Little Swimmers - Bonney Lake,WA

Updated on February 17, 2009
A.L. asks from Bonney Lake, WA
29 answers

I was just curious as to how "little swimmers"(pampers) are different from just a diaper? Are they worth the money spent?

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone! My husband and I are planning a trip to Arizona next month. My son LOVES the water, doesn't matter if it is the pool or bathtub or sink! I think that I'll buy a pack of the little swimmers now that I know. Thanks Again!

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R.M.

answers from Portland on

They catch the poo and not the pee. I would just invest in a cute washable swim diaper. Not worth the money at all.

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M.H.

answers from Seattle on

They are water tight - keeping the waste trapped inside. They are required for public water, because they keep potential contaminants out of the water. You'd end up using one for each swim session - it will take me more than a year to use up one package.

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M.Z.

answers from Seattle on

A.-

Try the reusable diapers. They are cute as can be, and you won't have to keep buying expensive packages of diapers. I bought mine at bananapeelsdiapers.com. You can also find them at cottonbabies.com and many other online cloth diaper stores.

Happy swimming!

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R.M.

answers from Portland on

They don't absorb too much, so they don't expand and get big and heavy. They are pretty nice. Just be careful, they only hold maybe one potty or poop.

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K.I.

answers from Spokane on

A.,
YES, They are worth the money! They keep the pool clean and the kids comfortable. It is slippery enough around a pool for the lil' guys without the added extra weight and not to mention the sheer oddness of trying to keep your balance while having a huge soaked diaper! They are hard to find when out of season but one pack would last you A LONG TIME!
They also open on both sides so if you need to take off a messy one, it is easy!

Pool Owner and Mom to a grip of lil' swimmers,
K.

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T.C.

answers from Portland on

A.,

Have you ever had a diaper fill with water on you? And then had your child sit or even run? The diaper explodes and leakes the gel substance that absorbs the urine.

Swimmers doesn't have this reaction to water. I love them!! We just about live in them in the summer...and we have twins!!! They are worth the cost.

T.

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C.A.

answers from Portland on

The biggest thing (don't know if anyone mentioned this) is that many pools or public swim areas won't let you take your kiddo into the water without a swim diaper of some kind. Nothing really catches the pee, but I've always used these on my kiddos just so we could go swimming places. Also nice to not have to clean out the poop myself in a washable suit.

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K.C.

answers from Eugene on

A.,
Little swimmers do not have the absorbant "crystals" in them like diapers. It is quite humerous to experiment at home and let your little one in a "baby" pool to sit with a regular diaper, they grow to huge, bulbous things. Don't waste your money on swimmers! Just go to Target and pick up two fabric swim diapers. They are totally resuable. No land fill junk and they work wonderfully. Plus, they are so cute, you can use them as a suit bottom until they get a little discolored and then just put them under the child's swim suit. We just pass them on to friends after my daughters have outgrown them. You can actually pick them up in second hand stores for just a few dollars. I have never bought swimmers, have never needed too!
Good luck,
K.

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C.B.

answers from Seattle on

Yes! They don't "puff up" when in water. (Try putting your diaper in water -- that was a science experiment for our 4th grader! Wow!) PLUS many pools won't let younger ones in without one on (or a plastic variety of one). You can buy a "permanent litle swimmer" instead of the Pampers variety. Have fun!

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S.L.

answers from Portland on

A., I used these little swimmers about 10 years ago when they first came out girl, they are well worth the money, when they go swimming the material does not drink up the water and bulk out like the diapers do the babies can crawl, walk, swim,and not sink, your children are more then comfortable in them I bragged to every mom I came to about them I think only thing is they did was improve them to be washable ones now now I hear, great! really, Get enough before summer as they tend to raise the price as they go fast when its summertime, "oh and they will not come apart in the water no floating objects to catch, lol, S. Vancouver,Wash,

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J.T.

answers from Portland on

Some swimming pools require "swimming" diapers. Also, the advantage of swimmers is that they do not swell to an enormous state as regular diapers, as they are designed to get wet. Word of caution - make sure to change back to regular diaper after water fun is over - as they do not offer the same "protection" from leakage.

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C.P.

answers from Bellingham on

Little Swimmers is definitely better than just a diaper. They don't absorb the water from the pool and fall apart like a diaper would. If you are planning on spending alot of time in the water they are definitely worth the price

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M.P.

answers from Seattle on

Yes they are worth the money. Diapers expand when in the pool to a out of control size. Little swimmers are just that diapers for swimming. They do not expand and still absorb. Usually you can find these at Costco for a pretty good deal. Happy Swimming!!!

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J.A.

answers from Seattle on

They don't swell up and fall off when they get wet (from playing in water). I've never liked letting my kids walk around naked, which is what a lot of parents I know do. I think they're only worth it if your little one will be spending a lot of time in the water. I've used them in the past. One pack pretty much lasted me all summer.

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D.L.

answers from Seattle on

Swim diapers let the water filter through and not get filled up with water. A regular diaper will fill with capacity with water and they can fall off or fall apart. Because swim diapers filter the water through, they also will do that with pee. So you don't want to put the swim diaper on your baby until you're ready to swim because if they do pee you could end up with pee all over the car seat, you, the floor, etc. The goal of a swim diaper is to contain poop.

You can use the disposable ones or reusable cloth ones. We used the reusable ones when our little girl was first taking swim lessons. They're super easy to use (just pull up and down) and we just through them in the washing machine after each swim class. They are a little harder to take off when wet than the disposable ones are, but they come in smaller sizes which we needed for our tiny girl.

