Evolution of adult diapers

I have read that widely available adult diapers have been trending away from tape-ons and more towards pull ups with true 'adult diapers' getting harder and harder to find in regular land stores. Even though pull up's don't do so good of a job. I am wondering why that is? Do companies think that people would prefer something that 'looks like undies' but leaks everywhere rather than something that looks exactly like what it is and does the job? Isn't this kind of disrespectful towards those who actually need them? I mean if you actually need them and are leaking everywhere isn't it MORE undignified?

In my 23 years of menstruating I have even noticed this trend with menstrual pads. When I got my first period those pads really did their job. These days 'thinness' is valued above all else and of course they just don't do their job like they used to. I often end up having to wear both a tampon and a pad when I'm heavy, (and I hate tampons).

I honestly think it's probably just the embarrassment factor. People with incontinence and even AB/DLs won't really want to tell the world about their kink and/or problem. Therefore I imagine most people will simply buy online. Hell, even online stores will offer things like 'discreet shipping'.
Being someone that works in a supermarket I know that the usual way that things work is; 'if it won't sell we won't stock'. Which is probably the ultimate reason for why only specialist stores, or sometimes pharmacies, are the only places you can find conventional adult diapers. I mean you have to remember these are companies, not people trying to shame us. All it comes down to is what makes them the most profit.
I can't speak for sanitary towels and the like, I'm not a female. However, working in a supermarket I have come to notice a couple things. I want to mention though that unlike my avatar, I do have very long hair which often leads to the occasionally confused customer that approaches me only seeing the back of my head at first. Well on a couple of occasions I have had female customers come up to me and ask me where the menstrual products are. It's never phrased like that though. Sometimes they might say 'ladies items' or sometimes simply as 'toiletries'. But on those occasions I can only assume that they didn't notice I'm male, and I notice them instantly going sheepish over the subject matter. Obviously I don't bring attention to it I just show them where they are like any other item. As far as I'm concerned, periods are as natural as breathing so I'm not going to mock someone for their needs and issues.
But I do want to ask if it might be all leading back again to the whole embarrassment factor. Hell, even when I'm stocking those shelves I've noticed that half of them flaunt the word discreet in there titles.

It's convenience, you can just pull them up and down or rip the sides, instead of having to lie down or get someone else to do it. They're aimed more at people with light incontinence and more active people.

Pull up style incontinence products might be easier to take off.. but not put on. You have to undress to actually put one on. Unless you're in a dress or skirt I suppose. Where as a diaper you just need to lower your pants and well, change.

CrinkleMyJimmies said:

I have read that widely available adult diapers have been trending away from tape-ons and more towards pull ups with true 'adult diapers' getting harder and harder to find in regular land stores. Even though pull up's don't do so good of a job. I am wondering why that is? Do companies think that people would prefer something that 'looks like undies' but leaks everywhere rather than something that looks exactly like what it is and does the job? Isn't this kind of disrespectful towards those who actually need them? I mean if you actually need them and are leaking everywhere isn't it MORE undignified?

In my 23 years of menstruating I have even noticed this trend with menstrual pads. When I got my first period those pads really did their job. These days 'thinness' is valued above all else and of course they just don't do their job like they used to. I often end up having to wear both a tampon and a pad when I'm heavy, (and I hate tampons).

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Yes, they do. Manufacturers, especially depends, are focused on the single biggest group they can. Baby boomers.

And for the last 10+ years, boomers only needed something for occasional leaks (and mensturate less or none too). They also wanted something incredibly discrete. Only now are they starting to need better diapers, and only now are we just beginning to see that.

Most people who get to the stage where they need something more than a pad are likely to be more comfortable with the idea of wearing something that pulls up and down like underwear, rather than being obviously a nappy. Also the majority of people who are active and mobile with incontinence will usually be able to try and make it to the toilet, and just need something that will cope with the wetting accident that happens on the way to the toilet, generally standing up - a decent pull-up is likely to handle that.

