Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Disposable Swim Pants Review

*For more information on how I do reviews see Diaper Test Methodology. For a list of all product reviews see the Product Index.

 

Summary

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is a unisex swim diaper designed specifically for bowel containment in water and sits at the top of the Huggies sizing for this product, albeit at a limited 32+ lbs (17+ kg). This is the first directly Huggies branded product I’ve reviewed on this blog, though the design is similar to other Kimberly-Clark products like Goodnites or Pull-Ups. I typically wouldn’t consider reviewing such a product because it’s getting pretty far from my typical generalized adult incontinence product review; however, I received this product as a donation for review. I’d like to give a special thanks for the suggestion and donation of this product and have done my best to broadly assess its performance within the specs of my regular reviews.

This review proved challenging for me because the product was far too small for me to fit properly, I only experience infrequent bowel incontinence and rarely swim. However, I was impressed that the stretchiness of this product is such that it could fit far larger waists than you might expect and could fill the product gap in disposable swimwear before the Tranquility Swimmates is pretty much the only option (albeit a great one). These have a design that’s very similar to Pull-Ups, but the padding is denser and won’t hold water, so they produce very little resistance when in the water. For those who can properly fit these I expect them to be highly comfortable and would have a lot of confidence in their containment abilities. The market for protective swimwear of this sort is quite limited and it’s great to see companies actually producing good products to fill the gap. As far as I can tell you have the Huggies Little Swimmers, which should work for baby, toddler and perhaps small youth sizing, the Pampers Splashers, which likely only fits baby and toddler sizes, generic store brand versions of either of those and the Tranquility Swimmates, which will work from youth to adult sizing. For those of appropriate sizing I imagine it would be hard to go wrong with Huggies Little Swimmers and they generally seem well reviewed.

Key Features:

• Cloth-like backsheet
• Dual waistbands
• Colorful Disney character prints (2 version of Finding Nemo)
• Standing inner leak guards
• Water durable padding
• Refastenable sides
  

Pros:

• Discreet profile
• Very comfortable and flexible in water
• Highly durable
• The fact they even exist (it’s quite a niche area of focus)

Cons:

• Low absorbency out of the water
• Limited sizing

 

Product Details

For the purpose of this post I will be reviewing and referring to the medium-sized 5-6 sized Huggies Little Swimmers Disposable Swim Pants. However, other available sizes are listed below:

Packaging

Brand: Huggies
Manufacturer: Kimberly-Clark Corp
Origin: USA
Units Per Bag: 17
Cost Per Unit: $
Dimensions (L x W x H): 15 cm (5.9") x 10 cm (3.9") x 22 cm (8.7")
Weight: 0.4 kg (0.8 lbs)
Available Sizes: 3,4,5-6
Advertised Absorbency: Swimwear

1.1 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Packaging

Diaper

Backsheet: Cloth-like (non-woven)
Wetness Indicator: No
Standing Inner Leak Guards: Yes
Leg Gathers: Yes
Product Style: Hybrid Protective Underwear
Refastenable Tabs: Yes
Number of Tapes: 1
Repositionable Tabs: No
Outer Color: White (light blue sides) + 2 styles of blue/orange Finding Nemo graphics
Inner Color: White (light blue sides)
Front Waistband: Yes
Rear Waistband: Yes
Folded Thickness: 1.1 cm (0.43")
Folded Length: 23 cm (9.1")
Dry Weight: 25 g (0.9 oz)
Fragrance: No
Diaper Dimensions (L x fW x mW x bW): 49 cm (19.3") x 26 cm (10.2") x 14.5 cm (5.7") x 27 cm (10.6")
Wing Shape (Front, Rear): Rectangular, Rectangular
Padding Dimensions (L x fW x mW x bW): 34.5 cm (13.6") x 9 cm (3.5") x 9 cm (3.5") x 9 cm (3.5")
Padding Wing Dimensions (fPW x fPH x bPW x bPH): 0 cm (0") x 0 cm (0") x 0 cm (0") x 0 cm (0")
Padding Wing Shape (Front, Rear): Flat, Flat
Total Padding Area: 311 cm² (48 in²)
Tape Spacing (t1): 1 cm (0.4")
Tape (W x L): 10 cm (3.9") x 1 cm (0.4")

