www.incontinentsupport.org

Please help me to choose diapers that will work for my 90 years old granny. She is active. She is a flooder. She lives overseas and doesn’t have a dryer in her house. She cannot use disposable diapers because there is nowhere to dispose of them.

My grandma likes to put on the diaper herself. This is why I want to buy outer diapers that are easy to use. I know that prefolds are great, but it would be too complicated for my granny to use them. I thought about buying pull-on, snap-on diapers, Velcro diapers, or elastic diapers that look like regular underwear.

I have several questions:

1) Has anyone ever used Gari-care cloth diapers. They are sold on E-bay as NEW SET 12 ADULT DIAPER LARGE SNAP ON WASHABLE REUSABLE. They have only Large size, but I need size Medium. Is there another website that sells Geri-care diapers?
Are there any other light weight diapers that dry fast?

2) What cloth diapers should I buy to use inside the outer diaper, to fold to add the thick absorbance? I thought about gauze diapers from Granitsmith on E-bay. I think they would dry faster. I also saw Birdseye diapers, Chinese prefolds and other square diapers. I don’t know what diapers are the best for layering.

3) What plastic pants are the best? I was thinking about buying Babykins and Comco plastic pants. Are there better plastic pants on the market?

That's great a 90 yo is still going strong and not about to let incontinence slow her down!

I don't think snap on's are any good for active folks. They just can't be secured well, so are more suitable for non ambulatory people.

I agree a pin on pre-fold is complicated.

I would pick a Velcro on diaper, such as Kins #10500 since the fit is customized and she can get the diaper as snug or loose as she prefers. And they are easily put on standing up, holding the diaper against the wall with your behind while you pull the front up thru your legs and then grab the rear wings with Velcro tabs and smooth across the front belly and you are done.

My second choice would be a pull on such as Kins #20700 which depends on elastic waist tension to hold it up....could be a problem for slipping down as it gets wet and heavy. That's why I say second choice. Some like them for simplicity of just pulling them on and if they can put up with the waist tension and they don't droop or sag too much, they can be ideal.

I think the more positive holding power of the Velcro is needed for diapers worn by an active person who is going to get the diapers wet in the course of the day and activities. The Velcro on will stay put, just as a pin on diaper would, resisting sag or droop as it gets wet.

She will need several considering drying could be a day, more or less on the drying rack or line....depending too on the heat and humidity in the house.

Best stuffers may be low cost flat baby diapers or baby prefolds. Both will dry pretty readily. they will fit nicely within the Kins diaper, either the Velcro on or the pull on.

If she wants a larger stuffer diaper, than get the squares. They can be folded in thirds and inserted. They will dry well as they will be opened up flat to dry. Granite Smith which you mention, I believe offers gauze squares in two ply and four ply. I think the two ply will be heavy enough and will dry well. When folded into thirds, that adds 6 plies of cotton to the center of the diaper. A second one would add 6 more plies, same as one of the 4 ply construction but the two separate diapers will dry faster than the one heavier one.

For plastic pants, my first pick is Kins #20300V which is the mid weight vinyl, soft and stands up well, along with comfortable Lycra leg and waist bands. They fit nicely over a diaper, a better fit in my opinion than the Comco pants.

Non plastic pants can be supremely comfortable. Kins 10300 is a great nylon waterproof pant with the Lycra bands.

But take a look at Changing Times Diaper Co (www.changingtimesdiaperco.com) for waterproof pants with adult prints and colors. They also have juvenile prints, of course, but the adult prints are really nice and you may see something Grandma will really like. Made by Bumpkins they are high quality like Kins and feature the very comfortable Lycra bands. They are cut properly to fit over cloth diapers.

I'm sure you'll get some more input and please let us know the results and hopefully the sucess of your getting Grandmother set up for cloth diapers.

Vkor,
You will not go wrong with JoeK's advise. He's the authority on cloth diapers around here.
Thanks for your first post. Hopefully Joe's advise will work for you. If not, we'll find something that will work for her! ..........Paul Martin

Thank you, Paul, for that wonderful vote of confidence!

Would you mention the Quality Care Indisposables diaper? I think it deserves mention as fully comparable to the Kins. I just don't have the info, such as the URL handy.

Somebody mentioned a PUL waterproof pant, Nitti, if I recall correctly, that is supposed to be very comfortable...but I've no experience with it, maybe someone here has, and can let us know.

Welcome, Vkor, to our Forum! We hope you will find what you need on an ongoing basis; it is great to see new folks posting!

A special thanks to Paul and Sandy for a great job keeping this forum going! Happy New Year to all!

JoeK,

I’m happy that I found this website with wonderful people like you JoeK.
Thank you very much for all the detailed instructions.
I already ordered Velcro on diaper - Kins #10500 and pull on diaper - Kins #20700. I also ordered non plastic pants Kins 10300. These items are on their way to my grandma. I would like her to try both diapers, to see which one works better for her.

I also bought 50 XL toddler prefolds. They are 4x8x4 layering, very absorbent.

Prior to my post on this Forum I bought Comco plastic pants. I will send them to my grandma also. We will see how everything will work for my grandma. I will report back to you.

JoeK, Paul you have to keep this forum going! Your expertise and advice are priceless. I know that your forum has a lot of guests. People learn about diapers just by reading your posts. It also helps people to know that they are not alone with incontinence. There are so many people that live a normal life with it.

Happy New Year!

Victoria

Thank you, Victoria, for the positive feed back. It is always greatly appreciated when advice is found useful! We are happy you found this forum and look forward to continued news about your grandmother coping with her incon using cloth diaper products.

Sandy has yet to chime in here, but she is probably up to her neck in Holiday stuff, as most are! We are blessed to have this woman on this board who lends a whole different touch to what has been largly male dominated in the past.

Good choice with the toddler prefolds! I agree they will work very well for customizing the absorbancy needed for different situations from longer outings to over night. And they won't be that hard to dry on a rack or line.

I think she will get some use from the Comco plastic pants. Personally I don't care for the cut....they leave some diaper exposed at my rear waist. But I like the comfort of the leg and waist bands and the heavier vinyl that Comco had, long before the 6 mil vinyl became more common. If she likes the vinyl plastic pants, then she'd most likely prefer the Kins #20300V for the same weight vinyl as the Comco but with gentle Lycra bands at waist and legs. For a wide waist band, sort of like the Comco, consider the #21300V but let me caution you that I find their wide waist band a bit too aggressive on my skin...which is unusually sensitive. The Kins plastic pants will (in my opinion) cover the diaper better, especially in the rear at the waist.

Some feel that is not a big issue as the rear waist is the last part of a cloth diaper to get wet, normally, and that's long after it should have been changed. But I've had times when I just could not change when I wanted to and if I had not had good coverage with my plastic pants, I would have had a wet shirt in back from wicking of the diaper not covered by plastic pants.

Many use disposable diapers but polls suggest close to half of us wear cloth diapering. Many disposable users wear cloth at night as it is more reliable for keeping the bed dry. Most of us who wear cloth also appreciate the comfort afforded, inspite of the increased bulk under our clothing.

Happy New Year! May it be a dry one free of embarassing situations!
JoeK

Victoria,

Thanks for the kind words about our forum. You right about there are a lot of readers who are not members who access this site for information. Same with members who have joined, but have not yet posted.
Joe K has about the best knowledge of anyone on supplies for incontinence. I'm honored to be able to offer my assistance. Like Joe said, Sandy has been a great help too!
Keep us in the loop on how your grandmother is doing! ......Paul Martin