By Timmy

Age 4 to 6

I really don’t recall much before the age of 4, but I do know that my parents tried to potty train me at the age of 2 ½ or 3. They had some success, but they never fully trained me at night. I was still in night diapers and plastic pants every night. By the time I reached Kindergarten, I was having frequent daytime accidents and the doctors were at a loss of why. Since I was having these numerous daytime accidents, I was sent to Kindergarten wearing my cloth diapers and plastic pants. Since I was born in the 60’s, disposable diapers weren’t really available for older children, so I had to wear cloth diapers and plastic pants. At that time, I really didn’t know that other kids really didn’t wear diapers at 5 years old, as one of my classmates that I knew wore them as well. I had some dry days, but more often than not, I would end up wetting my pants. My parents got tired of trying to potty train me and the constant washing of clothes, it was best for them to keep me in diapers. When I reached the first grade, I finally realized that I was going to be the only 1st grader still in diapers. I was teased and taunted by the kids that Timmy was still in diapers. My Mom though did the best she could, tried concealing my daytime diapers. She had sewn a regular pair of boy’s underwear over the top of my plastic pants, so if I bent over, you would not see my plastic pants, but a pair of regular underwear. Of course I knew that I was wearing diapers and I can now think that most of my classmates knew as well. The bulk of my diapers underneath my pants and even if my “so called underwear” did show, it was quite obvious that there was something else beneath the underwear. It would have bulked out enough to give it away, as regular underwear would lie flat against the skin. School was having some difficulty with me still in diapers, so my parents effortlessly kept up on my potty training so by the time I reached the 2nd grade, I finally was able to go without diapers and plastic pants to school, but I still needed nighttime diapers. Of course I still was having some occasional daytime accidents and every time I had an accident, I had to wear my cloth diapers and plastic pants for two days after my accident until I remained dry. When I was in the 2nd grade, I didn’t want to wear diapers to school, but there were several occasions that I was sent to school in diapers. I guess my parents thought if I wore diapers to school and it embarrassed me enough, I would try harder not to have daytime accidents.

Age 7 to 10

During my 2nd, 3rd through the 5th grade, I was still wearing my cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed each night for my constant bedwetting. By this time I was still having occasional daytime accidents and I tried to hide these episodes from my parents. I was pretty successful but I was caught from time to time and whenever I had an accident I had to wear diapers during the daytime for 2 days for punishment. I remember when I was in the 4th grade; I had an accident on a Sunday night, so I was sent to school on Monday and Tuesday wearing diapers. Somehow by Tuesday night, I had accidentally wet my diapers and so I was sent to school for another 2 days wearing diapers. I think I spent the entire week in diapers. My friends caught on that I was wearing diapers underneath my pants and I was teased that I was wearing a diaper to school. My plastic pants were the Gerberä style plastic pants, but only bigger to fit kids like me. When I was younger, my mom sewed a regular pair of underwear over the top of my plastic pants, but these no longer fit me. Since I was not wearing them all the time during the daytime, she stopped making my plastic pants with the regular underwear. So anytime that I would have to wear diapers to school or even during the daytime for the matter of the fact, I would have to wear regular plastic pants over my diapers. I think the teasing made me stop wetting my pants that week and by the time the following week came up, I was in regular underwear again. My parents decided once again to take me to a specialist, and finally they got some answers. The doctor found out that my bladder and the surrounding muscles were not fully developed. He was surprised that I had actually mastered daytime control, as he felt that I should be in diapers around the clock. He told my parents that it wouldn’t surprise him that if I wore night diapers all my life. At least now, I knew it wasn’t my fault and had a sense of relief. My parents though on the other hand were disappointed at the results. They thought it was totally my fault and they wanted to get their big-boy out of night diapers, as well as daytime diapers sometimes. By this time I was more comfortable in my diapers than not, but being 9 years old, wearing diapers isn’t actually the norm. Around the same age, about 9, I remember staying over at my cousin’s house. My cousin was the same age as I and he had a younger brother who was about 7 at the time. I felt embarrassed when my parents had to put me into my thick cloth diapers and plastic pants and then continue playing with my cousin until bedtime, wearing diapers underneath my pajamas. I think he was curious that I was still wetting my bed and wore diapers at night for protection. Later in life, I learned that same cousin, wet the bed as well, but his parents never forced the protection issue, other than a plastic sheet. I always thought the plastic sheet was for my benefit, not his. You’d would have thought, that since I was in diapers, because of bedwetting, why didn’t his parents do the same. He would have gotten a lot more sleep, wearing diapers to bed each night…I know I did. When I reached the 5th grade, I was still wetting the bed each night and continually wore my thick overnight cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed each night. I had one close friend, who knew about my bedwetting and the need for diapers. I think he enjoyed seeing me diapered at night, as he always wanted to spend the night over at my house. I didn’t really stay over at anybody else’s house, as one could imagine… the fear of others finding out my secret and that I still needed nighttime diapers. Between the ages of 5 and 8, my parents would take my brother and myself to the outdoor theatre during the summer months. I always loved going there to see a movie. The only drawback was that my parents insisted that I wore my thick cloth diapers and plastic pants to the Drive Inn. They just thought that since the movie lasted past my bedtime, it would be a good idea for me to be diapered, just in case I fell asleep. I remember having to go with my dad to the concession stand, wearing my obviously thick diapers and plastic pants underneath my pajamas. I wonder how many other kids snickered and wondered why I was still wearing diapers. My brother though thought it was just as funny as his younger brother still needed nighttime diapers. There would many of times that I fell asleep on the way home from the Drive Inn theatre and wet myself. I also remember my parents having to change my wet diapers once we got home. Didn’t want me to get a nasty case of diaper rash…now would we!

