Baby diapers and adult diapers may seem very similar to many people but in many aspects, they are very different. The needs for babies and adults are similar but different in many respects and I will go through them. Many of the adult babies and diaper lovers out there want just a bigger version of the baby diapers. While, in my opinion, this can be achieved to some extent – the design characteristics, absorbency, and other factors have to be changed to conform to the adult body and it’s needs.
Absorbency
Baby diapers are made with not only absorbency in mind BUT they aren’t meant to be completely soaked to the brim and sat in for hours upon hours. This is a major difference between many of the adult diapers and baby diapers. Many of the people who wear adult diapers either have to be in a diaper for a longer period of time or choose to stay in a wet or messy diaper for a longer period of time. This is not the case when it comes to baby diapers. Many baby diapers are wet or defecated in once or twice and then changed quite soon after because the risk of chaffing, uncomfortableness, etc comes into play with babies. So, the absorbency of many baby diapers is not designed to hold the maximum amount but rather the average void usually of a baby since most babies do not sit in their diapers for more than an hour or so. While, adult diapers are made with maximum absorbency and is a important factor in buying adult diapers. Adults want good absorbency because they can’t always change their diaper whenever it needs to be changed nor can they risk the chance of leaks of any sort as that would be humiliating to many adults.
Design
The comfort and fit is important both to babies and adults but different factors come into play with each. Most babies bodies are quite similar for the most part while adults body shapes vary. For example, babies thighs can vary but for the most part are fairly similar in size/diameter; but, adults thighs can differ by several inches sometimes in diameter which makes a huge difference in what diaper is going to work for you. Some adult diapers are made with larger leg openings to accommodate larger thighs while some other adult diapers have smaller leg openings that will probably still fit but may be a little tight.
Waistbands are typically an important characteristic in adult diapers because adults like the diaper to hug their waistline and it helps to prevent leaks out of the top of the diaper. This characteristic is not as popular in baby diapers but it does exist. The need for this feature is just not as prevalent for babies as it is for adults.
Tapes
The infamous one large tape on each side of the diaper is famous in many baby diapers and sought after by some adult babies and diaper lovers. Very few companies have attempted to replicate this “two-tape” (one tape on each side) system for adults because the mechanics behind the design is quite complex and not very feasible. In baby diapers, the one tape on each side is sufficient in supporting the adult diaper enough when it is wet or dirty and is able to prevent too much sagging. But, the average void for adults is a lot larger than babies and causes the adult diaper to become a lot heavier and the one tape on each side system is not able to properly support the diaper. That is why you see many adult diapers with either two tapes on each side or three tapes on each side because adult diapers when they are wet or messed in need the extra support in order to accommodate the extreme weight of the urine or fecal matter.
Thickness
The thickness of many adult diapers compared to baby diapers is quite different. Baby diapers are used at a high rate and therefore do not require the same absorbency and thus the thickness of the baby diaper is diminished. While, on the other hand, the adult diapers usually require a lot more absorbency (more SAP and pulp) and thus thickness is a lot higher. Thickness is usually a sought after item in the adult baby and diaper lover community but in the incontinence community, thickness is not always a good thing for discreetness purposes.
Overall, the same factors go into baby diapers and adult diapers but in varying degrees. Babies don’t need or want the same things that adults look for in adult diapers. While the baby diaper can be somewhat replicated into adult diapers – in my opinion – the only thing that is not feasible to replicate is the one tape on each side system because it just is not feasible to support adult’s needs when it comes to urine and fecal matter. As nice as a one tape on each side system would be, it might be good for looks, but it presents several problems when it comes to adult diapers. .
Great article. Do you know how many baby diapers equals one one adult diaper wetting? Or absorbancy. I heard it’s like 20
Dear Adrian I did once manage to buy online a drydayz/cudlez adult sized diaper that had the old One tape system like you mentioned but it didn’t last long as it ripped open after a embarrassing accident I had and so yes I know what your saying as to the fact they aren’t strong enouth to hold a large wetting.
I have also tried the pampers replica diapers you reviewed in one of your earlier stories and found the double tape system very much more stronger and able to take the extra weight experienced during my hevy wetting accidents caused by my disabilities and an over active bladder, and yes to a degree I am looking for a adult sized pampers diaper to be produced and sold on the markets, but until then I will continue to wear my Tena slip (Super) adult sized diapers as they have saved me countless times from embarrassments whilst I have been wearing them for almost a year now.