Wearing a tape-on nappy is pretty much admitting you're not going to make it to the toilet, as if you have severe incontinence then by the time you've made it to the facilities and started fiddling about with tapes then it's more than likely going to be too late anyway, and if you're wearing something that can easily contain a full bladder, well, it's probably easier to just accept that and use it. Some people who get used to wearing an all-in-one incontinence product through pull-ups may eventually "graduate" to nappies, but they probably don't need either reminding they need them through TV advertising or to have to carry them around in their supermarket trolley. I do think they should be more visible though, as plenty of otherwise reasonably healthy people do need them and some probably think there's nothing out there more absorbent than "discreet" Tena Lady pants. I suppose most of the market for true adult nappies is caring institutions who buy in bulk, and the number 2 market is probably AB/DLs...

Baby Boomers. They are ashamed they need Diapers to begin with, they grew up in an era where acceptance of a disability was just not something to even consider. What I've tended to find is that Millennials with Incontinence just want a decent and usable product, but these ideas are naturally at odds, and sadly Boomers are the majority of the market.

I was having a conversation on Facebook the other day, and this woman was asking me why I called them Diapers, that her dad refused to use the word. I responded that by using euphemisms it's reinforcing the notion that I should be ashamed of my disability and I choose to take pride in the term Diapers, no matter what a bunch of marketing execs have to say. She was amused by that answer, but it speaks to the reason for this divide in the market, her father grew up in an era when you hid disabilities, shunned them, I grew up in the era of Pride Movements, and Body Positivity. I prefer a product that there's no question I'm wearing a diaper and works magnificently, he prefers a product that fails half the time, but it doesn't actually look like a diaper so he can pretend it isn't one. When that demographic starts to die off I think a lot of the innovations in the ABDL Scene will start to make their way onto store shelves as Milennials demand a better product and aren't ashamed to admit it.

Baby Boomers. They are ashamed they need Diapers to begin with, they grew up in an era where acceptance of a disability was just not something to even consider. What I've tended to find is that Millennials with Incontinence just want a decent and usable product, but these ideas are naturally at odds, and sadly Boomers are the majority of the market.

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Interesting comment about the difference in generations. My parents are older Boomers (born mid 40's) and they would think I had absolutely lost it if they found out I wear voluntarily. It's not just that they would think I had a kink/lifestyle choice that they don't approve of, it's that they wouldn't even believe it could be a kink to begin with because they'd think nobody would find that desirable. They wouldn't merely just not approve; they'd think that I was either severely mentally ill or on hard drugs.

Me on the other hand (and I have more socially progressive views than average even for my age group) am more like "why don't they just put a good product on the shelves and call a spade a spade?)

That's been my observations too. Older generation boomers would sooner die than openly admit they need diapers. As a result, everyone else suffers with inferior pullups and pads.

I too also believe that as they get to a point of truly needing better diapers, we will start to see them in stores. And yes, when they die out we will see the market shift towards all age groups, and with a differentiation on performance versus discreteness.

Older generation boomers would sooner die than openly admit they need diapers. As a result, everyone else suffers with inferior pullups and pads.

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In a funny way it shows there has been some progress albeit slow. In older generations something like ABDL would have been too out of their sphere to even give comment on, other than you sound like you're ready for the insane asylum. At least in my generation, although the majority would consider it weird and a good chunk would be disapproving of it and think it makes you a pervert, at least they can understand it enough to be judgemental towards it. Older generations for the most part probably couldn't even do that.

Wearing a tape-on nappy is pretty much admitting you're not going to make it to the toilet, as if you have severe incontinence then by the time you've made it to the facilities and started fiddling about with tapes then it's more than likely going to be too late anyway, and if you're wearing something that can easily contain a full bladder, well, it's probably easier to just accept that and use it. Some people who get used to wearing an all-in-one incontinence product through pull-ups may eventually "graduate" to nappies, but they probably don't need either reminding they need them through TV advertising or to have to carry them around in their supermarket trolley.

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You also brought up a very interesting concept. However it doesn't explain why menstrual products are also getting ever wimpier and more leak prone by the year (ie more 'discreet' lol) I hardly think women are getting less willing to admit they menstruate! One might guess it's due to fashions getting tighter, but there were plenty of skin-tight pants around in the 1970's/80's. I grew up in lycra bike pants, yet the menstrual pads and tampons back then did their job better. I never had to wear both a pad and a tampon just for my period

And as for most people these days buying online, that may be true, but I think nothing can ever quite replace the convenience of being able to run down to your local supermarket whenever you run out.