# Cloth swim diapers vs. disposable, and the law



## atpeace (Apr 17, 2006)

DS and I signed up for a mommy-baby water yoga class this fall, and we had our first class this past week (which DS loved!). We cloth diaper, so I just assumed that we would use a reusable swim diaper as well. I purchased one and he wore it in the pool, no problems.

However, the instructor gave a speech about how by law, we must have swim diapers on our babies that can hold urine, or else she has to close down the pool if one of the babies urinates in it. I'm confused now, because the cloth swim diaper is very thin (not the usual padded prefold-type diaper, it almost looks like just a diaper cover), and I can't imagine it holding any urine. I was under the impression that swim diapers are only designed to hold feces in, and not urine, which is "taken care" of by the chlorine anyway.

Does that mean I have to go out and buy disposable swim diapers? Also, how would the teacher even know that a baby has urinated in the water? And finally, is there really some law that states the exact type of diaper that must be used (I've googled and found nothing).

Anyone have any comments?


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## dejagerw (Jan 5, 2010)

Swim diapers, (disposable or cloth) are not designed to hold pee, only poop. I think the instructor was trying to tell you that the baby needs to be in a swim diaper until potty trained. Just retort next time that she is wearing a swim diaper, a cloth one. She might not have been able to tell it was a diaper. Most people don't recognize cloth swim diapers, or even know they exist. If she goes into it further you can tell her that all swim diapers don't hold pee, they are only designed to stop poop. (If swim diapers absorbed pee, then as soon as the baby went in the pool, the diaper would absorb the pool water.) They don't need to shut the pool down if someone pees (there's no way to tell that anyway). It's only if poop is floating in the pool that they need to shut it down.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

Ridiculous - the instructor doesn't understand what she is talking about. Anything that would hold urine would also hold the pool water. Urine is NOT a concern in a pool - only fecal matter so as long as it will hold poop in it is ok.

As for the law - it would have to a by-law (which I doubt) that she is referring too 'cause Ontario law does not state anything like that.

When there is a pool fouling (poop floating around) the policy is usually to scoop it out, super shock the pool & then close it for one cycle of pump (however long it takes to cycle all the water through the pump system once) - the timing of that differs for each pool. Obviously pool foulings are a major inconvenience but urine - no biggie.

I'd keep doing what you're doing & if the instructor says anything more contact the pool manager directly.


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## lunita1 (May 12, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *atpeace* 
DS and I signed up for a mommy-baby water yoga class this fall, and we had our first class this past week (which DS loved!). We cloth diaper, so I just assumed that we would use a reusable swim diaper as well. I purchased one and he wore it in the pool, no problems.

However, the instructor gave a speech about how by law, we must have swim diapers on our babies that can hold urine, or else she has to close down the pool if one of the babies urinates in it. I'm confused now, because the cloth swim diaper is very thin (not the usual padded prefold-type diaper, it almost looks like just a diaper cover), and I can't imagine it holding any urine. I was under the impression that swim diapers are only designed to hold feces in, and not urine, which is "taken care" of by the chlorine anyway.

Does that mean I have to go out and buy disposable swim diapers? Also, how would the teacher even know that a baby has urinated in the water? And finally, is there really some law that states the exact type of diaper that must be used (I've googled and found nothing).

Anyone have any comments?

any mom who has left their child in a disposable swim diaper for a while can tell you that disposable swim diapers don't absorb pee any more than the thin cloth swim diapers do. They're both only designed to contain poop, not keep pee from entering the water.


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## Ola_ (Sep 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
Ridiculous - the instructor doesn't understand what she is talking about. Anything that would hold urine would also hold the pool water.

This. I think the instructor is a little confused.


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## lach (Apr 17, 2009)

The swim director is confused. Any diaper that would hold in pee would also absorb the pool water and would weigh 100lbs and be unable to hold in any poop within seconds of hitting the water. Disposable swim diapers are designed to hold in poop and let pee go through: any normally chlorinate pool (of the kind you would find at any Y, community center, and at the vast majority of homes) can handle some pee. It's the poop that's the potential problem.


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## CarrieMF (Mar 7, 2004)

Quote:

Any diaper that would hold in pee would also absorb the pool water and would weigh 100lbs and be unable to hold in any poop within seconds of hitting the water.
and explode with little jelly balls everywhere that would clog any filters.


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## atpeace (Apr 17, 2006)

Thanks everyone. I contacted my city regarding bylaws (none exist), the pool itself, and public health. Still waiting for replies from the last two. Also, I've checked out the Huggies and Pampers websites to get more info about their swim diapers, and not surprisingly, there is very little useful information there. So I emailed both of them to ask for more info (what is the "unique absorbent material" they keep referring to? They don't actually say that the diapers hold urine, they just say they "protect"...but no idea what or who, against what...gotta love cryptic marketing!).

Perhaps I'm hoping to be a bit confrontational














, but I feel like I can become a cloth diapering activist once I get all this info!


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## Aliy (Jun 1, 2010)

personally i'd say the instructor is off their rocker... cause well lots and lots of peole pee in the pool. I know gross but it happens on a very regualr babsis.

I agree with all previous posts and if the pool was to come back to you saying that this is true as is they are requiring everyone to wear diapers, casue just becasue they are potty trained doesn't mean they aren't peeing in the pool


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