New term for diapers.

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For some reason Northshore sent my samples of the new MegaMax to my parents instead of me. (I’m guessing cause sometimes I use my moms card in emergencies when I have to order something extra and she pays for it.)

Well my mom sent them to me and sent a text with the tracking number and said “I sent your pants”.

Hahaha. I don’t know why but I find this hilarious

 

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Very sorry for the mixup...but it would be great if everyone could use diapers, pants and underwear interchangeably without judgment like your mom.

Hopefully, this starts a trend.

 

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I just call them briefs...

 

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Oh no worries at all Adam! I’ve gotten things delivered to their house when I visit so the mix up is entirely understandable. My mom usually calls them my “supplies” so I thought it was pretty funny she called them pants.

 

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My wife calls them my "rags" because at one time mine were all tattered and torn. I call them my diapers.

 

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Interesting topic here! We'll see what everyone says here. Pants may be appropriate as in "incontinence pants," a term I've heard before. I think it all boils down to what you're comfortable calling them and whatever terminology works for you. I have no problem with "diapers," although some people don't like that term as it implies babies or those who want to be adult babies (ABDL). I'm OK with "diapers." And as NorthShoreAdam suggested right up above they could very well be termed "underwear." After all they ARE underwear when you come right down to it. Underwear made for a very specific purpose, though.

 

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My wife calls them “Uniforms”! We both went to private schools as kids and had to wear the same uniform Blue pants, Lt. Blue shirt, Plaid Tie. The only exception was Wednesday, us Scouts got to wear our Boy Scout uniforms to show off our “Hardware”! Even our knives clipped to out belt loop. Sounds like different century! Oops I guess it was now that I think of it! We both hated our uniforms, mostly because we had to wear them.
Back when I had to explain my unique & mystical underwear to my then girlfriend, she simply compared them to having to wear her uniforms to school every day, like it or not. From that point forward the term just stuck, for over 20 years now!

 

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The term "pants " usually refers to long legged clothing. But plastic pants are really "shorts". Do we start calling them plastic shorts? Few people would know what they are. I prefer to call them plastic pants. I grew up using the term diapers, not briefs. It's up to what everyone wants to call them. We know what they really are. I an not trying to offend anyone, just stating my opinion. Have a great day.

 

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Since I was assigned a continence nurse to assess me, she referred to them as continence products or containment products. I sometimes say to my partner, I am just going to put a pad on or take my pad off. I try to stay away from nappy or diaper as much as possible as I am a man and not a baby. Everyone has their own preference in what to call them and think it takes time to get accustomed to referring to incontinence products, just as it takes time to getting used to wearing them. Hope everyone is safe and well.

 

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Of course it's true that diapers is attached to babies today because parents tell their kids when potty training that "only babies wear diapers"...but what if we trained parents not to say that?

It's not only harmful for adults who need diapers later in life, it's harmful for many many kids that aren't able to easily potty train by age 3. When they are 5, 6, 7 or older and still not fully in control of their continence, then they are feeling ashamed of themselves at such an early age which has impact on their confidence their whole life.

Medical research shows that even kids with no other underlying medical conditions can take up to age 7 to have full control of nerves and muscles. Plus, 10 to 15% of children do also have underlying medical conditions that can affect muscle or nerve control.

So, if we stopped saying "only babies wear diapers" then we can disassociate diapers from babies and reduce the stigma. You know, babies also wear shirts, pants, shoes, and hats...yet adults don't feel ashamed to wear them. Diapers should just be another piece of clothing.

There are over 100 million adults and teens around the world wearing diapers. Every time we say "only babies wear diapers" we are putting down all 100 million of these people for no reason than we couldn't come up with any better way to trick our kids into wanting to use the potty as early as possible for our own convenience.

 

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Great post, NorthShoreAdam, I do know that parents in training their kids do say "only babies wear diapers." So it would involve educating parents to not say that as obviously (as you pointed out) more than 100 million "non-babies" wear diapers and that really is an impressive amount of people when you come right down to it! So how would all of those parents training their kids be educated?? It's gotta start somewhere! If a parent doesn't believe that then he or she just needs to take a quick trip to the supermarket and see all of the incontinence products available in the pharmacy aisle. Then they may realize that kids do learn new skills (including toileting) at their own pace and only when they are ready. (That's not tasking into account kids with disabilities who find continence a challenge). After all, some kids don't master the art of reading or math or playing baseball until they get older. But your last sentence really makes sense in that getting kids to use the potty "as early as possible for our own convenience." That observation makes a lot of sense to me!

