Disposable diapers, version 1.0

When we first brought newborn Gordon home from the hospital, we were given an assortment of freebies to take home with him. Among these were some disposable diaper samples. I examined them curiously, even skeptically, for I was already supplied with the requisite 3 dozen cloth diapers with balloon-like plastic pants to seal in the messes. These disposables were thin, but they had a plastic outer layer, so maybe I could at least try them out.

What they did not have was elastic at the legs. I remember distinctly holding him in my arms and realizing that his latest mess was not contained by the diaper. In the end, I had to change him from the skin out, and me, as well as sponging up spots from the carpet, and who knows what all.

I felt, quite reasonably, that disposable diapers had betrayed me, and did not use them again until Stuart was born. By then, of course, they were vastly improved with elastic legs, industrial-strength adhesive tabs, and enough absorbent material to contain even epic disasters.