Archive of Our Own ^beta

News anchor: “It’s been touted as the best and most progressive parenting technique. What does it involve? Just letting your child make their own decisions about their development and letting them choose when they are ready for each stage.”

Researcher: “We are finding with children in the study that when they are left to make their own decisions about their development they will pick the optimum time to progress in their development and will have happier better outcomes than if their parents try to push them along when they aren’t ready.”

News anchor, “For everything from when they’re done with breast-feeding to when they want to potty train, researchers are saying leave it to the kids.”

Six years later.

“Toby, I know you don’t want to but I think starting next week we need to start putting you in undies.”, said mum as she slid his pajama shorts off while he lay on the changing mat to reveal his wet overnight nappy.

“What? But I don’t want to.”, he said confused.

“I know, but you’ll be six next month and the month after that you will be starting Prep.”

“But I thought you said I could choose when I stop wearing nappies?”, he begged tears starting to form in his eyes.

“Yes, but if you aren’t out of nappies by the time you start prep you will have to go into a different class to your sister.”

“What why?”

“Well, they put all the kids still in nappies into one class together and I know how much you and your sister want to start school in the same class.”

Toby’s twin sister Melissa, looked on from her bed. She had chosen to toilet train earlier in the year after they had started Kindergarten and had been mostly dry during the day ever since. She still wore nappies overnight and on the days she wasn’t at kindy she wore them when she took her afternoon nap that she still liked to take.

“But Mel, still uses nappies?”

“Mel only needs them at night, as long as she is dry during the day, the school doesn’t mind what class she is in.”

“But mum please.”, He begged, “I don’t want to, I thought I got to choose when I was ready.”

“You have had a lot of time to choose and most six year olds aren’t still in nappies during the day. Do you really want to start Prep still wearing nappies?”

“Camden is still in nappies.”

Camden was Toby’s best friend from Kindy and along with Toby, one of the only kids in the class still wearing nappies by the end of the year.

Mum taped up the last tape of his fresh day-nappy and patted it down onto the shiny plastic of the tape landing zone, “Well Camden will also need to try to toilet train over the summer too, his mum said she is going to be putting him into undies too.”

Toby felt defeated and just lay on the changing pad after mum got up. “Well you have until Monday to think about it and Monday morning after your night time nappy comes off, you’ll be in undies all day and night until you are at least dry during the day.”

“What about pull-ups?”, he asked hopefully.

“Sorry kiddo, I know you just use your pull-ups like nappies, so it will have to be straight into undies and using the toilet.”

“Toby started to cry silently again.”

“Mel do you need help taking your nappy off?”, aksed mum turning to Melissa.

“No mum, I can do it.”, she smiled back.

“Ok, good girl.”

Mum left the room.

“It’s not fair, I don’t want to use the stupid toilet!”, pouted Toby.

“It’s not that bad. I made more friends after I sopped wearing nappies.”, posed Melissa comfortingly.

“Oh so if it wasn’t for making friends, you would still be in nappies?”

Mel went red, “That’s not what I meant. I just meant it was a bonus.”

“Uh huh sure, I noticed you stay in you night time nappy a long time most mornings and the same with you afternoon nap nappy. I think you just want the best of both worlds.”

Melissa went even more red, “Well at least I’m not being forced to wear undies starting on Monday. I’ll still be wearing them overnight and in the afternoon when I feel like it. I think Mum would even let me wear them all day if I said I wasn’t feeling like using the toilet.”

Toby shot daggers at his sister but stayed silent. Maybe she was getting the better deal here. She didn’t get to wear nappies all the time but she was right, she did have more friends at kindy, she wasn’t being forced to toilet train, she did get to choose when she did it, she was definitely going to be in a normal prep class and she still did get to wear nappies quite a lot for a girl that was supposedly toilet trained.