 

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We are working on an educational/public awareness campaign to get the ball rolling. This one is kind of personal to me as I remember saying the same thing to my daughters and one of them ended up having underlying medical condition that wasn't diagnosed until she was in her teens. We always blamed her for being lazy or not trying...with no proof that was the case. Kids want to please their parents in most cases, especially at age 3. We should all give people a lot more benefit of the doubt instead of rushing to judgment about this and so many other things. It's why NorthShore has amended our mission to include a dedication to #EndHealthStigma so it can be woven into everything we do going forward.

 

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I find the many condescending references to adult diapers in the media, frustrating. There’s so often the very bottom line of tte worst joke in comedies. No wonder I’ve never much liked “comedies.” Comedies primarily make fun of people.

 

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Most of the time it's not done in a mean or hurtful way. Just to add a little humor to a depressing situation.

 

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I must be on the wrong site. I am a woman who is wearing pads at the moment and am thinking of diapers because of the expense

 

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@Pmikula why would you say you are on the wrong site?

 

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I personally have no problem calling a diaper a diaper, that’s just what they are. Boxers are Boxers, Briefs are Briefs etc.I think due to the nature of this condition we all share, we have developed a bit of a thicker skin. One of my shrinks early on told me that you can’t live in constant fear, or highly agitated state and went on to show me what it does to the human body, not to mention your mind. If you’re constantly thinking about am I going to leak, did they all see my diaper when without thinking I bent down and grabbed that frisbee and threw it back, etc., etc. You can’t imagine how much I missed in class, because my mind was at least initially completely overwhelmed with this new reality. I had to do all my school work at night, by myself because I couldn’t think straight surrounded by people. This was when the only reliable protection (see, I wrote it without even thinking twice!)The only reliable Adult Diapers were cloth with plastic pants. Far bulkier than the myriad of excellent disposable diapers available today. Loose jeans, cargo shorts and long shirts helped a lot, but it was often a matter of when not if people you spent any amount of time with, would start looking at you twice and you could see the question on their face. Not to mention constantly dragging that backpack everywhere like Linus & his blanket! I just hit it head on, “this was just a side affect of still being alive, after being crushed by a dump truck”! Believe me I sounded and acted a lot braver than I was, especially the first few times.
I think what you are initiating Adam is a great start, I wish we could do something similar to what Autism Speaks has done. Around the mid-90’s there were a number of fractured groups, many doing great works, but all on an individual or small regional basis. The leaders came together when they realized the power in their numbers. In the early 90’s an Autistic child was not spoken of in polite circles. Today their unique & often wonderful contributions to our society are celebrated. Much of this due to the combined voices of Autism Speaks re-writing the script.
If we the people who live with this every day joined together with our doctors and the manufacturers/ sellers acting as one we could rewrite this terrible script we’ve all inherited, and replace it with the truth. Why not start now?

 

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I apologize, the Autism Speaks as we know it was mid- 2000’s not the 90’s.

 

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Far more people have autism than bladder problems so it’s unlikely we’d ever be able to organize to tte extent they did.

 

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I've heard for years that the stigma of adult diapers is because parents tell their kids that only babies wear diapers. It's always been a mystery to me why this idea is so prevalent.

As a somewhat accomplished parent (single parent to two kids) I never said anything like that, because it's a way of shaming them and I suspect that most parents today try hard not to shame their kids. It would be like telling a child who brought home a bad report card that only stupid kids get bad grades - I worked hard to build up my kids, not tear then down.

The reason diapers are so stigmatized, I believe, is because our society has developed a deep fear of bodily waste. Inability to control bodily waste, whether urine or stool, is seen as filthy, and inability to prevent oneself from being filthy, and smelling filthy, is what's really seen as being shameful. How many people avoid public restrooms because of their connection with bodily waste and therefore filth? By the same token, many people will avoid incontinent people because they're concerned that the person will be filthy and smell bad.

Look at the stigma surrounding ostomies and ostomy bags. Many people would very literally rather die than have to deal with their waste draining into a bag. But nobody was told as a child that ostomy bags are only for babies - that's not the source of the still at all.

To be honest, I think the idea that diaper stigma is due to parents shaming kids during potty training is something that ABDL culture has pushed onto us. Many ABDLs like and crave the shaming as part of a very adult game, and have pushed this narrative that slow potty training is some huge source of shame for the parents because it enables them to justify their partners shaming them over their diapers.

I know I, for one, was never ashamed of, and never shamed, my son who potty trained late - at most it was frustrating to see him not move up into a preschool classroom with more age-appropriate activities because that classroom wasn't equipped to deal with children in diapers.