I have to say, diapers are the greatest invention of all time! Not only has it greatly improved the quality of sleep for babies and moms, but it has relieved new dads of the painful diaper washing. Diapers are more expensive than traditional diapers, but after factoring in the cost of water, electricity, detergent, disinfectant, time, and labor spent on washing and drying traditional diapers, you will find that diapers are a very cost effective choice. The absorbent material used in the inner layer of diapers is a super absorbent polymer, also known as highly absorbent resin. This material is tens of times more absorbent than traditional fabrics. What’s even more rare is that the material swells into a hydrogel immediately after absorbing water, so that the water is firmly bound inside and no water is squeezed out even if it is scratched and pinched. The outer layer of diapers is mostly made of non-woven fabric, and the surface is often coated with skin care materials to minimize the irritation to the baby’s skin. These structural features make the advantages and disadvantages of diapers equally prominent: the polymer absorbent material makes the diapers have a higher capacity and do not have to be changed immediately after each urination, which greatly reduces the number of nighttime care; the material is not easy to re-infiltrate after absorbing water so that the baby’s buttocks can remain relatively dry, and also avoid the discomfort of wet and cold caused by the untimely replacement of traditional diapers. However, the disadvantages of diapers are also obvious: in terms of breathability, diapers are far inferior to cotton diapers; in addition, there are few babies who are allergic to diaper materials. Despite these disadvantages, diapers are, on the whole, a revolutionary advancement in childcare products. For babies who are not allergic, poor breathability is not a big problem, and diaper rash can be reduced by careful replacement and diligent care. Babies in traditional diapers can also get diaper rash if they are not properly handled. In Europe and the United States, disposable diapers have long been popular, the use rate is more than 80%. In China, there are still very few families who have completely abandoned traditional diapers. The reason for this is that, in addition to economic factors and traditional habits, certain misconceptions have been spread to make parents suspicious and afraid to use diapers with confidence. Among the above misconceptions, the most famous one is probably “diapers are detrimental to the reproductive development of male babies”. Since the male baby’s gonads are located in the scrotum, and the latter is the part that comes into direct contact with the diaper, this myth worries many new parents. Older people also often use this myth to oppose the use of diapers by young couples, but is it really so terrible? Let’s start with the development of the male baby’s reproductive system. The development of the gonads begins while the baby is still in the mother’s womb. By the eighth week of embryonic life, the interstitial cells in the testes are formed and begin to secrete androgens. By the time of birth, the cells in the testes responsible for producing sperm are ready, and they are called spermatogonia. The spermatogonia are the first stage of sperm production and are the “dormant” germ cells. After puberty, the spermatogonia will awaken and develop under the influence of hormones, passing through the stages of spermatogonia and spermatocytes and eventually morphing into spermatozoa. Therefore, the development of spermatogonial cells is actually completed in the mother’s body. Many people believe that diapers will make the scrotum area of the baby too hot and affect the development of germ cells. Even if the temperature is not suitable, the temperature inside the diaper is not higher than the temperature inside the mother’s uterus. Moreover, the spermatogonia actually develops before birth and its formation is not affected by diapers. The testes are initially located in the abdominal cavity during fetal life. As the fetus grows, the testes gradually descend, and by the time of birth the majority of male babies have already descended into the scrotum. A small number of testes that have not yet descended into the scrotum will complete their descent within one year after birth. If the testicles still fail to enter the scrotum one year after birth, they become cryptorchid. There is a medical consensus on the dangers of cryptorchidism: it may cause infertility and even the risk of testicular cancer. Studies have found that people with cryptorchidism have 40 times the risk of developing testicular cancer in the future than those without cryptorchidism. Most people speculate that the cause of cryptorchidism is due to the fact that the internal temperature is higher than the scrotum and the high temperature affects the function of sperm production in the testicles, causing infertility. A similar high temperature factor is involved in the mechanism of cryptorchidism causing cancer. So the effect of diapers on male babies was brought up again. The basis for this still falls on the higher temperature inside the diapers. In fact, according to the survey, the temperature inside the diaper is mostly between 35.7 and 36.4 degrees, which is lower than the temperature inside the abdominal cavity. Traditional diapers also have an insulating effect, which brings the local temperature close to the body surface. Therefore, the claim of “high temperature” inside diapers is a fiction, and the argument based on it is naturally untenable. The spermatogenic function of the testicles starts only after puberty, and it is too early to worry about the spermatogenic function of men who are still in the diaper-wearing stage. Even for normal male babies, some of the testicles only descend into the scrotum a few months after birth, and medical treatment for cryptorchidism is generally available within 2 years of age. Therefore, mothers do not have to worry about the impact of diapers on their babies’ testicular function. As for the few babies who have red and swollen scrotum after using diapers, most of them are due to allergies or untimely diaper replacement. At the same time, try to keep the local skin as dry as possible. You can apply buttock cream while ventilating and drying the buttocks. These conditions are generally caused by skin sensitivity and do not involve damage to the baby’s reproductive system, so new parents should not be nervous. Of course, the convenience of diapers also makes babies used to urinating anywhere and anytime, and it is not easy to develop the habit of regular bowel movements early on. Many parents are anxious about when to train their baby to urinate. Actually, this is not a big problem. In fact, babies have very little control over their bladders until they are one year old, and they are unable to control their urination very well or to express their wishes clearly to their parents. Many babies are often repetitive during their potty training, sometimes very regular and sometimes inevitably regressing to wetting their pants. By the time they are a little older (after 2 years of age), babies can soon learn to urinate on their own at regular intervals without repeated training. In foreign countries, diapers are often worn until after the baby starts kindergarten. Therefore, parents who choose diapers don’t have to dwell on this, just let it happen.