Toby was still laying on the change mat thinking over his situation when Mel got up from her bed and started waling towards the door before she stopped and turned back to Toby. “If you toilet train anything like me, you might want to make sure your bed is wet every morning, just so that mum will definitely let you keep wearing nappies at night.”

Before he could say anything she turned again and left, her long brown hair swishing behind her and her swollen nappy clearly visible under her pink pajama pants. It took Toby a moment to process what she had said but he realised that she probably really didn’t need nappies at all and could probably stay dry all the time if she wanted, maybe she really did have the best of both worlds.

It was Friday so Toby only had today and the weekend to enjoy being in nappies. He wasn’t feeling at all excited about having to wear undies come Monday, but the more he thought about it the more he realised that mum was right. As much as he hated to admit it, it was time. He was about to start big kid school, as mum and dad kept calling it and as mum said, most six years olds didn’t wear nappies during the day. It probably would be embarrassing to be in nappies at school, especially if it meant being in a special class.

He also thought about the last year, being in kindy. It had been a great time. Especially at the start of the year when only a few of the kids were toilet trained. With the urging of the teachers and their parents all but four of them had graduated to wearing undies to kindy by the time they got to end of year break up. Now that he thought about it, while he was friends with most of the kids, Camden, Sally and James who were the only ones left in nappies along with himself were the only kids he was properly still friends with and who he had the most play dates with. Mel on the other hand was friends with a lot of the other kids and had a lot more play dates.

Toby eventually got up from the changing mat and wiped away the few tears that were left. He took off his pajama top and took some shorts and a shirt out of the wardrobe and got himself dressed before heading to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Toby really paid attention to what it was like being in a nappy over the weekend. He also tried holing onto his bladder a few times to see what it would be like to have to wait for a toilet. While he could manage for a little while he would eventually realise that he had wet and not realised. Usually because he had got distracted and stopped paying attention. He made sure to relish in having his nappy changed and as he was crouched in the corner of his room on Sunday evening doing a poo in his nappy he realised it might be the last time he ever got to do so. While Melissa still wore nappies over night and for naps, (he realised she was still in her nappy from her afternoon nap even though she had finished it over two hours ago), she didn’t poo in them any more. Toby realised that while he would most likely be able to continue wearing nappies at night and wetting them he might not be allowed to poo in them any more. He definitely knew when he needed to, he was sure he could make it to the toilet for a poo if he wanted to and he never pooed in his sleep, so he was sure mum would know something was up if he started pooing in his night time nappy. He didn’t know why but doing a poo in his nappy just felt nice, he was going to miss it.

As dad changed him out of his pooey nappy into his night time nappy, the last one he would get to wear before undies, Toby wondered if other kids thought about this or felt this way about nappies and toilet training.

“Are you ok mate? You seem very quiet tonight?”, asked dad as he slid the new nappy under him.

“Just thinking about undies, dad.”, he replied, matter-of-factly.

“A bit nervous?”, he asked.

“Yeah a little bit, I’m worried I won’t be able to keep them dry.”

Dad smiled, “That’s ok, you probably wont to begin with, but I’m sure you’ll manage it eventually.”

“Yeah it took me two weeks to keep my undies dry when I toilet trained.”, encouraged Melissa.

“I hope it doesn’t take that long.”, bemoaned Toby.

“It will take as long as it takes, you can’t be tough on yourself. But you are very determined so I’m sure you will be able to do it quickly.”, said dad doing up the second tape, “Your turn Mel.

Toby got up from the change mat and sat on the bed as Mel lay down on the changing mat. Dad lifted the hem of her dress and lay it up over her tummy to expose the nappy she was put into when she wanted to take a nap earlier in the afternoon, it was soaked.

“Anyway, you are Mel’s twin brother, so I don’t think you will be completely out of nappies. She still manages to wear them during the day a fair bit.”, teased dad as Mel blushed and hid her face behind her hands.

“Ok kids, get your pajamas on and brush your teeth and then go and say good night to mum.”, dad instructed once he had finished taping Mel into her night time nappy.

