A diaper (also called a nappy in South Africa, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Zimbabwe) is a type of underwear that allows one to defecate or urinate, without the use of a toilet. When diapers become soiled, they require changing, generally by a second person such as a parent or caregiver. Failure to change a diaper on a sufficiently regular basis can result in skin problems around the area covered by the diaper.
Diapers are made of cloth or synthetic disposable materials. Cloth diapers are composed of layers of fabric such as cotton, hemp, bamboo or microfiber and can be washed and reused multiple times. Disposable diapers contain absorbent chemicals and are thrown away after use. Plastic pants can be worn over diapers to avoid leaks, but with modern cloth diapers, this is no longer necessary.
Diapers are primarily worn by infants, and by children who are not yet potty trained or who experience bedwetting. They are also used by adults with incontinence or in certain circumstances where access to a toilet is unavailable. These can include those of advanced age, individuals with certain types of physical or mental disability, and people working in extreme conditions, such as astronauts. It is not uncommon for people to wear diapers under dry suits.
Diaper may refer to:
Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, and silverwork. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces.
For the etymology see "diaper," meaning children's nappy. Oxford dictionary gives us the Greek dia for "cross" as in "diamond" or "diagonal," and aspros, Greek for "white". A white diamond or white cloth is used on the diagonal, hence the diagonal lattice or reticulation in patterning.
In architecture and other decorative arts, diaper is applied as a decorative treatment of a surface with a repeat pattern of squares (chequers), rectangles, or lozenges. Diaper was particularly used in mediaeval stained glass to increase the vividness of a coloured pane, for example the field in a shield of arms. A stone wall may be decorated with such a pattern sculpted in relief; in brickwork the effect may be achieved by using bricks of different colours, or by allowing certain bricks to protrude from the wall's surface to create a regular diamond-shaped pattern. In English flushwork limestone and dark knapped flint are used. Windows may be set in a diamond-shaped lattice.
I am a chemical reaction
To a practical solution
And I'm trapped out in the middle
Of a lake of my pollution
If I don't give myself a break
I might just give myself
A tummyache
Some things appear out of the blue
Directionless
So what
I'm tried and true
This is a registered denial
Of a toxic situation
But I have really grown to cherish
All of my vile habituations
The air in my crib's gettin strange
It looks like my diaper
Needs a-changin'
Sometimes it seems nothin will do
Directionless
So what
I'm tried and true
I am a permanent example
Of a passing fascination
And I am trying hard to swallow
All of the beautiful information
Sometimes it seems nothing will do
Directionless
So what
I'm tried and true
The air in my crib's gettin strange
It looks like my diaper
Needs a-changin'
Some things appear out of the blue
Directionless
So what
I'm tried and true
Sometimes it seems nothing will do
Directionless
So what