Go Green with a Reusable Swim Diaper (Video)

Living a greener lifestyle doesn't always have to mean big changes. I'm a firm believer that you can go green in small ways, every day. Heck, I wish I could go out and buy a hybrid or solar panels for my house, but I can't. Instead, I look for the little things. One little thing I do is to "opt out" of using traditional swim diapers for Avery, and instead use a reusable one.

iPlay Ultimate Swim Diaper

Now I've blogged about swapping out disposable-type items before (with cloth napkins, glass straws, wool dryer balls, and even cloth diapers for Avery), but when it came to deciding what she was going to wear to the pool, I was stumped. I didn't know of any alternatives out there other than the standard, "Little Swimmers" by Huggies. Nothing against "Little Swimmers", because at least they help keep some yucky things out of public pools.  But at the end of the day I just don't like knowing that each time we go to the pool, I will be dropping one more thing into my trash can. Call it "green guilt," but I just can't do it.

Our "green-bottomed" swim girl.

To my luck, I stumbled upon a cool, green alternative called an iPlay Ultimate Swim Diaper. It works in a way similar to a cloth diaper in how your baby can wear it over and over again with a simple wash in between uses. Sounds good to me! So I got one off of Amazon.com (you can also find them at Buy Buy Baby and other online retailers) and we tried it out with Avery.

We just put it on under her swimsuit, like you would any other diaper, and then off we went to the pool.

It didn't take long until she was hooked, I was hooked, and I bet my local public pool was glad that I had something to keep that poop in! Did you know that most states require diapers of some kind of on all babies of non-potty trained age?

Here's the details of the diaper (according to the iPlay website):

• features snaps down the side for quick changing
• super absorbent inner layer absorbs wetness
• wick away liner wicks moisture away from baby's skin
• snug fitting around legs and waist to contain solid matter
• UPF 50
• they have a variety of colors and sizes to choose from (Avery wears a size large right now)

Here's some other things I like about the diaper:

• you save money since you don't have to keep buying disposables
• reduces waste in landfills
• accomplishes the same goal as the disposables of helping to keep the poop in, but in a greener way
• does not get saggy when wet in the pool like a traditional diaper or swim diaper does

Here's some "cons" of the diaper:

• it does not hold in much liquid (in the form of pee). Basically you probably should put this on right before you head to the pool, or maybe even once you get there, otherwise your baby might leak through the swim diaper, through their swimsuit, and then onto you or anywhere else they may sit.  (You could avoid this by putting one cloth diaper, or cloth napkin in with the swim diaper to absorb the pee, and then remove it before they arrive at the pool. We just try to put it on her right before we leave to go to the pool and we're usually fine.) This is one con I can deal with because I'd rather have her possibly leak before arriving to the pool than have to wear a big, bulky swim diaper that's "more absorbent".

Let's see the diaper in action!

Here's a video of Avery and I showing how to put on the swim diaper, how she wears it in the pool and then what we do with it when we get home...


A few more things:

After getting home from the pool, I wash Avery's Swim Diaper in with our laundry, just to keep it from getting stained (we don't want that nice white turning to yellow!).  After washing it, I set it out on our porch to dry and soak up some sun. I know of a lot of cloth diaper mamas who use this "sun" trick to keep their cloth diapers looking nice and white. So far it's working for our Swim Diaper too.

This post is a perfect drying spot for the diaper.

Just flat on the porch also works.

To wrap up with, here are a few more pictures of our little "fish" Avery, wearing her iPlay Swim Diaper as she swims around one day at our local pool. You'll see her wearing a life-vest contraption thing and that's because she is one adventurous swimmer! She was hesitant in the beginning (for like 5 minutes) of the water, but it didn't take long until she wanted to do "big girl things." And the last thing she wanted was me holding on to her. So in came my second must-have swim accessory of the summer: Stearns Puddle Jumpers Life Jacket ($25).

"Let's give a round of applause for this Puddle Jumper!"

This life jacket goes on her arms and around her chest to keep her more afloat as she navigates around the pool. True greenies probably wouldn't like this because it's made of polyester and uses foam to help it float, but when you've got a 14 month old who wants to go everywhere in the water, you go with the product that can give you the most peace of mind, and this is that product.

Since she started wearing the Puddle Jumper Life Jacket, Avery floats around much more in the water and we even see her trying to kick her legs as she "swims" around the pool. Obviously this doesn't take the place of someone being right next to her and watching her at all times, but at least I can give her a little space to explore in the water. Talk about a "happy mama" and a "happy baby"!

Swim Avery! Swim!

So that's how we go green with a resuable swim diaper. What type of swim diaper alternatives do you use? Share below!

Just so you know, I purchased the iPlay Swim Diaper with my own money and this is my honest review of it. (  :

Recently this post was linked up over Frugally Sustainable as part of the "Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Blog Hop." So check it out and find more ways you can go green!