Anyway Just thought I would reply to your article on this story.
Yours sincerely
Kwan Ming ?
Nice article, I prefer security and comfort over thickness though sadly the thinner diapers become, the less they can hold 🙁
I’d be much easier if they’d become a bit cheaper so we could change more often too.
On another note, I was wondering why there is a contact form if we get no feedback from that mail 🙁
Nice analysis! Thank you.
I like the two-tape system (two tapes per side, four total). It allows for a much better fit. Three tape systems give me problems- the bottom tape gets curled up or pops off and sticks to my leg.
I think what most AB/DL people love about baby diapers is how they fit those baby bottoms. I know I kept looking for an adult diaper that would fit me like a baby diaper fits babies.
Here I’ll segue into saying, “Thank You!” I’ve purchased 2 cases of Bambino Biancos and one of Secure X-Plus, and I love them. They’re even based on this coast! I order and within two days they arrive. Wonderful absorbency- I’ve not sprung a leak yet. Thank you for doing reviews on them and featuring a link to them on your site.
One thing I hate about the ABDL community is seeing adults in baby diapers or goodnites/drynites .. it just seems abit wrong.
I dont really know why anyone would want to try and squeeze in baby diapers. They’re mega thin, you cant use em cuz they dont hold anything, and I dont really see the big appeal to the one tape thing. Two tapes per side is just fine, especially since that means a little extra support, keeping wet diapers from falling off! Some may be appealed to the prints they have, but I feel since I’m buying my own diapers, I’ll take function (and comfortability) over form any day.
As far as the one tape per side diaper for adults goes, it would absolutely work if it were implemented correctly. The tape would have to be proportionally wider to cover more of the surface area of the diaper on the side and thus provide as secure of an attachment as two or three tapes per side does. If it had the same size and height proportion to a baby diaper, it would work.
I’ve noticed how the shape of a baby diaper is also slightly different, which an adult diaper could be as well. A baby diaper tends to be wider in the center section while the sides, or wings, do not extend as far out. This is because they don’t need to, since the center width takes care of it. Adult diapers, on the other hand have proportionally narrower center sections with the wings making up for the additional width needed to meet each other around the hips. But I don’t see why an adult diaper couldn’t be made to fit like a baby diaper. Such a diaper would be more comfortable, as the wearer’s legs could bend more easily without being encumbered with the plastic of the diaper unnecessarily extending farther down the legs than necessary. It would be more like high cut underwear, except it would be a diaper – same look as a baby.
I can come pretty close to this fit and look with an adult diaper by trimming off the excess plastic on the sides that contains no padding, so that the sides of the diaper are more tapered. Then, I fasten the lower tapes (and middle ones, if it has them) right beneath the upper tapes. Or with an Attends, the middle tape can be fastened over the top and bottom tape and just slightly forward so that there will still be enough plastic for it to stick onto. The Attends tapes and plastic are softer and flexible, so it makes it pretty easy. With a Bambino, I just fasten the lower tape right beneath the top one and fold or tuck any excess plastic beneath. The resulting fit is much more comfortable and makes me feel more like I’m wearing a real diaper.
This is a little off-topic, but has anybody noticed a change in Bambinos’ construction? I just got my new shipment, and I am WAY not pleased. They changed something about the plastic they use. It feels flimsy and thin and rubbery and un-satisfying, and it barely crinkles. Basically, it no longer feels like a premium diaper.
Geratis I found the same thing. I even had quite a few that had holes in the middle of the diaper and leaked a lot. My second and third case since the new batch seems better.
I have found that a number of the baby diapers will hold as much or more as a number of the adult products and are much cheaper.
Another problem is that some products will absorb your perspiration and form a waterproof “skin” over the pad. If you then wet, as I did last week, the diaper (Attends Mens pull up) will absorb nothing and you have a BIG leak. Luckily I had plastic pants on and they caught and held most of the urine.
Attends had diapers with one tape on each side, well they suck big time.
There is only one diaper I know that will have the same absorbency as a baby diaper, it gets realy thick when wet and it holds allot of pee, it’s the tena slip ultima, but I don’t think they sell it in the US but in Europe they do, Netherlands, Belgium Russia.
“There is only one diaper I know that will have the same absorbency as a baby diaper, it gets really thick when wet and it holds allot of pee, it’s the tena slip ultima, but I don’t think they sell it in the US but in Europe they do, Netherlands, Belgium Russia.”
