This is a very simple idea and would not be to cost prohibitive. You would have a simple sensor in the lining of the nappies that would react to moisture associated with the expulsion of bodily waste. When your baby dropped his guts the sensor would go off and start to play a musical tune. The tune mechanism would be much like the kind of thing you have in musical cards. Also on the plus side the nice musical tune would keep the baby from immediately bursting into tears and give you a chance to change the nappy unimpeded.

I also thought about an adult version for the heavy drinker. A subject close to my heart. But I wasn’t sure if I would want to know whether I had lost control or not. For sure, I wouldn’t want everyone around me to know either:

Ping, ping ping, ping ping ping ping…

…“Oh god, he’s done it again”
-- benindubai, Jul 01 2005

Diaper Alarm http://www.totallya...com/diaperalarm.htm
First Goooogle link (of 454) for 'diaper alarm' [angel, Jul 01 2005]

I have a horrid vision of possible future Pavlovian responses...
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jul 01 2005


//given into natures urges//? no self control, these modern babies.
-- po, Jul 01 2005


I read about something like this, years ago in an electronics magazine. It's fairly simple to run two wires through a diaper, and urine conducts electricity. But that article may have been a joke.

This would be very easy to make these days, and perfectly safe for the wee tot's botty. Why it isn't being done? I think the diaper makers tend to focus on absorbing everything so the diaper can wait for the parent's convenience. Telling the parent they need to change a nappy *now* wouldn't be as popular with the slackers.
-- baconbrain, Jul 01 2005


Babies usually come with a nappy alert system preinstalled. Nerve endings implanted in the baby's bottom send signals to the "brain" which uses the baby's vocal chords as a sort of klaxon to alert the parent.

This idea is largely unnecessary and just an excuse to put some technology into something that works fine already. [+]
-- wagster, Jul 01 2005


Some diapers have a wet indicator that changes color when wet.

Underpants have been rigged with an alarm that wakes one up when moisture appears, or so I'm told. (OK, I wet the bed when I was a kid, I admit it. That invention cured me)

Music might actually help me explain to my 2 year old how to pee on the potty. She doesn't make the connection, which is fine at her age, but a non-judgemental teaching aid like this would help.

Also, [baconbrain], I recently saw an ad for a new diaper that has a "sensation strip" or something that lets the child feel some of the moisture, but still without leaking. They made them so absorbant they had to engineer a way to teach kids when they're wet.
-- oxen crossing, Jul 01 2005


Patented in 1980 (linky).
-- angel, Jul 01 2005


you're awake anyway...
-- po, Jul 01 2005


So, are you planning something reuseable which you have to fish out of the pile of crap and wash before re- using? Or has the disposability of electronics reached new lows?
-- Basepair, Jul 01 2005


The real need is for a poop detector. The kidlings'll go all day with one of those if you let 'em. (sometimes you need to get them off quick if they are having irritating poop, to avoid a rash)

[OK, TMI, but it's a diaper idea, and you need the facts]

[UnaBubba] don't use one of these at night.
-- oxen crossing, Jul 01 2005


I was really imagining something disposable, the cost of these inserts are negligible. But thinking it through more, you’d have to have an off switch or you’d be left with a stinking pile of musical mayhem.
-- benindubai, Jul 02 2005



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