1.2 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Disposable Swim Pants

Laboratory Absorbency Tests

Total Absorption Volume (after press out): 100 ml (3.5 oz)
Total Absorption Volume (before press out): 125 ml (4.4 oz)
Time to Absorb Wettings (first to last): (99 s)
Wet Folded Thickness: 2 cm (0.8")
Used to Total Padding Ratio: 100%
Total Padding to Absorbency Ratio: 0.32 ml / cm² (0.07 oz / in²)
Press Out Volume: 25 ml (0.9 oz)

Surface Dampness Rating: 1

As a product designed for water wear, Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 have almost no absorbency by design. They’re intended to contain bowel movements without swelling up too much in the water. As such they’re highly susceptible to pressout and don’t contain moisture. Like the Tranquility Swimmates, having no resistance to surface dampness is actually a positive attribute for performance for this particular product

2.1 Wet vs Dry Diaper After Capacity Test

2.2 Used vs Unused Padding After Capacity Test

"Real World" Absorbency Tests

Posture Tests

Standing-Sitting

Total Absorbed Volume: 125 ml (4.4 oz)
Total Wettings: (1 standing)
Leaked After Sitting: Yes
Used to Total Padding Ratio: 100%
Padding to Absorbency Score: 0.40 ml / cm² (0.09 oz / in²)

Standing-Sitting Rating: 1

It’s somewhat pointless to test a swim diaper for absorbency, but to stay consistent with other reviews I put this to the test like I did with the Tranquility Swimmates. I was also way too large for these so take it with a grain of salt. As expected they leaked on the first wetting. While standing there was instant pooling but nothing initially escaped the leak guards or permeated through the backsheet. It wasn’t until I tried to sit down that they leaked almost instantly. These are designed for bowel incontinence and someone much smaller than myself. They may contain light leaks or perhaps alternatively could be used with a booster pad when not swimming, because the leak guards are top notch.

Lying Down

Total Absorbed Volume: 100 ml (3.5 oz)
Total Wettings: 1
Used to Total Padding Ratio: 100%
Padding to Absorbency Score: 0.32 ml / cm² (0.07 oz / in²)

Lying Down Rating: 1

Testing the Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 for absorbency while lying down made even less sense than while standing, but again, for consistency across tests I put it through the regular diaper testing. Once again the diaper leaked on the first wetting. This time moisture quickly pooled then leaked out through the rear leak guards. As expected (and hoped for) from a swim diaper, very little was absorbed. Containment was a bit weaker from this angle but still more than I expected, though my obviously being over-sized for this likely had an impact. It’s unlikely this diaper will ever be used while lying down so I wouldn’t read too much into these results.

2.3 Pattern of Used vs Unused Padding Test Stand/Sit (right) Lying Down (left)

Daily Wear and Bedwetting

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 proved exceptionally challenging for me to review given its large deviation in purpose from my regular reviews. First, this product is targeted toward small youths or toddlers, so there was no way I could properly fit and measure performance as would be expected by its market target. Second, like with my Tranquility Swimmates / My Pool Pal Swim Diapers review, I don’t frequently experience bowel incontinence and very rarely go swimming, so the chance of actually testing this product for its intended purpose was minimal. Typically in my testing, I’ll test products for protection against wettings during daily wear or bedwetting, but that didn’t make sense in this case. Though absorbency testing isn’t a great measure for this particular product it did give a sense of precautions you might want to take if worn for an extended time on the way to a swim. In that case, it would be best to add a booster pad into the Little Swimmers before entering the water and remove it when at the water. While the padding itself isn’t very absorbent, the backsheet is quite impermeable, so this solution should generally work for that case. 

In testing, I found the fit of these to be much more comparable to regular underwear than with the similar Tranquility Swimmates product. These have a compact and flexible design like Goodnites or Pull-Ups. Despite these giving weight-based sizing and the Tranquility Swimmates being waist/hips-based sizing, I believe there’s a small amount of overlap between the small sized Tranquility Swimmates and these (those who are short and in the 22~28” (56~71 cm) waist range). For this reason, it’s likely some special needs youths may actually be in a position where product choice is available. For the rest of the market it will either be one product or the other.