Tena is sold here, don’t know if these are the tena “slip ultima” but I do know the Super holds a LOT. I’ve used them too.
http://www.magicmedical.com/promdisdiap.html
Hi Adrian. Nice topic for baby vs adult diapers. I think you hit a fair number of points between the two diaper types here. I know it was a long long time ago and correct me if I’m wrong, I think baby diapers say late 80’s early 90’s and don’t remember what brands either had pink color for girls and blue for boys I belive. Yeah whatever the main diapers then that floks bought for there little ones back then. For adult diapers now and say late 90’s say to 2006ish just firing off some time frame here, most adult diapers are now mostly white in color. I remember back in 98 after getting my drivers lience and went to a local wal-mart and they had single sample packs of Depeneds and they were the green color then untill when the went to white. I know Attends Breathable that I get most times are a blue in color and I don’t mind that at all. Yeah on my stay at home vacation I did have Bambino and Cushies for plastic back diapers to get away from cloth back which I’m going away from for various reasons. Plastic back felt a lot better I guess for the crinkle sound and feel. Some hospitals just guessing here, use a color coding system for there diapers as to the proper size for the patient. Molicare, been awhile since I had one of them are purple in color I think and its a nice change it in the color of diapers these days not knowing anyone diaper company is aiming for as long as the products are of good quality. I just placed an order not but a few days ago for some all printed diapers from ClassyComfortDiapers.com I should have them by the end of the week and I’ll let you all know what I think of them. Yeah, they might be highly priced, but plan well ahead and get them as mayjor treat type of diaper. Also as has been mention lately within the last topic or so is about the one wide tape. Late last year I did have some Tena Stretch Brief that has one wide tab and it is cloth back diaper. The same goes for the Prevail Strecth Fit that also has one wide tab. Those for me would be ok day time diapers. Wow, I think I mention a lot here to equal a blog topic besides a reply. Ha!Ha! Well, i think thats all for this reply until I get my diapers from ClassyComfortDiaper and let you all know what they are like. Yeah, I guess some colors for all the diapers for anyone wouldn’t hurt to much I don’t think If not to shake things up some. Good Night Everyone.
I use tena slip maximum absorbency and it realy holds a lot, and it is confortable and not very thick. I am stisfied, but wanna try bambinos
Hello to Adrian and all readers. This past Wednesday I got my ClassyComfortDiapers. I’ll tell you all, make sure you do a lot of Q & A before placing and order. I placed an order for the large size as thats my what I wear. They do have Meduim and Large to choose from on their site. Monday I got an email from them saying my order shipped that day and here is something in that email I feel all should know. “Right now for size we are offering only the medium/large so that is what we sent.” Yeah when I read that I was thinking of a regular size that is right in the middle of Meduim and Large. What I got was a Medium size. They barely fit me and very tight. Not to good there. The diaper it self is I’ll say about average thickness. The normal two tapes per side. Has fair good size legcathers. I don’t think I spelled that right. You get the idea. No waistband and a wettness strip. The prints are all over the diaper itself. Bears of all colors. Yellow, Red, Green and Blue stripes running the lenght of the diapers. Also has blocks of ABC and shapes and of course the name Classy Comfort itself. I would say the prints would rival the prints of the Cushies from ABU. I don’t know why they don’t have sample pack like a lot of others that we all know of. I did ask about samples before ordering. I recieved a response that they do not have samples and the smallest count they have a is the 8 pack. $10.00 for shipping for priority mail from the USPS. Regular mail. Maybe a bit faster than FEDEX or UPS. Not knowing if anyone here has checked out the site for there prices, the 8 pack itself is $21.00 with the shipping of $10 included for the total of $31. Yeah very highly priced. Overall these diapers would best be used for playing at home and small useage instead of practical use for everyday. So be careful should you chose to order any for yourself. Have a nice day everyone.
I have a funny story to tell: the day before yesterday i went on to buy some diapers at the medical store near my house. I went with my backpack, that’s how i use to take them so nobody can see what i am taking with. When i bouhgt them, the package was way too big to fit in the backpack LOL, so the lady gave me a bag and put them on it, when i came out two boys passed around and stayed lookin, when i turn aroun there was a mr who looked to, and i was so embarresed omfg! I ran to the store again and left them on the balcony and said: -miss, i am going to my house so i can get another bigger backpack, see you!. Than i cam back as you may know. Finale!