Toby awoke the next morning, as usual his nappy was wet. He lay in bed enjoying the warmth of his nappy. He looked over at Melissa in her bed still asleep. It had been a warm night and she had kicked the doona off her, the nightie she was wearing had also ridden up, so he could see her nappy. It still looked dry to Toby. He remembered what she had said on Friday about making sure to wet the bed, he was now pretty sure she didn’t need nappies at all, maybe she wasn’t ready to fully give them up either he thought, he was glad she wasn’t completely out of them either, he wasn’t sure he could have put up with her if she was not wearing them at all and teasing him for wearing them.

He was wondering how long they would be able to keep wearing nappies at night for when she started to stir, she opened her eyes and saw him watching her. She pulled her nightie back down over her nappy, and asked, “Excited for undies?”

“No.”, he replied dryly.

“It’s not so bad.”, she replied.

He watched her zone out a bit, “You’re wetting your nappy.”, he exclaimed.

“Maybe...”, she blushed.

“It was dry before wasn’t it.?”

“Yeah...”, she admitted.

“You don’t wet the bed at all during the night do you?”

“No I do, just not every night, please don’t tell mum, I’m worried that if she thinks I might be able to stay dry at night she will make me wear undies to bed again.”

“It’s ok,”, smiled Toby, “I’ll keep your secret. It’s cool if you still like nappies too.”

Melissa smiled.

“Are you two ready get up?”, asked mum sticking her head through the door.

“Yeah”, they both replied.

“Well let’s get those nappies off first.”

The twins made a face at each other before Toby slid out of bed.

“Actually, Mel first, and then I’ll change you Toby and explain the rules for the undies.”

“Ok”, replied Mel, slightly glumly, before sliding out of bed herself.

Melissa took her place in front of the change mat and lay down and pulled her nightie up exposing her nappy to them. Toby watched as mum undid the tapes and then flopped the front of the nappy open. He had watched his sister get her nappy changed many times before but with how much nappies were on his mind and Melissa’s admission that she liked them too he watched with a renewed fascination as mum wiped her up and dropped the wipes into the front of the soaked nappy.

His thoughts were broken when Melissa asked, “Mummy, would you let me wear nappies all day if I asked?”

“Uh, maybe.”, replied mum slightly taken aback. She paused the wiping to think for a moment before pulling the nappy out from under Melissa.

As she balled it up, she continued, “Well when you take a nap in the afternoon, I have noticed it’s pretty rare for you to go back to undies unless you really need a change, so I guess being in nappies all day wouldn’t be that big of a stretch.”, she took the pair of undies and slid them over Melissa’s feet, “But I guess we probably should be taking your nappy off after you nap. But then again it isn’t hurting anyone, so yeah maybe if that’s what you want I might let you wear them all day, but only occasionally.”

“Really?”, asked Mel, looking a bit shocked.

Mum pulled Mel to her feet and gave her a hug as she pulled her undies up over her rear properly, “Yeah, I think that would be ok, but not right now, while Toby is toilet training, I think that would be a bit mean while he has to be in undies, especially when it wasn’t his choice.”

Mum patted the change mat and Toby moved over to it and lay down. Mum pulled his pajama shorts off and started the same changing procedure she has used with Melissa.

“Well I guess I should start explaing the rules.”, started mum.

Toby was starting to feel a bit sad again, the joy he had felt talking to Melissa about nappies before mum came in had worn off. This was his last nappy, at least for a while and this was his parting moment with it. He looked down as mum was wiping, the rear wings of his nappy splayed out on the floor the tapes having finished their primary job laying open facing the ceiling.

“I’ll put you in undies now, and I want you to tell me when you need to go to the toilet and I’ll help you go and teach you how to do it yourself so in a few days time you should be able to do it without assitance. Given you are nearly six, I don’t think you need a potty, I think the big boy toilet will be fine and anyway we only used a potty for a couple of days with your sister.”

