Journal 10, June 21

Musically "Alarming" Diapers

New research indicates there could possibly be a solution to a common problem occurring in the early stages of a developing family. It doesn't matter who your parents or who you know. Every child has to be toilet trained and some simply take longer than others to learn. Although I have yet to be a parent, hoping that will continue to stay true for many years, many parents out there wish there was a device to make their lives easier when it comes to "potty-training" their children. Well, may their wishes be granted.

To efficiently create a solution to this problem, researchers have developed a musical diaper. This "incredible" diaper is designed to notify the child's care-giver whenever their diaper has been soiled. The only stipulation is the adult must be within the vicinity of the child in order to hear the alarm, or music (this shouldn’t be a problem anyways). The diaper has sensors integrated into the bottom portion of the diaper itself that sends a signal notifying the alarm to sound due to wetness. Parents can then take the necessary action to resolve the issue. Random populations of thirty-nine children between the ages of 18-30 months were selected for the study. At the end of a ten day testing period, the results showed that almost 52% of the time the children had more control over their bladder and did better than 8.3% who were given a placebo.

What will they come up with next? The creation of a musical diaper seems extraordinary. This device will relieve parents of that much more pressure and assist them in using their time as efficient as possible. After all, taking care of young children is time consuming and stressful enough as it is. The musical diaper will allow the parents or caregivers to continue with their daily tasks without having to stop every couple minutes to check the child's diaper to see if they have soiled yet another one. Although I think this is a great invention the only question I would raise is in regards to the side affects. It seems that these convenient diapers would be powered by batteries and may not only be un-comfortable sitting on a battery pack, but what happens if the battery leaks. The articles did not state how the battery or power device was stored or any safety precautions involved but I would hope there would be some preventative to ensure the child receives no burns in the event the battery has a tiny leak. Another concern may be the power portion of the device that was not intended to get wet actually got wet. Would the child get electrocuted? Like I previously said, a musical diaper sounds like a helpful and efficient invention as long as the previously stated concerns are dealt with and prevented in the highest regard.

Reference Used:
http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2009/06/12/study-evaluates-use-of-diaper-alarm-for-toilet-training-children/

Additional Reference:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152610.php