How to Encourage Big Kids to Wear Diapers

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Open up your search for diapers to be more than those meant for babies.

   If you walk up and down the aisles of most supermarkets, you'll also find alternatives in most of the hygiene aisles that your child could want to use.
   
   Most often times, these diapers are considered to be adult-sized replicas of the types of diapers they once used when they were children.
   
   Some adult diaper companies often offer pull-up styled diapers that you can buy that can sometimes be enough to persuade your "big kid" into wearing diapers once again.
   
   Most big kids will be resistant to diapers with a graphic.
   
   Even if it's just needing to find one that doesn't have the standardized graphic on the front of the diaper, adult diapers will tend to cross over and not provide this graphic, but may provide an easy and visual colored-line on the diaper to indicate when it has been wet by the wearer.
   
   Whether the diaper is a pull-up style or to those with tabs in the disposable adult line of diapers to slip into pads that go right in their underwear, there is some type of diaper for every person.
   
   It's likely that you'll find something that the Big Kid will want to use for their diaper-wearing need.
2. 2

   Step 2: Look for cloth diapers for the child.

   Although baby-sized cloth diapers are available at almost every retailer offline, adult cloth diapers (sometimes providing the bigger fit the Big Kid might need) are always available at some online-only retailers.
   
   While adult cloth diapers aren't generally found at most supermarkets, some baby sized ones might fit your "big kid" still, and may be just the replacement that you "big kid" might want or need to use.
   
   If your child doesn't like the sound that disposable diapers make when you change him/her or is crinkling when they move around in public or the gel in the disposable diapers is reacting to cause more severe rashes on them, cloth diapering may be the better fit for both of you to attempt.
   
   Cloth diapers don't crinkle when the child moves around
   - so little to no sounds are made and it's an all-around great solution to use.
   
   Make cloth diaper changes seem easy on both of you.
   
   Look for pinless cloth diapers where the Big Kid doesn't need to operate a diaper pin to change, if convenience during changes is necessary and you can allow the kid to help with their diaper-changes.
   
   Most of these adult cloth diapers can be found online that can get attached with a Velcro strip and tab system
   - or as slip-in diaper pants.
   
   However, the big burden comes in the price you'll pay for the product as well as the shipping price from the outside company and most often the additional bank fees for paying to a merchant outside of your home country.
   
   If the Big Kid needs to be diapered you can just buy square cloth diapers but these need folding.
   
   There are many different ways to fold a diaper but only a few are suitable for Big Kids.
   
   If you decide to let your child wear cloth diapers remember to buy plastic pants too.
   
   Plastic pants are required for cloth diapers and comes in different styles and colors.
   
   Make sure to buy plastic pants with sufficient room for the diaper. , Yes, although you'll probably think that bedwetting only runs in kids older than 4 years old, Goodnites are designed to be a disposable product that can be a cross-over styled diaper that provides convenience while making the diaper seem to be kid-friendly.
   
   When they first go on, they are designed to be pulled up fairly rapidly (with a pull-on styled design) (which can be a big plus to those parents) while changes don't take all that long and can easily be ripped off for easier removal, and yet provide absorbency at rates that sure trump the baby-styles tabbed disposable diapers in the area your kids will need it most (having been focused on nighttime diapers when parents might not have checked in on their kids all that often).
   
   It's easy to overlook the fact that even kids of up to 11 or 12 can still fit into these sizes of diapers as they are made to help those who weigh between 38 and 125 pounds independent of the gender of the child, and exact type of Goodnites diaper you choose. , Have them come to you at any time and talk.
   
   If you need to, and if your child wants to talk to you in private, these matters should be taken care of promptly and in a manner both of you can discuss comfortably so as not to inform others of their thoughts and situations. , Most Big Kids will be naturally resistant and open to change to revert back to diapers (as opposed to big kid pants or underwear), but once you explain that wearing diapers have a positive effect on their lives, this can most often make them feel ready again to wear their diapers.
   
   Make their Big Kid diapers become a part of their natural flow of the routine during both the day and night, all while still not making onlookers think something weird is going on with this Big Kid.
   
