Swimming scene before swim diapers

[PrettyLilPrincess]

Question:
For those who are old enough to know (I was born in 2003), what was the swimming scene like for babies and toddlers before the advent of swim diapers? Were non - potty trained kids just not allowed in public swimming pools period? Was being able to swim in a public pool or beach an incentive for kids to potty train? Curious since these days swim diapers are everywhere.

 

[dogboy]

I date way back so if I remember correctly, no one cared. I grew up in the '50s and '60s so people looked at things differently. I also grew up on Barnegat Bay so we did almost all of our swimming in the bay or ocean. It used to be a joke to stand next to a friend and pee. Boys are idiots and I was one of the idiots.

 

[Polara64]

Just wore a cloth diaper with a cover

 

[KenworthW900b]

Everyone I can remember when I was a kid just wore a regular diaper and it would swell up like a toad, eventually the tapes would give out and some poor little one would inevitably loose their diaper. In public pools and water parks the diapered kids were relegated to the kiddie pools and were absolutely not allowed in the regular pools or on rides if there were any, this was in the early 80's.

I was always put in a luvs, we didn't go to many pools but we did go to the beach a lot when I was a toddler... There are many pictures and I didn't look happy with the swollen diaper around my waist.

 

[sinceiwassmall]

Where I live the rule and normal practice when I was a kid was babies were in cloth diapers and well-fitting plastic pants.

 

[TheBob]

I remember visiting a public pool and in the rules specifically said "all children under the age of five must wear plastic pants".

 

[SparkyDog]

Question:
For those who are old enough to know (I was born in 2003), what was the swimming scene like for babies and toddlers before the advent of swim diapers? Were non - potty trained kids just not allowed in public swimming pools period? Was being able to swim in a public pool or beach an incentive for kids to potty train? Curious since these days swim diapers are everywhere.

Back in my day
swollen diapers
or nothing on at all. Which would get you asked to leave now

 

[Cottontail]

I grew up in the 80's in a neighborhood with a pool. There were no rules about diapers, so I saw every possible scenario: Cloth diapers (with or without plastic pants), regular disposable diapers, swim suits that clearly didn't have anything else under them, ... It was another era for sure.

 

[OldTerry]

Cloth nappies and large plastic pants were used.
Main aim I suppose was to keep poo inside the nappy

 

[pinkpanther]

I live in Europe and was born in the 70ies. Babies ran around naked at the Beach or in Baby-Pools. We spend most of our Holidays in former Yugoslavia. They had many nude beaches. The day was over when you were put back in the nappy. My Mum asked the Doctor and he said that air and sunlight is the best for a Babies Bottom. „Normal“ Pools were for Adults. So it was either Nappy or nothing.

 

[Prime69]

It was always diapers for me under my trunks. Yeah they would swell way up. My Mom wouldn’t let me go without them though. She didn’t want me to poop my trunks. Peeing was no big deal. I feel like I’ve always peed my trunks. I’d get out of the pool even when I was older and just pee my trunks. Still do. Or in the water if at an ocean of lake. I can remember getting changed into a dry diaper on a beach towel many times. This often led to playing around in the sand wearing only pampers.

 

[oldpppants]

Remember that no matter what diapee is worn in a pool peepee will wind up in the pool. Diapers of any kind in a pool are only to catch poopoo. Peepee in a pool, especially the volume produced by baby or toddler, is not a problem, the disinfection system used will kill any bacteria and it will be diluted quickly. Poopoo in a pool, on the other hand, is a BIG problem, usually forcing the closure of the pool and special cleaning.

 

[AJFan2020]

Back in the late 1980s (I think 1988 or 1989) I took swimming lessons and everyone who was not toilet trained (and also everyone younger than five-and-a-half) was required to wear either a cloth diaper or cloth training pants with plastic pants on top.

I remember the five-and-a-half and under rule because one day at my swimming school a mother arrived with her five-year-old son (he just turned five within the past month) in just a swimsuit and even though he was completely toilet trained for two or three years his mother was told that she had to leave and come back when she had cloth diapers (or cloth training pants) and plastic pants for him (even though he rarely (if ever) had accidents). I remember that he was crying because he was told that he would be able to go swimming that day and he was not allowed to even though he was clean and dry and normal sized for his age. I assume that today he would be allowed to wear a disposable swim diaper with his swimsuit over the top so no one would need to see it and that he would get to go swimming after a quick stop at the local grocery store (avoiding any tears and minimizing embarrassment).

This was in Massachusetts and apparently back then it was either a state law or county ordinance that required it. I’m not sure what today’s rules are on that. The rules may have changed since then.