In my case, I was way too large to properly fit these, so I took my best effort at testing and wore them in a bathtub like I did with the Swimmates to get a sense of how they handled in the water. Obviously, I didn’t test with a bowel movement and the waist rise was too low in my case for them to reasonably cover that anyway. I found it amazing that a product designed for a size so much smaller than my own not only could sit around my waist but also held up both in and out of the water. For myself they fit like a Speedo, but for their intended market I’d expect them to fit like the Goodnites XL or XXL did for me. That’s a testament to their extraordinary durability. It’s interesting that the padding in these rises further up the front compared with the rear rise, given that they’re intended for bowel containment. That’s probably less of an issue in water where the containment barriers are more important and I suspect it aids the comfort of the product having padding rise further up the front. Although, the Goodnites and Pull-Ups also both have this sort of padding configuration.

When worn in water I found these to be quite comfortable and flexible with little resistance to movements. They didn’t collect too much water, but the barriers felt quite sufficient. When getting out of the water the impermeable backsheet is likely to hold a bit of water and there is a risk for some leakage at that point as it drips out. It’s tough to say how this would compare with the Tranquility Swimmates, but both have double containment barriers. This leakage risk could be mitigated by combining it with an outer reusable product or covering. If I experienced more regular bowel incontinence and swam more often then a product like this of my own size would be amazing and I’d likely choose it over the Tranquility Swimmates for its comfortable/compact fit, though both products are exceptional and I doubt there’s a sufficient market for Kimberly-Clark to do larger sizing runs of these like they have with the Goodnites XXL.

Suitability for Bowel Incontinence: 6* (10 for swim usage)

I’m ranking the Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 the same as the Pull-Ups 5T-6T when it comes to managing bowel leakage out of the water. Outside of the water the low absorbency and rear padding rise aren’t ideal for bowel containment. These are also cloth-based and likely not the best at odor containment. However, those issues are less relevant in the water where I’d say these are ideally suited for their purpose. Consequently, I’ve given different scores based on usage here.

 

Wear & Tear Tests

Fitting

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is designed for a weight range of 32+ lbs (14+ kg) and are the largest available size of Huggies disposable swim pants. This product is much smaller than the Pull-Ups 5T-6T and appears to be targeted at toddlers and perhaps smaller youths with a sizing that would put it in line with the Pull-Ups 3T-4T. It uses the same flexible design as the Pull-Ups products, so again there is a very flexible amount of give above the recommended weight range. The sides are fully detachable with hook & loop fasteners for easy changes as needed. The sides also have considerable stretch, so the most limited factor for youths who require this would be the short length. Going by length, these are about 92% of the size of the Pull-Ups 5T-6T. Based on my Pull-Ups calculation for sizing on that product it would make these wearable for those at or under 4 ft 5” (135 cm), with sides that could potentially support waists up to 28.5” (72 cm). So they do have enough give that potentially some smaller special needs youths may be able to wear them. Though with them being a product specifically for bowel protection I suspect you’d want a higher waistline rise and they will be less forgiving than Pull-Ups at the top end of the sizing.

3.1 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Fastener

Ease-of-Use Rating: 9

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is essentially the same as Pull-Ups 5T-6T in terms of ease-of-use. However, unlike Pull-Ups these are a unisex product and rather than using a gendered design. These can be pulled up and down like regular underwear but the sides are fully detachable so they can be used like you would any diaper. Given the product usage, this is most likely to be used for easy removal after a bowel movement rather than application. Applying a new diaper with the detachable sides can be a little tricky because you need to align the side material correctly with the hook & loop fasters rather than pulling until you get a snug fit like you would with a regular diaper. Pulling too much can result in the rear wing overhanging the front and you won’t get a proper fit/risk having it snag and come off. These won’t break apart or swell in water, so they’re perfect for bowel containment in that environment where a regular diaper would easily fail. There are also clear markings on these to distinguish the front from the rear so you don’t apply them backwards. These won’t provide adequate protection for urine leaks, so if worn for a substantial amount of time before swimming then it could make sense to combine them with an absorbent insert pad that you remove before swimming.

3.2 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Disposable Swim Pants Fit

Comfort

Comfort Rating (dry): 9

Obviously I wasn’t able to get a true sense of dry comfort in these like I would with my typical adult diaper reviews. I was able to get them around my waist, but they fit like a Speedo and sat way too low to get an accurate sense of comfort for their actual intended market. That said, even with a super tight fit I didn’t find any part to be abrasive. The materials are all quite soft and flexible. The outward facing hook & loop fasteners also make them unlikely to come in contact with the wearer’s skin, where they could cause irritation. I’m basing my comfort rating on my previous experience with Goodnites, which has a very similar fit and is a product for which I could find a reasonable fit. These are largely the same as those in terms of material design. The primary difference is that the padding is a bit thinner and denser, which makes sense given that absorption is not a priority for this product.

