Diaper

Baby cloth diaper filled with extra cloth.

A diaper (in North America) or nappy (in Britain, many Commonwealth countries and Ireland) is an absorbent garment worn by individuals who are incontinent, that is, lack control over bladder or bowel movements, or who are unable to reach the toilet when needed. This group primarily includes infants and young children, as well as some elderly people, some with a physical or mental disability, people working in extreme conditions (e.g. NASA astronauts), and people with Diaper fetishism.

History

The problem of clothing infants not yet potty trained is as old as human history. Before the invention of modern diapers, mothers living in warm climates typically left their children naked and cleaned up their waste only when it interfered with eating, sleeping, or working. Northern cultures such as the Inuit and Lappi made use of absorbent sphagnum moss which is still used by native cultures for this purpose. When infants needed to be moved, they were wrapped tightly in home-spun cloths or in shells fabricated from plants or animal hides. (A familiar example is the Native American papoose, a bundled infant often depicted as carried on its mother’s back.) In colder regions, infants were often bound up, neck to toe, in “swaddling clothes” or blankets that served multiple purposes: keeping the infant warm and secure, freeing mothers to undertake chores, and acting as primitive diapers. Sources on actual usage are scarce: one sixteenth century source claims the infant garments were changed every three or four days, while wet garments may not have been washed but simply dried and re-used.

In the mid-nineteenth century, cheap manufactured cotton fabrics, such as flannel and muslin, were newly available and affordable and cotton mills filled demand for clothing and accessories. Diapers were either purpose-cut or made from rags: typically rectangular or square in shape and were folded and fastened on infants as garments or undergarments. An important advance occurred in the late 1840s with the invention of the safety pin. The basic cotton diaper meanwhile evolved little through the decades, as it was inexpensive, versatile (bigger children could use bigger cloths), moderately absorptive, washable, and reusable: often from child to child in a family or community, whereas rural communities in England frequently had a parish layette trunk prepared by the vicar's wife and passed around new mothers .

Even as cotton diapers gained acceptance numerous inventors and entrepreneurs sought to improve upon the limitations. Between the 1880s and 1930s the United States government patent office recorded dozens of relevant “inventions,” including shaped and fitted diaper designs, alternative fastening systems, absorbent inserts, medicated surfaces, and moisture-proof covers. In 1858, for example, J. H. Hall designed a moisture-proof attachment to a cloth diaper to capture and isolate waste. During the next few decades, more ideas and innovations surfaced: a diaper with a disposable paper lining; rubberized panties with medicated surfaces; disposable absorbent cellulose pad inserts.

The revolution in disposable diapers began in the 1930s. Perhaps in anticipation of wartime supply disruptions, the Germans were seeking alternatives to imported cotton for medical purposes and developed a technique to fabricate a soft cellulose tissue (“Zellstoff”) from wood pulp. This technique caught the attention of the Swedish paper company Pauliström Bruk, which in the late 1930s brought about a brand new concept whereby a special type of soft tissue sheets, cut into pieces and wrapped into a parcel, was placed in the baby’s pants. This represented the first step toward the disposable diaper.

Since these early innovations in the 1930s the disposable diaper has continued to undergo significant technological advancements. Disposables have replaced traditional cloth diapers throughout the developed nations and in most developing countries.

First disposable diapers

• 1941: First reference to a “disposable diaper” at Pauliström: a 2-piece product consisting of a disposable pad of cellulose wadding with gauze or knitted mesh cover and a reusable panty.
• 1946: American housewife Marion Donovan patents the “Boater” (waterproof cover with snaps for cloth diaper or disposable insert).
• 1947: British mother Valerie Hunter Gordon develops a two-piece disposable diaper for her own baby and sells more than 400 to local women. Two years later, Robinson & Sons commercializes a two-piece Paddi Pad diaper based on this concept..

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Types

Disposable

Since their introduction several decades ago, product innovations include the use of super-absorbent polymers, resealable tapes and elasticised waist bands. They are now much thinner and much more absorbent. The product range has more recently been extended into children’s toilet-training phase with the introduction of training pants and pant diapers.

Modern baby diapers and incontinence products have a layered construction, which allows the transfer and distribution of urine to an absorbent core structure where it is locked in.

• The topsheet closest to the skin is made of soft nonwoven fabric and transfers urine quickly to the layers underneath;
• The distribution layer receives the urine flow and transfers it on to the absorbent core;
• The absorbent core structure is the key component and is made out of a mixture of cellulose pulp and superabsorbent polymers;
• The backsheet is typically made of ‘breathable’ polyethylene film or a nonwoven and film composite which prevents wetness transfer to the bed or clothes.