If you take any swim classes, you're required to put a swim diaper on your child if they are not potty trained. You can get the reusable ones cheap (we got ours both at Target and online) if you plan on taking your child swimming a lot and want to save some money. Otherwise, you don't change swim diapers too often because they're swimming and in the water. It only needs to be changed for a poop. :-)

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Z.A.

answers from Seattle on

Not only 100% worth the money, but most pools will NOT let young children in the pool without them.

Diapers burst (those crystals can soak up one whole heckova lot more water then one would think...just try tossing one in the tub/sink and letting it stay there for 5 minutes), and the crystals not only gum up tens of thousands of dollars worth of filtering equipment, but it's really pretty gross to be swimming around in them.

Little swimmers, like others have said, don't have those crystals. They weigh and look essentially the same, wet or dry. They filter pee to some degree (lets face it, a public pool will have pee in it...at least it's sterile), and catch any accidents.

Most public pools DO allow cloth diapers, as long as they're in tight rubber/plastic outer covers.

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

A. - WHile I too love little swimmers, I just want to put a little warning out there. Not so great for poop.
My sons both wore them, but if we were at the "beach" (lake, sob) all day, and then had a picnic, I would make sure to take them off and put them back in diapers while we played and let their little bodies have a BM. I had an instance with my 1st and he pooped in one of those, thank GOD he was not in the water, he was playing outside the pool, but his poo got EVERYWHERE! yuck.
I am so thankful that this year my youngest is potty trained!!
Have fun! L.

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M.T.

answers from Portland on

I didn't have a chance to read the many responses. But if you are interested in taking him swimming later as well, you can buy a reusable "swim diaper" - iPlay makes nice ones and they sell a selection on line or you can find them at Children of the Sea swim school in Tigard (off Scholls Ferry x Nimbus). Great swim school for the little ones by the way. My daughter is 4 now and has been swimming there since she was 7 months. Have fun!!!

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W.L.

answers from Medford on

Yes they are worth the money and are different from a regular diaper.A diaper will fall apart in the water and they swell up soooo big!!!! The little swimmers do not swell and they dont fall apart in the water.But if your child has pooped in them,they dont hold that in as well,so you would need to change into a new swimmer,but they most cretainly work far better than a diaper.I think you should try them,and then you can see for yourself.Good Luck!!

M.B.

answers from Seattle on

A.,

If you're going to a public pool you have to have your child either potty trained, or in a swim diaper. They are more for containment rather than absorbency. As a swim teacher at my local YMCA I've seen regular diapers in the pool. They will swell up and explode, especially when stuck in a swimsuit where they don't have the room to expand. If this happens in my pool we have to close the pool until all the gel has been removed. It's a big mess.

I haven't seen much difference between Pampers Little Swimmers and Huggies Li'l Splashers except for size. I think Huggies runs small.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

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I.G.

answers from Seattle on

I would also recommend that you look for a reusable swim diaper.
I find little swimmers to be a giant waste of money.
You do have to change them every time your child get out of the water, so for a day on the beach with a small child that doesn't stay in the water very long, you can easily go through a pack a day. Unless you feel okay just to put the wet one back one, but I think that's yucky.

We use a tight fitting pocket diaper without an insert, which is perfectly fine at our public pools. I usually take along two of them if we're out longer, hang one up to dry, put the dry one on the baby and switch throughout the day. You can also buy special reusable swim diapers for about the price of a packet of little swimmers.

Have fun!

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J.R.

answers from Seattle on

Little Swimmers diapers don't balloon up when they get wet like a regular diaper does. And if the regular diaper is wet long enough, the diaper starts breaking apart and the stuff from the inside starts spilling into the water. If you want to know what I'm talking about, put a regular diaper on your child in the bathtub and see what happens. The swim diapers are great, and I think they are worth it. If you go daily, you might want to consider buying the kind of swim diaper that you can wash and use over and over again.

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D.E.

answers from Portland on

Diapers swell and burst gel everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! and they weigh a TON when wet! Little swimmers aren't the greatest at absorbing pee I think but they keep the poo in and they stay thin in water. Little swimmers are DEFINATELY worth it.

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M.B.

answers from Portland on

I wondered that myself. It seems that the swimmers just do not get big like the diapers but are not as absorbent. That is what I think

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T.J.

answers from Seattle on

Little swimmers keep water out of the diaper and poo out of the pool :)

If you put a regular diaper in water it absorbs the water and gets really heavy and soaked! Unless you go swimming everyday they're not that expensive. I've also seen washable, reusable swim diapers at target and babies r us. Good luck!

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L.M.

answers from Seattle on

Diapers... regular ones fill up with water and diaper filler goes every where in the water.. I think they (little swimmers) are worth the extra money.. I would check pampers web site sometimes they have coupons you can print :)
Lenc

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H.H.

answers from Yakima on

Oh they are worth the money I think. They don't absorb the water the way a regular diaper does. A regular diaper would be VERY uncomfortable in a pool I think.

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J.R.

answers from Seattle on

the name says it all...the are for swimming! Liquis (water and urine) are not held in (otherwise, kids would sink!) thus, they dont work as a regular diaper (unless you want to get wet!) and a regular diaper in the water is a disaster with the absorbant gel.

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M.M.

answers from Eugene on

In my experience the regular diapers puff up so much that they kind of explode and then you have diaper stuffing floating around in the water. The little swimmers stay thin and don't fall apart. If you don't want to spend the money on them, just get a small re-usable swim diaper.

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