   Make this routine seem like a "normal" part of the child's daily routine and part of normal aging to the child and any of his or her caregivers. , Although most often you can mention that their diaper is their own private bathroom they can use at any time is always available when other bathrooms aren't always available for use, they must be able to realize that this will come at a cost of having you check in and diaper them on a set routine again, all at which point you can talk to them and "cross" into once the Big Kid runs into that predicament in life.
   
   Have several reasons (besides this one) available to explain to them why using diapers are easier on them.
   
   Express to them that just because they have been put into diapers now, doesn't mean they'll be treated like an infant. , Whether it's to help cure a temporary sign of potty-training weakness or a short case of the flu that you don't want to worry about as much, or something else, open up your mouth and explain this reason to the kid in words they will understand.
   
   Talk to them about your viewpoints about having them wear diapers. , This talk may take a little while, and even if the parent has to use a little more parental force to make them understand and accept the consequences of wearing one, the fact that you must impart a feeling of yourself caring for your child, may mean a world of difference to the child in the end.
   
   Make sure they can accept that diapers can provide for better usability when times get tough or the bathroom is out of commission or for some other reason that makes using the alternative (of needing the bathroom) a bad idea to them.
   
   Have the Big Kid accept that wearing diapers will mean making less trips to the bathroom (especially those that are in public areas where they could be scared or during the middle of the night when there are little to no lights to light their way to the bathroom), but wearing diapers will also mean the cold and clammy feeling that they once felt when wearing them as an infant
   - all of which can be taken care of promptly when they come to you and ask for a diaper-change or when you come to check in on them.
   
   Let them still roam the house as they naturally would, but offer them the ability to use their diapers in place of using the bathroom.
   
   Don't shudder out the use of the toilets all together, but try not to encourage the use of the toilet. , Make sure they can privately come to you at any time and have you help them with the diaper-dressing needs including having you help them with their diaper change or having you help them solve the pain of an irritating diaper rash on their skin in their diaper area.
   
   It's pertinent however, that they can accept your full-fledged faith and encouragement to help them keep from feeling babyish and to evaluate how others can help them when they need the most help to solve out the problem, all while building up confidence in themselves for being able to ask and accept help when they request it.
   
   The Big Kid might cry to get your attention but you must encourage them never to cry to get your attention and that they can walk (if they are mobile) up to you to get your help to get the job done quickly and painlessly as possible. , Tell them that hugs and kisses might be given with praise for jobs well done in other areas and for achieving other important goals in their diaper-wearing time, but their treatment will be carried out the same between now and how it was dealt with before.
   
   Make the treatment the same as how you've always tackled diaper-changes when they mere babies, infants and toddler-children.
   
   If they are too weighty to be caressed after being lifted and hoisted into your arms, you may need to kneel down to their eye level and give them your ultimate affection, hugging them from the changing surface while changing their diaper instead of injuring your back and they should accept that they can't be hugged the same way as when they were infants. , However, nor should you use too adult-like words to make them not like to wear diapers any less.
   
   Make them realize that, through your visual cues during this diapering phase, these diapers will mean that it's still okay for them to wear their diapers despite some of them being potty-trained before. , Give them their own chances to express their views on the use of diapers now.
   
   Although some Big Kids will be resistant to change and will want to wear Big Kid underwear at all times, there will be others who will want to be adventurous once again and try out diapers for a second time in their life.
   
   Make the child open up and express their viewpoints on why diapers might or might not be the proper way to deal with the situation at their age level.
   
   Make sure you can receive, justify and accept their reasoning. , If you need to, try to show them with the proper tools and perform the initial change into their diaper for the first time.
   
   Show them just how long a diaper-change can take if they don't hinder the process by squirming around and show them what good cooperation can get them during these changes.
   
   Tell them exactly how they can cooperate during the diaper-change for example by lifting their legs as much as they can to give you access to the diaper area during the cleaning up or to lay still.
   
   Expect to incorporate answers to their questions into the conversation along with some ins and outs of their diaper-usage.
   
