More Realistic Adult Diapers

I've been down with a cold for a few days, giving me time to think about it, and I really wish there were a better adult disposable diaper. I know that somebody at Protex for Life was in discussion with some disposable makers to produce such a thing, but I don't know how it's going lately. The guy who was doing this had a Yahoo group to keep people informed about it, but it got shut down, and he kept opening new ones, but they kept getting shut down, and I got lost and don't know where they are now. Somebody was joining those groups just to report on them to Yahoo, which is pure evil.

But back to diapers. If I were talking to a diaper manufacturer, I would argue it something like this: when I put on a diaper, I want to feel safe and secure that there won't be any leaks. I'm not interested so much in a paper-thin discreet diaper -- the most discreet diaper in the world stops being undetectable as soon as a leak happens. I want to lie down in bed in any position and know that if there's an accident, I'm not going to have to wash the sheets. That means that I'm interested in thickness, because feeling a thick diaper makes me feel more confident that I'm leakproof, and in having that thickness all over, even in the sides, so I feel protected in any sleeping or moving position.

A lot of these problems have already been solved for baby diapers, but somehow the solutions aren't really being used in adult diapers. Here's how I know: How much taller is an adult than a baby? Let's say it's 3 times. Diaper manufacturers have already figured out that they have to make adult diapers about 3 times longer and 3 times wider than baby diapers. But they make them out of the same material, meaning that's 9 times the absorbent area -- although they usually cut out the absorbency from the sides of the diaper and concentrate it down the center. But this same adult's bladder is about 3 times bigger than the baby's, not just in 2 dimensions, but in all 3. We are talking about something like 27 times the volume that has to be absorbed by this diaper with 9 times the absorbency. Adult diapers need to have 3 times the thickness of baby diapers as well as 3 times the length and width!

Now, 3 times the absorbency would also work. But since I can't tell just by looking at or feeling a diaper how absorbent its space-age gel materials are, I'm really only reassured by a thick diaper.

Tapes are another problem that has been solved for baby diapers, if only the adult diaper manufacturers would see. If they scaled up the single tape that baby diapers have on each side so that it was three times as long and wide, they would only need to have one on each side, instead of two or even three, which some adult disposables seem determined to use. One large tape per side would be faster to put on and take off than two or three.

As for color, the question is who is going to see your diapers, and do you want them to know when your diaper is wet? For example, if a caregiver is changing you, it's easiest for them if they can tell by looking when you need a change. In this case, the old standby, white, is definitely the best color, with no confusing colors or patterns to get in the way. Maybe those wetness indicator strips too, though sometimes those things change color just when there's a humid environment, as in when the wearer is sweating, rather than when the diaper really needs changing, but I digress. There's also a place for colored or patterned diapers too, if you're in a situation where somebody might chance see your diapers and you don't want them to know what they are or whether they're wet (as in under a skirt). And then there are those who treat their diaper-wearing with a sense of childlike humor and want little teddy bears or balloons on their diapers; what is wrong with that?

At least some of the innovations from baby diapers are making it to adult diapers, like leak guards and elastic leg gathers, but the manufacturers need to look at what their customers want. Do they want paper-thin disposable panties that feel like they'll leak at the drop of a hat, or do they want serious protection, so worries about those dreaded diaper leaks are the furthest thing from their minds?

True, if adult diaper makers made diapers like this, adult diapers would be much more like baby diapers, nice and thick all around with one tape on each side, and maybe with some interesting colors or prints. I might have an ulterior motive there. :-) But there's this drive to make them different from baby diapers, as if the majority of customers care about that as opposed to practicality.