Swim Diaper Question/Defence

[quantumleap]

We use a Bummi Swimmi on DD, and it works, and it's cute, and we like it. No problem.
We don't, however, put a swimsuit over the swim diaper. There's no rule at our Y that you need to. DD is just recently 1, though not a "big" kid. She could pass as 9 or 10 months, if you were only looking at her size. We swim at least once a week (often more). I get comments, every time I'm at the pool, about dd not being in a swim suit. People are rarely overtly critical, but there's always a critical/judgemental tone to their comments. I tend to keep my responses light, but it's starting to get to me. *I'M* comfortable with our current set up, dd certainly doesn't care, but I'm tired of feeling like I have to defend myself. Comments are always from other parents, never from staff or lifeguards.

Do you put a swimsuit over your kiddo's swim diaper? At what age do you think you need to start doing so? Any witty replies for me to use?

Thanks

[lifeguard]

I have a ds but I would not bother with a bathingsuit over a swim diaper. When I was lifeguarding/instructing it was pretty split 50/50 for bathingsuits vs just diapers.

[Juliacat]

We didn't start putting a swimsuit on over DD1's swim diaper until she was 2. However, we didn't swim all that often either. If the comments are really bothering you, just go ahead and put her in a swimsuit. Of course it's a silly objection, but some battles just aren't worth the struggle IMHO.

[HappyMommy2]

I like them to be covered personally. Bathing suits are sometiems difficult to put on girls, so I have a swim shirt like a surfer girl would wear and the bottoms are lined and kind of like a cloth diaper or cover.

[Juliacat]

I just remembered, what we did at first was we bought one of those rash guard shirts and paired it with the swim diaper.

[mrsfrenchy]

An easy solution would be to buy a swim diaper/swim suit combo like the ones from iplay. It looks like a swim suit, but it has the swim diaper built in. Maybe you would get less annoying comments this way?

This is what we use:
http://www.myswimbaby.com/catalog.php?category=4

[Kerr096]

We have the kissaluvs swim diaper and I would put my daughter in the diaper with a shirt over it in public. In our backyard she was either naked or just in a swim diaper. If I was having a playdate swim diaper and shirt she is now 2

[justmama]

We didn't. If you get tired of defending yourself, you could always put one of those rash guard swimshirts on with the swim diaper. That's what we do now since Gracie is turning 2 next week. She swims in a rashguard shirt and a medium fuzzi bunz without an insert at least once a week at the local Y. When we went to the beach and it was deserted, she would go naked.

[Chamomile Girl]

Wait...are people having issue because she is a girl?? If so that is soooo wrong. She is one year old! I don't get it.

[starling&diesel]

We go swimming two times a week and up until about a month ago, DD just wore her swim dipe, which looks like swim trunks. She's eleven months old. Everyone thought she was a boy. Other than that, we never got any comments.

That said, the lifeguard -- who was also our swim instructor back when DD was 5 months old -- pointed out that she'd be warmer in a swimsuit. I thought I'd give it a try, now that she fits into a bodysuit-style swimsuit that she was given ages ago. She is definitely warmer! We can stay in much longer.

[merrybee]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl

Wait...are people having issue because she is a girl?? If so that is soooo wrong. She is one year old! I don't get it.

This is what i was thinking. If she were a boy I bet you wouldn't get so many comments. Which I agree- that is so wrong!

[My3guys]

Is it an indoor or outdoor pool? We always put our boys in those rash guard body suit type swimsuits as I am a stickler about sun protection. It was just easier to do that and add a hat than slather on so much sunscreen. I would never have been comfortable with just a swim diaper for outdoors. Nothing to do with modesty or hygiene. Just all about the sun.

For an indoor pool, it might be about warmth. The rash guard shirts are a bit insulating like a wet suit. Might help.

In terms of girls....Imse Vimse makes swim diapers with matching tankinis that are really cute. Might check those out if you choose to put a top on her.

[dogretro]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl

Wait...are people having issue because she is a girl?? If so that is soooo wrong. She is one year old! I don't get it.

I am wondering this, too! I have never seen a baby boy at the indoor pool in a shirt. I would ask the person making the comment if she was a boy, would they feel the need to say something? B/c her boobies look just the same as a boy's right now!

We also really like using the shirt-bottom combo suits on dd, but when we go to the outdoor fountain, I dress her only in a swim diaper & water shoes (the bricks get v slippery w/out shoes, even for adults). Too many wet clothes to haul around and too much trouble to change her so much. Learned this from multiple trips Never ever got a comment except about how cute she was

[Kirsten]

Originally Posted by dogretro

I would ask the person making the comment if she was a boy, would they feel the need to say something? B/c her boobies look just the same as a boy's right now!

Well, ten year old girls and boys may appear similarly undeveloped on top but we still put ten year old girls in swim suits with tops! In the US, development/appearance is clearly not the yardstick we are measuring with.

I read the OP as they wanted something over the swim diaper - as a second layer of protection from any leaks. I didn't think about the top issue until others brought it up.

OP, what is the issue exactly - that her swim diaper isn't covered (may leak) or that she is topless?

They make darling swim suits of all varieties for girls. Just buy her one and be done with it. Two piece sets seem to be easier for on/off and diaper changes, so that is what I'd get - but a snug tee shirt could work too.

[quantumleap]

Hooray! The thread didn't die!

The pool is an indoor salt water pool, and the Y has three pools, one of which is a designated kids pool. The water is warm and pretty shallow. There is no second layer/covering rule at the pool. So, the issue is not warmth or sun protection or leak prevention, although those are all valid concerns in other situations. Well, maybe not the leak one. Grown ups pee in the pool too, and I don't think a second layer is going to contain poo all that much better than a properly fitting single layer, but I digress.

The comments center around the simple lack of a "real" swimsuit. Sometimes it's just the lack of a swimsuit, but it is usually about dd being a girl. I don't see boys wearing only a swim diaper either, but people do seem to get in a panic if I forget to take dd's amber necklace off (must be a girl if she's wearing a necklace) and they realize she's a girl without a full body coverage suit.

I know part of it is just the city. It's a weird city. I haven't seen anyone using a cloth swim diaper here. Ever. I know there must be people who do, because there is a small group of LLL attendees who cloth diaper and would logically have a cloth swim diaper. I got monster death stares after a swim one day. I was without dd, and when in the female locker room, I put dried off and put on my jeans, socks, shoes and bra, but because I had my towel wrapped around my head, I didn't pull my shirt on before heading over to the mirror to put moisturizer on my face. Holy. You would have thought I was having lewd sex in public by the reactions! I quickly scampered back to my corner and put a shirt on, but whoa. It's a locker room. I'm used to locker rooms where women walk off the pool deck, strip off their suits, and walk naked to the communal shower, where they shower naked and then walk to their lockers or the sauna, naked, to dry off and dress. I think people are just way more uptight, in general about nudity here.

But, dd is a baby. At some point, yes, she will wear a full swimsuit, but it seems a bit ridiculous now. I don't know what the limit is though; at what point I would say, "Ok, it's time to wear a swimsuit now".

The rash guard is a good idea, and serves more than one purpose if you're also going to be swimming outdoors. We live on the ocean, and I usually wear a rash guard for sun and jellyfish protection, as well as for when I surf. Makes sense to have one for DD, but so far we haven't been very beachy with her just due to travel this past summer.

Thanks for the discussion. Really.