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Wearing Diapers up to 24/7 - Pros, Cons, and Options

By BitterGrey

Sections: Pros- Cons- Options

There are a number of pros, cons, and options to consider when deciding how often to wear diapers. These are listed below, ordered from those relevant to ABDLs who rarely wear diapers to those affecting ABDLs who wear diapers on a twenty-four-seven basis. They are referenced to the cost/benefit curves of diaper economics, where this order would be left-to-right.

Pros

There are a number of factors affecting the benefits curve for an ABDL who wears and wets disposables. They include gratifying a paraphilia, a qualified independence from bathrooms, and the option of developing incontinence.

Cons

Offsetting these benefits are, not surprisingly, a number of costs. Their relative importance will vary with the individual. They include binging-and-purging, shy bladders, leaks, indirect costs, and of course, the expense of the diapers themselves.

Options

The above factors were discussed in reference to an ABDL who wore and wet disposables. There are, of course, many other options. Most basically, these other options include using cloth diapers, or wearing but not using diapers, or using more complicated wearing patterns.

Effects of Using Cloth

The discussion so far has focused on disposables, for two reasons. First, the costs are more easily quantified and more linear with usage. Second, younger ABDLs are more likely to be interested in disposables.

Cloth diapers involve a higher initial investment: One cloth diaper or one good plastic pant will cost about as much as a bag of disposables. To wear all or most of the time, you'd need to buy plastic pants and cloth diapers for half a week, plus a real diaper bag, diaper pail, etc. After that investment, the marginal monetary costs are usually lower. There are exceptions. For example, washing and drying one cloth diaper in a load by itself will cost more than using one disposable. See Cloth Diapers without a Pail for more detail on managing intermittent use of cloth diapers. Since the cloth diapers and plastic pants will eventually wear out, their replacement cost also needs to be considered.

While monetary costs are generally lower, the non-monetary costs of cloth are higher. The diapers should be washed within a few days of being used, and this might require you to do laundry a couple times per week. Cloth diapers might also be more prone to leak, further increasing the amount of laundry. (Together, these give rise to the joke that ABDL really stands for 'Always Busy Doing Laundry.') Cloth diapers will also be thicker than an equivalently absorbent disposable. Thus they are harder to conceal or might need to be changed more often. When changed, they need to be packed out, instead being of disposed of in a nearby trashcan.

In terms of benefits, the effect depends on the ABDL. While older ABDLs (born before 1960) might enjoy cloth diapers more than disposable, increasingly, ABDLs prefer disposables. The cloth diapers might serve as diapers to avoid binging-and-purging, but might not be the same.

Wearing but not Wetting

The discussion so far has focused on ABDLs who wet their diapers. The economics are simpler for those who don't. Not wetting some or all of the time would reduce the benefits for those who enjoy wetting. However, this also eliminates a list of costs. The risk of leaks is gone, retraining wouldn't be an issue, and odor will be less of a problem. Disposables could be worn longer if they weren't used, but the padding will still disintegrate over time. Cloth diapers should still be changed daily, similar to underwear. Cloth diapers also wouldn't need to be as bulky since they wouldn't need to be as absorbent. Without pee, and smaller in bulk an number, the cloth diapers will be easier to launder. Additionally, those who wore cloth but did not use them would have the option of going without plastic pants. If plastic pants are worn, they could still be used after they start to crack.

Pulling the diaper down to use a urinal or toilet might be awkward. Passing the penis out one leg might be more practical. Either way, be careful not to compress the urethra. Undoing tapes will reduce their strength later, but since they won't need to hold a soaked diaper, this might not be a problem. The backsheet might stretch, which also might or might not be a problem.

Complicated Wearing Patterns

To reduce the cost of diapers, you may also end up engaging in one or two remarkably unbabyish practices. Neither of these are without their costs. The first of these two practices involves stocking a range of absorbencies, or using doublers to achieve variable absorbencies. Stocking multiple absorbencies reduces monetary cost by permitting you to adjust absorbency based on expectations, but at the cost of added complexity.

A still more complicated approach is the first-half/first-half/second-half/second-half pattern. Use of this pattern might be unique to cheap economists. Let's say that leaks would be much more costly during the day, and that you could get through the day with two diapers, plus doublers, if leaks weren't costly. In the morning, the first diaper is used without a doubler. Figuratively, it could only be half-used, since using the other half of its capacity would include a high probability of leaks. At lunchtime, the second diaper for the day is put on, and the first is bagged and packed out. Ideally, this diaper would have enough capacity to get you through the rest of the workday without a significant risk of leaks. After leaving the workplace, add a doubler if evening wetting requires it. Using the rest of the second diaper's capacity will cause a higher probability of leaks, but because those leaks won't be at the office, there is less risk. Then, just before bed, put the first diaper on with a doubler. Again, since leaks at home are less embarrassing and damaging, the risk of leaking might be less even if the probability is higher. This will involve putting on a cold, wet diaper, which might be a positive or negative experience. Men considering this pattern might wish to consider positioning themselves up-up-down-down. That is, the be "up" during the day, and using mainly the front of the diaper. Then, in the evening, flip to "down" to use the middle and back; the second half. While the first-half/first-half/second-half/second-half pattern might have the minimal direct cost of wearing and using disposables, there are other costs involved. For example, that first diaper would have twenty four hours of bacterial growth by the the time it is replaced with the first diaper for the next day.


- Updated:18 June 2014  1st:18 October 2010     

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  Reader Comments:
  • "Always On" commented "I have been 24/7 for 4 years now and know I will never go back. I love the convenience and security of never having to worry about daytime leaking and wet spots on my pants as well as never to again have to worry about waking up in a soaked bed. I treat it as a fact of life and just acknowledge the issue. I remove my diaper when I'm at the Dr. for exams and put on a new diaper when I'm finished. Neither the Dr. Or any nurses have ever said a word. I also take my diaper off at LA Fitness after a work out, shower, and put on a dry diaper right there in the locker room. Many have watched this and [I] have yet to have one guy say anything. I think as long as you just treat it as a matter of fact you'll find few that will seem to care one way or the other. I love it."
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