 AM on March 14, 2017

I don't even know what brand of reusable swim diapers we've used, because they've all been from consignment sales. I think some iPlay and maybe a Munchkin or two. Just make sure it's the right size.

For additional protection and peace of mind (also sometimes a pool requirement) we always put an old-school white waterproof "plastic pants" kind of diaper cover over it. Knock on wood, we've had very few Pooping Incidents, but the ones we've had, this setup didn't fail us.

Additional information: Swim diapers aren't designed to hold pee. Don't put it on at home and then drive to the pool. Swim diaper goes on VERY LAST THING before you get in the pool. For convenience, I sometimes put swim diaper over regular diaper for the drive, because it's not too hard to unfasten the regular diaper and remove it without taking everything off. Just don't forget to remove it before going in the pool or you'll have a big soggy mess!
posted by telepanda at 8:39 AM on March 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for this! I was picturing all the Terrible Things that might happen and it's a relief to know I was catastrophizing (I am unbelievably excited about taking the muskrat swimming and I'm trying to make sure I do everything possible to make it a good experience for both of us). I did know that swim diapers don't hold pee and I'm grateful for any other insight people have. Thank you again to everyone who responded!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:45 AM on March 14, 2017

Our daycare started requiring that kids wear a non-disposable one over a disposable one to prevent leakage. This leads me to believe that a) they had leakage issues with just disposables and b) this was the solution that fixed the problem. I bought a Charlie Banana one for my son at the time (1.5 years ago) and he is still able to wear it. (It's a bit snug, but fine for swimming. We don't use the disposable underneath any more.)
posted by LKWorking at 9:29 AM on March 14, 2017

Before you buy, check and see if your swim lesson pool has any requirements. Ours didn't allow disposable swim diapers. (I used bummi's and they worked great for us!)
posted by rebeccabeagle at 12:33 PM on March 14, 2017

I bought the iPlay brand off Amazon. It's best to get the kind that snap on the side, rather than the ones you have to completely pull off.
posted by medeine at 12:45 PM on March 14, 2017

Our local pool insists on disposable inner swim diaper or a reusable inner one, AND then a pair of 'plastic training pants' over top. I have yet to be evacuated from that pool due to 'fouling'. A shortie wetsuit style bathing suit (yes, baby wetsuits are a thing, great for ice cold pools and cold lake days) can help, um....secure messes too.

Have fun swimming!
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 2:46 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Our pool and our lesson place both also require a disposable swim diaper (I like Huggies Little Swimmers; Pampers come in numbered sizes, Huggies in S-M-L) under a reusable one. For reusable, I like the Bummis Swimmi best, but the iPlay snap-side one we also have is just as good for half the price.
posted by ThatSomething at 3:57 PM on March 14, 2017

Just echoing the chorus- Baby Kitty loves to swim and wears the disposable Pampers Swimmers (I like them better than the Huggins since it's easier to tell which side is the front) and then swim trunks with a mesh liner on top of that. We've never had an incident or messes.

Good luck with swim lessons!
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 8:14 PM on March 14, 2017