   Explain what you intend to do next, and how you plan on checking in on them when they are wearing their diaper. , If you don't want them forgetting how to use the bathroom (if they have been previously potty-trained), expect to allow them to make trips occasionally to the bathroom, but you might want to have your children deal with using their diapers more at night (but that must be up to you to decide). ,, Keep them out of sight of their siblings and relatives children who come to visit and that only the child who will need the diaper can oversee their use.
   
   Most often located in the child's room, put them where the child can reach.
   
   If the children are still able to fit on a diaper-changing table, you can put them on a lower shelf for them to grab when they need to bring one to you for their diaper-routine.
   
   Make sure that there is a trash can for the dirty diapers which have been soiled in some way, along with a pile of clean clothes and a pile of unused diapers that can be taken from at any hour of the day, yet stashed into a discrete area where only certain family members know about them.
   
   A diaper-changing table can be a good solution also for a "big kid" as it will give you the best working position to change your child's diaper.
   
   However it can be difficult to find a changing table large enough for children above 4 years in baby stores
   - but it is easy to make one yourself.
   
   Just use a stable office table and buy a foam pad covered in soft strong vinyl or waterproof table cloth. , Spots on a carpeted floor in their bedroom or a spot out of sight of other visitors can provide spots that could be used to provide privacy, security and self-respect to the diaper-wearer to discretely have their diapers changed.
   
   Don't let the feeling of not locking the bathroom door due to their use of the diapers ever stop you from closing the bathroom door.
   
   If they need to use the toilet, they may enter after knocking, and if someone says that someone is in the room
   - let ask them either hold it or use the diaper instead.
3. 3

   Step 3: Don't single out the Huggies' "Goodnites" disposable bedwetting diapers

4. 4

   Step 4: once you first hear this product's name and think "these diapers are only for those older/younger than my kid!".

5. 5

   Step 5: Avoid making the child feel embarrassed to talk to you about their diapers

6. 6

   Step 6: their changing times or anything about their life that is devoted to the use of their diapers.

7. 7

   Step 7: Don't make the child feel too embarrassed when you need to talk to them about having them wear a diaper again.

8. 8

   Step 8: Express to them the reasons why wearing a diaper is such a great thing to be used to at their age as well as expressing to them why wearing diapers isn't so great at their slightly older age.

9. 9

   Step 9: Explain to the child why you feel they should wear the diaper.

10. 10

    Step 10: Make sure that the child can accept the diapers as part of their new routine.

11. 11

    Step 11: Infer to your child that they can still come up to you and have you help them with their diaper-changing needs

12. 12

    Step 12: and they can trust you to help them to get the job done in a timely manner.

13. 13

    Step 13: Explain to them that no matter what happens with you when you first put them into their first diaper

14. 14

    Step 14: that doing so won't make you stop loving them or make you love them even more or less.

15. 15

    Step 15: Make their diapers the only thing from their Big Kid stage that they'd want to remember about their early childhood

16. 16

    Step 16: however

17. 17

    Step 17: don't loose sight of their "big kid abilities" and use baby words in babyish tones your Big Kid could accept (in hopes that they'll want to accept the diapers any more as something more soothing) to make them accept the diapers more now than ever before.

18. 18

    Step 18: Have the child express whether or not they want to wear diapers at any time they'd like to talk - even if that means at that immediate time or anytime in the near future.

19. 19

    Step 19: Explain - with a new diaper in hand - the new diaper-changing routine to them

20. 20

    Step 20: so they understand what they may expect when they are wearing their diaper.

21. 21

    Step 21: Come to an agreement that their diapers can be hidden out in public or in private for when other friends come over or when older siblings enter their room

22. 22

    Step 22: but yet they can still reach out into their secret spot and pull out a diaper when they feel they need their diaper changed.

23. 23

    Step 23: Explain that if they keep moving around

24. 24

    Step 24: their diaper changes will last much longer

25. 25

    Step 25: and that this may hinder their times to becoming the "Big Kid" they'd want to expect to become.

26. 26

    Step 26: Make the diapers readily available in a nearby room where most of the child's dressing will be done.

27. 27

    Step 27: Prepare an area that you could use that is big enough for both you and your child when your child needs their diaper changed and where there could be little to no fuss yet secure enough for others not to notice their need to wear these diapers.

Detailed Guide

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