She had now finished wiping him and let him lay while she continued speaking.

“I know you will probably fail a lot, at least today and that’s ok, but as soon as you realise you are weeing in your undies, I want you to do your best and stop and come and get me and you can finish on the toilet and then we will clean you up. I want you to stay in undies tonight as well, to bed. I know you will probably wet the bed, but that’s ok. You have a plastic sheet on your bed already. I’ll come and wake you up during the night for a few nights so you can go to the toilet during the night and then after that it’s up to you to wake up and take yourself. But if you are like your sister I expect we will need to go back to nappies at night, but let’s give undies a real crack first.”

She got up as she balled up his nappy before dropping it and Melissa’s into the nappy bin in the corner and then went over to the wardrobe. She opened it and showed him the pile of new underwear in there. He was glad to see the nappies were all still in there. There was several packs of boys and girls nappies in both day and night variety in the size both Toby and Melissa wore on the bottom shelf on the right side. On the shelf above where there was only previously Melissa’s undies was now a pile that was definitely boys undies.

“I’ve just put your new undies with Mel’s.”, She briefly explained as she took a pair and brought it back to Toby.

“Jump up and I’ll help you get them on.”

Toby stood up and mum helped him get his legs through the leg holes of the undies before sliding them up and into place.

“There you go!”, she announced, “Now get dressed kids and come out for breakfast.”

Toby felt the undies both front and back with his hands.

“It feels so weird.”, he moaned as Melissa giggled at him.

“Walking feels even weirder.”, he said as he walked to the wardrobe to get some clothes out.

“You’ll get used to it.”, laughed Melissa, “You look super weird in undies. You look older.”

“You think so?”, asked Toby, feeling a small surge of pride.

“Yeah, just a little bit, you’ll look pretty small again soon when you wet them.”, she teased.

“I hope I don’t.”

Toby didn’t have to wait long to find out how long he would keep his first pair of undies dry. While they were sitting eating breakfast he suddenly realised that his legs felt wet. He looked down to see that the front of his shorts were completely soaked and wee was starting to drip from the chair.

“Mum...”, he just managed to get out as he teared up, he wasn’t really sure why he was crying, he and everyone fully expected him not to make it just yet.

“Oh, did you...?”

He nodded.

“Oh that’s ok. Come with me and we will get you cleaned up.”, she said soothingly as she came over to guide him to the bedroom.

Toby’s tears slowly subsided as mum cleaned him up. She had helped him take his shorts and undies off and put them in a bucket before wiping him with the baby wipes she used for nappy changes while he was standing. It was nothing like getting a nappy change though. It wasn’t very comfortable to be in cold wet clothes and then having to stand while being wiped was nowhere near as nice as laying down and in the end he just had to put on another pair of undies. This time mum made him put them on himself.

The next pair of undies made it longer than the first pair, but he managed to catch himself mid stream and ran to mum with only partly wet pants. She had helped him use the toilet for the first time. She showed him how to sit and wee and told him that once he got good at that dad would show him how to wee while standing.

In the mid-afternoon his third pair of undies didn’t fair much better than his first pair. Toby was playing outside by himself and didn’t feel himself weeing at all, it wasn’t until he realised that his crotch was starting to feel cold that he knew.

His greatest triumph of the day came in the evening when he felt he needed to do a poo. Out of habit he started to crouch in order to go where he was playing when he realised what he was wearing and what he was supposed to do. Mum had showered him with praise as she helped him use the toilet and showed him how to wipe himself. That pair of undies came to a wet end later in the night.

Toby had just taken himself (because mum had asked him to) to the toilet and managed to wee and returned to his room to go to bed.

“How did you go?”, asked mum as he walked back in. She had Melissa on the changing mat, just taping her night time nappy on.

He informed her, “I was able to wee.”

