I knew about my desires to be a baby again and wear diapers pretty early. I think my first instances of acting out on these desires were as early as 5-6. Shortly after my cousins were born, I became obsessed with wanting to be a baby again, I was being bullied in school and my Mother was very insistent that I grow-up and mature even at that young age.
When I felt low or stressed, I would pretend to be a baby and I'd stuff towels or bundled up pants down my underwear to simulate what I thought a diaper would feel like. I also found some of my old baby toys when snooping for Christmas presents one year, I took a few things, a pacifier, a rattle and a teddy and I would use that when I would pretend. I didn't pretend to be a baby very often during this time because I was always nervous that my Mom would find out even from that young age. Also during this time, my first friends were some neighbourhood girls, they loved to play house and sometimes the oldest would make me the baby at other times, I would volunteer to be the baby, I even remember bringing some of my baby items over when we played house together. During this time, I also remember that whenever I watched cartoons and a character would regress or be made to wear a diaper I would get really jealous and wish it was me. These practices went on for a while. I was never caught during this time, although my Mother probably had her suspicions, otherwise I don't think she would have reacted so poorly when she discovered my stash of baby things in my teens (I won't reiterate it here, but I've told the story of when and how I was caught many times before).
I never went so far as to begin bedwetting as a means of getting in touch with my ABDL side. In fact, I had very few wetting accidents as a child, so I didn't have any correlation between bedwetting and ABDL.
For whatever reason, around the age of 9, my desires faded a way, I can't remember why, I know this was around the time my bullying ceased and I made some of my closest friends, perhaps that distracted me from my ABDL desires for a while.
It wasn't until I was 14 and in high-school that the desires and the memories came flooding back and I wanted to be a baby again. I got bold during this time, my mother worked late so I would have free run of the house and I lived in a small town with a pharmacy nearby. So, when I made a bit of cash I would go to the drugstore and buy depends or Tena's or whatever they had (these diapers were trash mind you, but they did the trick), I would also buy baby items and toys at dollar stores. I found a hiding space for my little stash and until I ran out of diapers and needed more, I would wear and use them everyday while pretending to be a baby and I would always change out of them and resume being a big boy before my mother got home. My mother having a very set work schedule really helped me plan out my baby time accordingly. This went on for a good few years until my mother discovered my stash of baby items. I only bought diapers a couple of times after my stash was found and I wouldn't dive headlong into ABDL until I moved into my own apartment at 20.
Oddly enough, when I was really getting in touch with this side of myself at 14, I never really felt too guilty about my ABDL desires, I never had a binge or a purge, my mind would always go to, this makes me happy, I'm not hurting anyone and everyone is a little weird. My friends used drugs to escape their problems and enjoy themselves, I used diapers and babyhood and those two things seemed much more wholesome to me than any form of substance.
There was a brief time in high school though where I thought I wouldn't be able to lead a normal life with my AB desires, a time where I saw my friends getting girlfriends, a time where I knew I liked women and I wanted sex, but I also wanted to be a baby and be cared for even more, I've since had sex plenty of times and I enjoy it, but my emotional need to be a baby is a far more enriching experience to me, my emotional needs outweigh my sexual ones. It was during this moment of confusion and doubt that I told one of my dearest friends and he accepted it, that helped me feel a little more normal.
I am also glad I waited until college/university to start dating. I found it easier to talk openly about romantic things, relationships and being an AB with women/prospective partners when in college/university because the one-upmanship of high-school was a thing of the past and most of the people I talked to were looking for serious relationships, they weren't playing around and they certainly weren't going to gossip with their friends about what boy they dated was into what like some high school girls do.
Discovering sites like ADISC and a few others when I was in high-school helped me immensely as well because these sites showed me that I wasn't alone in this and that I could lead a normal adult life and even find a partner despite being an overgrown baby, this gave me enough confidence to begin fully accepting myself.
I have since told many friends, have gotten many AB items, have had many wonderful moments regressing and I even have a Mommy.