Disposable diapers have overtaken the cloth diaper market many times over. Approximately 18 billion units of disposable diapers were sold in the USA in 2004.

Cloth

Cloth diapers are reusable and are most often made of industrial cotton. The fabric may be bleached white or now more commonly left a natural color. Alternative materials which are becoming much more popular and more common are grown without pesticides, such as bamboo, unbleached hemp, and organic cotton. Another popular non-natural fiber is polyester microfiber fleece, commonly used inside cloth diapers for its absorbency. Pre-formed cloth diapers with snaps or hook and loop fasteners (similar to Velcro) and all-in-one diapers with waterproof exteriors are now available, in addition to the older pre-fold and pin variety. Increasingly popular are "pocket" or "stuffable" diapers, which consist of a water-resistant outer shell sewn with an opening in the back for insertion of absorbent material. These place much less stress on landfills; however, they may also require laundering and high-temperature water to be properly cleaned. Cloth diaper-wearing children go through about 6,000 diaper changes. If thrown into a landfill, cotton diapers decompose within six months. Some cities have a cloth diapering service that delivers clean diapers and picks up soiled ones for a fee.

The disposables versus cloth debate

A life cycle analysis is one way to choose between disposable diapers and reusable cloth diapers. This analysis attempts to take into account all the environmental factors, including raw material and energy usage, air and water pollution emissions, and waste management issues. Several such analyses have concluded that when all factors are taken into account, both types of diapers have roughly the same environmental effect. Others have come to opposing conclusions.

Diaper changing

The replacing of a soiled diaper is commonly referred to as "diapering" or "diaper changing." Diaper changing is essential to the prevention of contracting skin irritation of the buttocks, genitalia, and/or the waist. When to change a diaper is the decision of the caregiver. Some people believe that diapers should be changed at fixed times of the day for a routine, such as after naps and after meals. Other people believe that diapers should be changed when they feel a change is needed regardless of timing. Still others people believe a diaper should be changed immediately upon wetting or soiling. And, some believe that a diaper should be changed only when the wearer is uncomfortable, the diaper is full, the diaper is leaking, or the wearer has a bowel movement.

To avoid skin irritation, commonly referred to as diaper rash, the diaper of those prone to it should be changed as soon as possible after it is soiled (especially by fecal matter). The combination of urine and feces creates ammonia. Ammonia irritates skin and can cause painful redness. During the change, after the buttocks are cleaned and dried, some people use baby oil, barrier creme or baby powder to reduce the possibility of irritation. The most effective means to prevent and treat diaper rash is to expose the buttocks to air and sunshine as often as possible. There are also drying creams based on such ingredients as zinc oxide which can be used to treat diaper rash. Before disposing of a diaper, either in a diaper pail for washing or the garbage, fecal matter should be removed as much as possible and placed in a toilet to avoid landfill and ground water contamination.

Not a pleasant task, diaper changing is often a source of humour, espescially when performed by men. Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg can be seen comically changing a baby's diaper in the 1987 movie Three Men and a Baby.

Word origin

The word diaper originally referred to the type of cloth rather than its use.

"Diaper" was originally the term for an overall pattern of small repeated geometric shapes, and then a white cotton or linen fabric with such a pattern.

The first cloth nappies consisted of a special type of soft tissue sheet, cut into geometric shapes. This is how the term “diaper” acquired a new meaning and it is still used today for modern disposable nappies

The first known reference is in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew : "Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper". This usage stuck in the United States and Canada, but in Britain the word nappy (short for baby napkin) took its place.

Length of use

While awake, most children no longer need diapers when past two to four years of age, depending on culture, diaper type, parental habits, and the child's personality. However, some children have problems with daytime or more often nocturnal bladder control until eight years or older. Known as enuresis, or more commonly bedwetting, this may occur for a wide variety of reasons and can be both a short-term or long-standing issue. With this as well as the increasing number of obese infants in developed countries, disposables manufacturers have made special diapers which mimic underwear and do not require complex fastening or adult assistance, known as training pants. Standard but oversized diapers are also available, both cloth and disposable.

Bedwetting diapers are marketed under such euphemisms as "absorbent underwear" and "pyjama pants" so as to avoid alienating children and parents who consider wearing diapers until a late age to be "babyish". Available in boys and girls designs, they are aimed towards children roughly between the ages of four and fifteen.

Adult usage

Although generally associated only with infants, diapers are sometimes also worn by older children, youth or adults for a variety of reasons. There may be a medical reason why a person is unable to reach to a toilet for longer than their bladders can hold out, such as incontinence or bedwetting. For example, pregnant women must urinate very frequently, and urgently, and therefore may decide to wear adult diapers. People who are bedridden, recovering from surgery, or in a wheelchair may also wear diapers because they are unable to access the toilet independently. Because the usage of diapers and incontinence problems in general are often the cause of significant embarrassment for the sufferer, youth and adult diapers are often instead referred to as incontinence pads.

