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Parents. Do not put your baby in the pool in her regular disposable diapers. Not only is it icky, it will cause your baby’s diaper to swell in a way that looks seriously uncomfortable (me, learn that first hand? never!).
Are Splashers and Little Swimmers disposable swim pants the solution? They 
work okay in the water, but they’re expensive. My husband and I also learned the hard way that they don’t contain urine. They’re just designed to keep in solid matter. Some pools, like the one at our local YMCA, require rubberized swim pants and won’t even let you in with Splashers or Little Swimmers. You need a reusable swim diaper.
Many reusable swim diapers offer the leak protection that disposables don’t (or at least they claim to). Reusable swim diapers especially make sense if your child’s in the water a lot or if you live in a warm climate with a long swimming season. They cost just $9-$20, the cost of just one or two packs of disposables. They create much less waste, too.
Here’s a rundown of some popular reusable swim diapers. To find out where to buy them, just Google.
For Infants: Worn under a swimsuit or by themselves.
- The i play Ultimate Swim Diaper absorbs wetness and contains a waterproof liner that prevents leakage. (about $12).
- Kushies (about $10). Shown, above left in red.
- Swimmis by Bummis. (about $12) These get great ratings at The Diaper Pin. Shown, right.
- Imse Vimse (about $14). A popular choice. Seem to have a trimmer fit than the others listed here. Shown, above right in pink.
- Sun Smarties Adjustable Swim Diaper (One Step Ahead, about $13). Shown in blue and white above left.
For toddlers and preschoolers. These pull up like underwear or offer swimsuit/swim trunk styling with hidden, built in “protection.”
- Sun Smarties (One Step Ahead). $11. Designed to be worn under swim suits. Available through size 4T. Love these swim diaper skirts!
- Swim-sters: Designed to be worn under swim suits. Available through size 4T (40 lbs). (About $15).
- i play: Love these swim trunks. Also available in tankini (right), tank suit and bikini with the swim diaper built right in. Suits also offer UPF protection. All under $20. Available up to size 3 years.
Related:
- Comparison of Imse Vimse vs. Swimmis @ The Cloth Diaper Whisperer
- Swim Diaper Reviews @ The Diaper Pin
What will your baby/toddler/preschooler wear into the pool this summer?
Thank you so much for this post! We live in North Carolina, and my twins are going through a package of Huggies Little Swimmers at record speed. I’ll invest in a few of the brands you mentioned before we hit the pool again!
http://www.nickisdiapers.com has monkeydoodlez swim diapers on sale and free shipping. Super cute styles!
I use the cover of Fuzzi Bunz as swim diapers
I used to dread buying disposable swim diapers for my daughter (now 6.5 years old). It always seemed like we never used up the pack by the end of the summer. Then next year they would either be lost or too small. I thankfully haven’t bought swim diapers in 3 years. I’ve have 2 Imse Vimse swim diapers and I really like them. I orignally bought them for my oldest son (now 4.5 years old) and now they are being passed down to his brother (14 months old). I got started using them when I was cloth diapering the 4,5 year old. I had to give up using cloth but I still use cloth swim diapers.
Thank you for your advice and summary about reusable swim diapers. I went for it, and bought an iPlay swim diaper. But, as a mom who (regrettably) does not cloth diaper on a regular basis, I have some questions about care. How do I get the diaper clean? (Keep in mind that I’m only washing one diaper, not a whole load of reusables.) I thought maybe I could wash it with our socks and underwear, but the diaper itself says to wash it in cold. So am I suppose to be pretreating it somehow?
Also, will I want more than one? (With just the one, I’m wondering what we do if he has a dirty/#2 diaper in the middle of swimming.)
TIA!