There have been many lessons learned in this journey of being a “First Time Mom,” but so far, there have not been too many things about it that have just made me feel really stupid.  I consider myself to be well-educated — I have a college degree, I’ve lived and traveled around the world, and over all, I’ve always had pretty good common sense.  Well, this week, a seemingly simple, otherwise marvelous invention, has made me feel downright s-t-u-p-i-d!  If I had just thought for a moment about what I was about to do, you would think a light bulb would have come on, lightening would strike, and I would realize, “Uh, uh, uh… this is not a good idea.” But no, I robotically strapped my 9-month-old daughter into her car seat and made the hour-long journey home from the beach.  What’s the problem, you ask?  Well, at the risk of sounding obtuse, but for the sake of all you first-timers out there, allow me to share this lesson learned: Little Swimmers diapers are not like real diapers.

After spending a very brief thirty minutes at the beach, with looming storm clouds rolling in and my daughter absolutely cringing anytime the salty sea lapped her feet, we decided it best to just head home.  Her Little Swimmers diaper was still dry, so I said to myself, “I’ll just leave her in that and change her when we get home.” Big mistake! We finally make it home, and I pull my baby girl out of her car seat to find that she is soaking wet from tinkling all over herself.  She might as well have been sitting there naked.  Her outfit and car seat were soaked, so for the 3rd time in 9 months we had to pull the car seat apart to wash it.  The poor baby didn’t fuss one time the whole way home, so I had no idea that anything was wrong.  If you don’t know, and I didn’t, Little Swimmers diapers work by letting fluids — whether it be swimming pool water, ocean water, or pee-pee water — flow through the diaper, not be absorbed by the diaper.  This keeps them from getting soggy and heavy like a normal diaper.  I now know that the sole function of swim diapers is to simply provide some modesty coverage for your little one as they frolic in the water medium of your choosing. Maybe they work to catch a little poop here and there, but I cannot verify that fact as I am yet to experience a swim-diaper-with-poop incident.

What’s even worse, and I haven’t confirmed this yet because I’ve been too scared to look, is that there is probably a big, fat warning label on the package of Little Swimmers that tells you they are not for holding tinkle winkle. It probably warns you not to leave your child in a swim diaper (even a dry one) after water play has ceased because it will most definitely leak all over everything. The maxi pad I had to use on her the day we ran out of diapers after an unusually poopy outing worked better.  But that’s a story for another day.

I will have learned so much by the time our 2nd child comes into the world, but I know that even then, baby #2 is sure to provide his or her own invaluable life lessons.  So, first timers out there, consider this my gift to you — a pearl of wisdom in diapering dos and don’ts. For you not-so-new moms, enjoy a good laugh at my expense.  Let it jog your memory to some of those first time “ah ha” moments of your own!

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