Comfort Rating (wet): 10

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is specially designed for water wear so I factored that into the scoring for comfort when wet. Outside of the water these could be a little uncomfortable when wet due to the high susceptibility to pressout/surface dampness. In the water it’s a different story with the padding remaining firmly in place without shifts or breakdown. Again, for this review I gave it a test to get a rough idea even though I’m nowhere near the targeted sizing. Even with the speedo-like fit I got a sense that these are exceptionally comfortable when wet. I didn’t feel any stickiness against my skin and there was little resistance as water moved through them. Someone appropriately sized could easily move naturally through the water with these without hindrance. Additionally, the adhesives on the sides proved just as strong in the water as they are outside and are unlikely to come undone.

3.3 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Topsheet and Backsheet

Durability

Dry Padding Deterioration Proportion: 0% (topsheet), 0% (backsheet)
Shake Deterioration Test: 100 shakes to deterioration

Durability Rating (dry): 10

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is an exceptionally durable product. They have the same flexible sides and hook & loop fasteners as the Pull-Ups 5T-6T and can be stretched well beyond their targeted sizing without breaking or coming undone. Like all my reviews, I gave a best shot at wearing these to assess dry durability and was impressed that a product so far below my size could fit and hold around my waist without fail. In spite of the tightness I did my best to assess actual durability. Even with me being way oversized and wearing for an extended amount of time I didn’t notice a hint of padding deterioration. The padding is exceptionally strong. The elastic waistbands and sizes held out with impressive flexibility and I was able to detach and reattach the sides without much issue several times. I wouldn’t expect these to be worn for any extended amount of time when dry, but if they are you can trust they will hold up strongly.

Durability Rating (wet): 10

The Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 are specifically designed for water wear, so, as you might expect, they’re exceptionally durable when wet. The padding of these doesn’t swell or take on any water and feels a little like a dense damp cloth when wet. It doesn’t matter how much you shake it, the padding won’t come apart when wet. So this is one area where it differs from the Goodnites or Pull-Ups products, where padding can be a little less firm when wet. The hook & loop fasteners are equally strong when worn in the water compared with dry wear. I found the padding in these to be better composed when compared with the similar purpose Tranquility Swimmates even though both are exceptionally durable when wet.

3.4 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Dry Test Deterioration

Discretion Tests

Profile

Front Rise Above Waistline (Jeans, Sweatpants): 0 cm (0"), 0 cm (0")
Back Rise Above Waistline (Jeans, Sweatpants): 0 cm (0"), 0 cm (0")
Side Rise Above Waistline (Jeans, Sweatpants): 0 cm (0"), 0 cm (0")

Profile Discretion Rating: 10

The target age group for the Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 is not one where I would expect profile discretion to be any serious concern. That said, these are highly discreet with a snug underwear-like fit to them, mirroring the discretion of the Goodnites and Pull-Ups products. The snug sides mean these will easily fit the profile of their wearer. Of course, if they are seen, then the Disney Characters on the backsheet would make them pretty obvious.

4.1 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Jeans Profile (left) vs Normal Underwear (right)

4.2 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Sweats Profile (left) vs Normal Underwear (right)

 

Noise

Noise Rating: 10

I can’t find any fault in the Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 in terms of noise. These produced little-to-no noise when tested while walking, sitting or standing. The flexible material is highly resistant to sounds. The hook & loop fasteners hold strongly and are unlikely to sift in a way that will cause much noise. There’s no way the sound of these would be noticed for their primary purpose of wear in the water and I didn’t notice any noise from them when getting out of the water other than the dripping you’d get from exiting the water in any swimwear.

4.3 Huggies Little Swimmers 5-6 Noise Profile

Odor Reduction

Odor Reduction Rating: 5

Like the Tranquility Swimmates, I wasn’t quite sure how to handle odor scoring for these. They’re designed for underwater wear and odor should be less of a concern compared with matter containment for that purpose. But you’d clearly want good odor containment after leaving the water. Though it's likely to be changed quickly after leaving the water anyway. For this reason, I’m continuing to go with what I know and ranking these the same as the Goodnites and Pull-Ups 5T-6T for their odor containment abilities.

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