Hi everyone,

I wanted to run an idea by people on this forum about an idea I have for starting a diaper company catering to individuals age 3 through adult that wet the bed. I wanted to manufacture pin-on style prefold cloth diapers, plastic pants, as well as disposable diapers with tape tabs. I floated this idea to a representative from The Simon Foundation for Continence and she told me that there are "definite gaps in the market." The reason I wanted to focus on these styles of garments is because I've done some preliminary research and there are hardly any companies out there that makes these styles of diapers for this demographic.

I think the primary reason for these lack of garments is the stigma associated with wearing diapers with individuals in this age group, consequently the garments recommended by most parenting experts are products such as pull-ups and "Goodnites." Part of my reason for doing this is for personal reasons. I just turned 52 a week ago and suffer from nocturnal enuresis (the clinical term for bedwetting), although currently I've had a respite from my nighttime accidents. I use adult size prefold style pin-on cloth diapers covered with an adult size pair of pull-on style plastic pants (or "rubber pants" as many people call them) and disposable briefs with tape tabs. I think these styles are most effective for managing bedwetting and wanted parents to have access to these styles of garments too. So far, I only know of one company that makes pin-on style prefold diapers for older children and that's Adultclothdiaper.com (also known as All Together Enterprises). There used to be a company that operated in the late 80s and 90s called Edley Enterprises that made pin-ons and plastic pants for children ages 9 - 15 but they've long since gone out of business (I was told that the couple that ran the company are both deceased)I firmly believe parents should have as many choices available as possible to manage their child or teenager's bedwetting and am getting tired of seeing a lack of these garments available.

I would love to have an ongoing conversation about this - feel free to offer any comments or suggestions. I'd like to close this post off with a quote from an article I've written under my pen name Colin Ellison called "How to Reduce the Stigma of Older Children, Teenagers, and Adults Wearing Diapers for Bedwetting":

“Change the definition of diaper. Most definitions of diaper define it as being a garment worn by babies. If I were responsible for writing the definition of diaper found in dictionaries I'd write something like this: "An absorbent, waterproof, protective undergarment made of either reusable or disposable material which is drawn up between the legs and fastened at the waist by tape tabs, diaper pins, or other methods. It is designed to be used for several purposes: for managing episodes of incontinence experienced by babies and young children before they are potty trained; for providing protection for children, teenagers, and adults that suffer from incontinence due to various medical conditions, as well as providing protection for children, teenagers, and adults that wet the bed.""