Many fetishists wear diapers for sexual gratification. People with diaper fetishism have a desire to wear diapers even though it is not a physiological necessity, and may enjoy using their diaper to various degrees, depending on the person. Infantilists wear and use diapers in ageplay, although they are considered distinct from fetishists, as "diaper lovers" are sexually motivated to wear diapers, whereas "adult babies" wish to regress to the helpless state of a baby. Other sexual uses of diapers include omorashi, rubber or plastic fetishism, and Total Power Exchange in BDSM.

Astronauts wear trunk-like diapers called "Maximum Aborbency Garments", or MAGs, during liftoff and landing. On space shuttle missions, each crew member receives three diapers — for launch, reentry and a spare in case reentry has to be waved off and tried later. The super-absorbent fabric used in disposable diapers, which can hold up to 400 times its weight, was developed so Apollo astronauts could stay on spacewalks and extra-vehicular activity for at least six hours. Originally, only female astronauts would wear diapers, as the collection devices used by men were unsuitable for women; however, reports of the diapers' comfort and effectiveness eventually convinced men to start wearing them as well.

Public awareness of astronaut diapers rose significantly following the arrest of Lisa Nowak, a NASA astronaut charged with attempted murder who gained noteriety in the media for driving 900 miles in an adult diaper so she would not have to stop to urinate. The diapers became fodder for many television comedians, as well as being included in an adaptation of the story in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, despite Nowak's denial that she wore them.

Others situations in which diapers are worn because access to a toilet is unavailable or not allowed include guards who must stay on duty and are not permitted to leave their post; this is sometimes called the "watchman's urinal". It has long been suggested that legislators don a diaper before an extended filibuster, so often that it has been jokingly called "taking to the diaper." There has certainly been at least one such instance, in which Strom Thurmond gave a record holding 24 hours and 18 minute speech. Some Death Row inmates who are about to be executed wear "execution diapers" to collect body fluids expelled during and after their death. Characters in films such as Monster's Ball, Ted Bundy, and Sin City mention or can be seen being diapered before their execution. People diving in diving suits (in former times often standard diving dresses) may wear diapers because they are underwater continuously for several hours. Similarly, pilots may also wear them on long flights. Some competitive weightlifters choose to wear diapers when they first start out because the pressure makes them urinate involuntarily. It has even been claimed by the The Epoch Times that adult diapers are a popular way to avoid long bathroom lines during China's traveling season.

Sean Odoms of Men's Health magazine is well known for his belief that wearing diapers can help people of all ages to maintain healthy bowel fuction. He himself claims to wear diapers full-time for this purported health benefit. "Diapers," he states, "are nothing other than a more practical and healthy form of underwear. They are the safe and healthy way of living." [2]

Diaper discipline

Diapers are sometimes, though rarely, used to enforce discipline in older children. In these cases, diapers are used to create a stronger attachment relationship between the child and parent. The goal is to curb growing rebellious feelings in the child, which proponents of diaper disciple allege are defensive. To alleviate them, a substitute protection is provided, in the form of diapers. In 2006, a group of parents supporting this practice formed an online community to publicize the idea. The website is not related to the paraphilias in any way and will ban diaper fetishists or infantilists from its community.[3] The site's suggested program is largely based on the theraplay technique, which was devised in 1967 in Chicago in a bid to build strong families and emotionally healthy children. It is now recognised worldwide.[4]

Diapers and non-human species

Diapers and diaper-like products are sometimes used on animals (mostly pets, but also sometimes laboratory and working animals). This is often due to the animal not being housebroken. Though, it may also be for older, sick, or injured pets who have become incontinent. In some cases, these are simply baby diapers with holes cut for the tails to fit through. In other cases, they are diaper-like waste collection devices.

Animals that are sometimes diapered include :

• Horses (often so their manure can be used for fertilizer or so the horses can be used in public settings without leaving droppings on the ground). If the horse is hauling, sometimes the diaper is a piece of strong cloth or plastic slung between the horse's hauling harness and the front of the cart or carriage. Some mares are kept specifically for the production of urine, collected for premarin, a hormonal drug.
• Dogs (often when a female is ovulating and thus bleeding).
• Monkeys and apes (most monkeys are physically unable to learn control of excretions, which is not a useful ability for tree-dwelling animals. Diapers are most often seen on trained animals who appear on TV shows, in movies, or for live entertainment or educational appearances).

See also

• Training pants
• Elimination communication