Age 11-14

By now, I started in putting on my own night diapers. I sorely missed the comfort and security of my parents changing me, but I was starting puberty. I got modest in my young age. I still wore night diapers and I was even having additional daytime accidents. Even though my parents knew that it wasn’t really my fault, I still had to have the punishment of wearing daytime diapers if or when I had a daytime accident. I would have to wear diapers the next 2 days, until I remained dry. My parents during my 7th grade sent me to summer camp that year. I was terrified that everyone would notice that I was still in night diapers and I tried to hide it completely. I was pretty successful, until the second night. A bunch of kids, in the same bunkhouse decided to drag me out toward the lake’s edge by my bedsheets, as they did with several other campers. Since they had problems dragging me out with my sheets, they decided to carry me to the lake. I guess that was my mistake. It didn’t take too long before 2 of the guys felt my plastic pants and realized that I was wearing diapers. The rest of the week, I was known as DiaperBoy. My parents thought it was in my best interest that I learned some social skills and do other things kids my age were doing. Yeah, right, most boys didn’t have to wear diapers at night. Also when I was 12, my dad was changing my wet daytime diapers (I had some accidents) and I guess he got mad that he was changing his 12 year-olds diaper and decided to go to the grocery store, with me in attendance. All I was made to wear was my cloth diapers, plastic pants and a tee shirt. I never felt so embarrassed shopping with my dad in the town’s one of two grocery store wearing diapers and plastic pants…at 12 years old. My mom was furious at him for having me go to the store dressed only in diapers. During the year of 1977, I remember that the fashion was that of tight pants and wide bell-bottoms. Now that I occasionally wore diapers during the daytime, it was really hard to stay in fashion, yet not let anyone know that I wore diapers. I was only 14 at the time in 1977, but I remember that I had a friend stay over at my house, because his parents were out of town and they had asked my parents if it was ok, since we were friends. Well this friend did not know about my need for night diapers and I was really afraid what he would think. I would have gotten away with my diapers underneath my pajamas, but while we were talking in bed, he bluntly asked me why I was wearing diapers. I told him that I was a chronic bedwetter and had to wear them at night for protection. I asked him how he knew, and he just said that he could tell by the way my pajamas bulked out and he heard the subtle crinkling noise from my plastic pants. He also told me that it was really that he saw my plastic pants stick out from my pajamas, when I was climbing on to the top bunk. He was a good friend and never really said anything to anybody else that I know of. During that year of 1977, I entered my freshmen year of high school. Here I was, 14 going on 15 and still in night diapers. I only wore daytime diapers only once during that year and it happened to be in the summer time, so for one of the first times, I never wore diapers to school.

