Disposable Diapers

A diaper (in North America) or nappy (in the British Isles and many Commonwealth countries) is an absorbent garment worn by individuals who are incontinent, that is, lack control over bladder or bowel movements, or who are unable to reach the toilet when needed. more...

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This group primarily includes infants and young children, as well as some elderly people and some with a physical or mental disability.

History

Diapering, or clothing infants not yet potty trained, is as old as humankind. Mothers were challenged every day by their babies’ necessities and composed diapering solutions such as old blankets filled with moss, home-spun clothing wraps and swaddling bands. Thanks to the industrial revolution in the mid 19th Century, cheap manufactured cotton fabrics helped mothers diaper their babies and with the invention of the safety pin in the 1840s, the diaper began to take its form.

The revolution came in the 1930s. Perhaps in anticipation of wartime supply disruptions, the Germans were seeking alternatives to imported cotton for medical purposes and developed a technique to fabricate a soft cellulose tissue (“Cell-Stoff�) from wood pulp.

This technique caught the attention of the Swedish paper company Pauliström Bruk, which in the late 1930s brought about a brand new concept whereby a special type of soft tissue sheets, cut into pieces and wrapped into a parcel, was placed in the baby’s pants. This represented the first step toward the disposable diaper.

First disposable diapers

1942 First reference to a “disposable diaper� at Pauliström: a 2-piece product consisting of a disposable pad of cellulose wadding with gauze or knitted mesh cover and a reusable panty.

1946 American housewife Marion Donovan patents the “Boater� (waterproof cover with snaps for cloth diaper or disposable insert).

1947 British mother Valerie Hunter Gordon develops a two-piece disposable diaper for her own baby and sells more than 400 to local women. Two years later, Robinson & Sons commercialises a two-piece Paddi Pad diaper based on this concept.

Many parents believe that the disposable diaper is one of the great inventions of the 20th Century – a revolutionary product which has brought huge benefits to society in terms of health, hygiene and convenience. Parents, babies and toddlers around the world have been enjoying the freedom and comfort of disposable diapers for over 50 years.

Interactive diaper timeline

Click here for a comprehensive interactive disposable diaper timeline:

Word origin

The word diaper originally referred to the type of cloth rather than its use. Diaper cloth was originally linen. The first known reference is in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew : "Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper". This usage stuck in the United States and Canada, but in Britain the word nappy (short for baby napkin) took its place.

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