Q. What is Second Diapering?
A. Second diapering is a behavior management plan for teenagers.

Q. How did you find out about it.
A. My friend Kyoko grew up in Japan and went through it herself as a teen. She used it on her children and introduced us to it.

Q. How does it work?
A. Well teenagers require a degree of protection from the world. Much rebeliousness is defensive. To curb, this a substitute protection is provided, that protection is a diaper.

Q. You're kidding, teens in diapers?
A. No, as strange as it sounds, it works.

Q. Do they have to use the diapers?
A. Yes, that is a key part of it.

Q. What about changes?
A. Well, yes, as a result changing is a big part of it. It is important that the parents perform the changes as much as possible. Change time should be a social and intimate exchange between you and your child.

Q. What about my husband, I couldn't get him to change them when they were babies?
A. Well, you'll need to work on that. It's very important that both parents (if present) are involved in the process.

Q. When should I start? What does the child have to do to deserve this?
A. This isn't punishment, it is an ongoing behavior change. The plan was designed to be used before there is a problem. The age 14 is an ideal.

Q. How do I go about it?
A. Well, the initial few weeks are the roughest. It is best if you can do it when you have time to closely supervise the child. Summer vacations are ideal. Information on where to get diapers are on the links page.
We also have an orientation meeting every once and a while to allow you to discuss the issues with other parents.

Q. How long should it last?
A. It's on going. Typically parents transition their kids out of it when they finish highschool.

Q. Does it cause any permanent medical problems?
A. No, while most will lose some control due to getting used to using the diapers, this is fairly quickly retrained when the child is removed from the program.

Q. What about school?
A. While we've had problems before, we've now worked out an arrangement with Kennedy HS to allow diapers to be stored in the clinic and the children to use the restroom there for changes.

Q. The kids go for this?
A. Well, there is usually a period of adjustment with crying, anger, or depression, but it dissapates quickly. Most come to understand that this is for their own good.

Q. Any special rules?
A. No, not other than wearing and using the diapers and the parents changing them. We've found that once the child adapts, we can relax other restrictions (curfews, etc...) with little problem. Most of the kids come to enjoy the freedom to make their own right decisions.