Age 15 to 17

Not much else going on, other than that I was still in night diapers. Disposable diapers were still not really available for teenagers my age, but my parents did happen to find a disposable diaper called “Ambezeä Junior Disposable Diapers”. These disposable diapers were that of a wing-fold flat diaper. It had only one tape tab on each side and was basically pretty thin. My parents were excited that maybe, washing diapers and plastic pants were the thing of the past. My first night wearing these thin disposable diapers, were unlike my thicker cloth diapers and plastic pants and by the second night…I was back in my regular old cloth diapers and plastic pants. Those disposable diapers leaked so much; it was like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. During the late winter of 1978, I caught a really bad flu bug that landed me into the hospital. I was so weak from the flu that I could not control either of my bodily functions. I was put into diapers during my hospital stay day and night. I was in the hospital for 5 days and when I released from the hospital, the doctors told my parents that even though my bowels came back normally, my bladder suffered from damage from the flu. They also told my parents that it would be quite normal for me to need diapers all the time for such a longer period of time, or even that I might not even get control of my bladder. I spent a good part in diapers when I was 16. I was a junior at the time and when I finally went back to school after being so sick, I had to return to my junior year in cloth diapers and plastic pants. This time though, my mom decided to give my plastic pants alittle camouflage, so she once again sewn a regular pair of Fruit of the Loom underwear over the top of my plastic pants. She also decided that pin-on style cloth diapers were that much more harder to change, so being an excellent seamstress, she made some snap-on cloth diapers for me. Both of these measures made wearing diapers alittle easier. I still though wore regular pin-on style cloth diapers and regular plastic pants to bed each and every night I had no control over my bladder and would wet at any moment’s notice. Of course my classmates were concerned when I was sick, but it was obvious that I returned to school wearing diapers. This lasted for 8 months, all the way into the summer months. I did not try to let it bother me. During the summer of 1979, I went to the beach with my family wearing cloth diapers and plastic pants underneath my swim trunks. I even when to my Junior Prom that may wearing diapers underneath my tux. I think my date was more interested in me wearing diapers than in just myself. Nothing came out of our date and we never dated again. Can you imagine, being 16 and needing diapers all the time for your bladder needs! P.E. wasn’t all that thrilling as well. There were many of times that my plastic pants became visible to the other guys in gym class. I started my senior year still in daytime diapers, slow but sure, my bladder finally had enough strength that I could control my daytime bathroom urges. I was finally out of daytime diapers, but I was still known throughout high school as the guy that wears diapers. Little did they know that I still wore thick cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed each night! My close friends though were aware that I still needed nighttime diapers, but they never spread the word around that I was still a bedwetter. When I finally graduated high school, my parents insisted that I wear my diapers and plastic pants to the graduation ceremony. They felt that with the excitement of the day, it would be in my best interest if I were protected, just in case I had an accident. I reluctantly agreed, so I was probably the first senior to graduate in diapers. I’m glad that I made that decision, as the day went on, and I was up on stage, I had the urge to pee, but couldn’t leave the ceremony, so I just wet my diaper. My parents weren’t upset with me because I had wet my diapers, they just told me that is why I was wearing them. For the next two days after graduation, I put myself back into cloth diapers and plastic pants. Even during my graduation party, I was diapered. my parents knew that I was wearing diapers and didn’t have a problem with it During my party, we had a volleyball court in our yard and being summer time, all my friends and some classmates played volleyball. With the heat of the day, I took off my shirt while I played volleyball and as you can imagine, it was no secret that I was wearing diapers. My plastic pants were visible to the naked eye and my friends thought it was funny that I still needed daytime diapers, even for a 17 year-old That wraps it up for my life in diapers or at least for the first 17 years. I have more experiences wearing diapers to college and finally having the manufacturer’s make adult sized disposable diapers, which to this date, has made my life a lot easier and more comfortable but that’s another story.

The End