LOL!
hi all i wear tena slip super thay are good but the tapes need to be bigger and wider i have not try eny other nappy as thay cost to much and i can not see the pornt of trying baby nappys as thay do not hold eny thing
Just to clarify wrt Tena Slip: SCA has expanded the product range, with a new model which surpasses the previous thickest diaper. The one who held the record until now was the Slip Maxi (purple colored stripe). Below there was the green (Super) and a blue one called Plus. The latter is thin and not worth it.
So to the point, the new model is called Ultima. Marking-wise, the Plus has 6/8 drops, Super has 7/8 and Maxi has 8/8, Ultima has 9(!)/8! Meaning they added an extra drop for the Ultima 🙂 It’s not available in Norway yet, so I havent tried it. But I’ll soon be doing a trip round Europe and will naturally be sure to test it. Previously, everyone used to LOVE the Slip Maxi (well that or the Abriform X-plus), so I wonder what people think of an EVEN thicker version. Only bad feature is that it is cloth backed…
“There is only one diaper I know that will have the same absorbency as a baby diaper, it gets really thick when wet and it holds allot of pee, it’s the tena slip ultima, but I don’t think they sell it in the US but in Europe they do, Netherlands, Belgium Russia.”
Tena is sold here, don’t know if these are the tena “slip ultima” but I do know the Super holds a LOT. I’ve used them too.
http://www.magicmedical.com/promdisdiap.html
Adrian you are right but it can be pulled to have the adult diaper the same as the baby diaper and it would work like this: keep the 2 tapes on each size and axe the wings without the padding on them you there is padding all around the diaper and sure it will be thicker than the baby diaper but it would satisfy those who long for it. Model it after the Thicker LUVS Baby Pants that were around in the mid to late 1980’s.
I agree with you on the one hand, but I also disagree. I’ve worn some adult diapers that was offered to me by a local (Seattle) hospital, and it had only one set of adhesive tapes, it looked very similar to the baby diaper, except that it was blue in colour, and it worked for me just fine. It fit my body without falling down below the waist. I rarely, if ever, mess my diapers. So I didn’t have such problems. That said, such a diaper might not work for everyone. If one is a heavy wetter and would require something more absorbent, this probably wouldn’t work very well. Everyone’s needs are different.
[…] Baby Diapers vs Adult Diapers: A Comparison – I Heart Diapers Apr 13, 2010 … I've worn some adult diapers that was offered to me by a local (Seattle) hospital, and it had only … […]
Hi,
Yes I agree,, a good summery of the diffrences…
The thought that I always end up with is the ‘size porportion’ issue..
You compared the baby diaper to the adult diaper,, as is…
My thought is if you took the size increase of the baby to adult ( be it diffrent
per person in most all cases.. ) and matched it to the size, shape, and thickness of the baby diaper,, then you would more than likely have the answer to most every
adult baby’s wish list.
Crunching some simple numbers,,
Going from say a 25 pound baby to a 150 pound adult,, that would make a
average 1/4″ thick baby diaper into a 1 1/2″ thick adult diaper…
Even given a “Average absorbancy ” rateing,, it would still out do most anything on the market 🙂
Just a thought :))
john too
Agree “scaling up” should work, especially in the issue of the “one tape” as an earlier post said, if this is just significantly widened in proportion, it will support more weight.
i to like adualt diapers much more than baby diapers. trust me adualt diapers are MUCH better than baby diapers. last night i decided to compare the two i grabed a baby diaper out of my diapers and put it on as soon as i peed in it the thing lecked and then i decided to put it through the poop test i barly pooped in it and poop started comming out the sides. so i changed my poopey and wet baby diaper. and put on a brand new depends diaper i then emptied my blader compleatly and then i removed it and put it back on my self then this morning after drinking 3 gallons of water i peed in it until my blader was empty and it assorbed everything it didn`t leack one bit. then i decided to sit on my stomic and then i got up and pooped my diaper then i sat down and felt the poop kind of gush and then i pooped evean more then i changed my extreamly poopey and soaking wet diaper. and put on a new fresh clean diaper.
i am sitting at the computer in a 2 day old depends diaper that is extreamly wet but has yet to leack and it is also EXTREAMMLY FULL OF POOP. it is so full of poop that i think it might explode i am also incopedent so buy for now i have to go change my diaper
if any one wold like to chat my email is david.kahn@live.com