“Oh good work.”, said looking pleased.

“Do I have to wear undies to bed?”, he asked, feeling jealousy towards Melissa laying on the changing mat. He knew he was going to wet during the night. He never woke up dry and he didn’t want to wake up during the night cold and wet.

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea for now, maybe next week if you’re still having trouble we will re-asses.”, she replied as she pulled Melissa to her feet, her nightie sliding down over her nappy.

“Ok.”, he agreed sadly.

Once they were both in bed mum kissed them both and walked to the door, before she left she turned back and reminded Toby, “I’ll wake you up later so you can go to the toilet, hopefully then you can stay dry all night.”

“Ok mum.”, he sighed not wanting to wake up.

“Good night kids.”, mum wished them as she closed the door.

Toby lay in silence for a moment before Melissa spoke, “How does it feel?”

“How does what feel? The undies?”, asked back in confusion.

“No, I know how that feels.”, she replied, “No I mean being in undies while I’m safely in my nappy.”

“Oh, well, I wish I was in a nappy too.”

“You could sneak one from the wardrobe and I could put it on you.”, she offered.

Toby was really seeking a new side to his sister, she was never normally this kind.

“Mum will see it when she gets me up to use the toilet.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

“Why are you being so nice to me about this?”, he asked her after laying quiet for a few more minutes.

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you would be teasing me heaps about this.”

“Oh.”, she was quiet a moment, “I guess even though getting toilet trained was my choice, I was still pretty jealous of you getting to be in nappies all the time, which made me grumpy. But I know how it feels to have to toilet train, so I understand how you feel and want to make you feel better about it.”

“Oh, thanks.”

They lay for a few more minutes before he said to her, “I love you Mel.”

But she was already asleep and before he knew it, mum was gently shaking him awake.

“Hey, it’s time to use the toilet.”, she whispered to him.

Toby sleepily got out of bed and followed mum to the toilet, he walked in and closed the door as mum waited outside. He sat for a moment before he started to wee. It wasn’t much but he was glad something came out.

“Did you go?”, asked mum as he came out of the toilet.

Toby just nodded as he walked into the bathroom to wash his hands.

“Good boy.”, mum congratulated him, “Sleep well, hopefully you will still be dry in the morning.”

Toby finished washing his hands and returned to the bedroom and got back into bed. Soon he was asleep again.

Toby awoke feeling cold, it only took a moment to realise why. The sun was just starting to come up, the first rays peeking through the curtains. Melissa was still fast asleep, the doona pulled up around her chin. Toby didn’t want to get up yet, but his sheets were uncomfortable. He figured it was close enough to when he would normally wake up, so he slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom. When he got there he pulled his wet pajamas and undies off before standing nude for a moment. He wasn’t sure what to do. Normally in the morning he would just get up and mum or dad would change his nappy at some point, but now he had to wear undies. Should he just go and get dressed into undies? But he hadn’t been cleaned up from the wee on his skin. He wasn’t sure how to use the wipes to do it as someone else always cleaned him. He started to feel overwhelmed and started to cry so he sat down on the mat at the sink.

He had been sitting crying for a few minutes the door opened. Mum walked in and looked down at him.

“I... I didn’t know what to... to do.”, he sobbed, “I just wanted to get ch...changed.”

“Shh, it’s ok sweetheart. You should have come and got me to help you.”, she cooed as she crouched down to hug him and pull him to his feet.

“How about you have a shower, I’ll get some clothes for you to put on, when you’re done.”

Once Toby finished showering he changed into the clothes that Mum had brought him and went to lounge room to find Melissa already there watching cartoons still in her nightie and he assumed nappy. He was feeling better after the shower, especially now he wasn’t feeling cold. He wasn’t too excited about the day ahead though, he hadn’t enjoyed yesterday and he didn’t yet have confidence that he could keep his pants dry.

Toby had wet himself later in the morning and had to change his undies and shorts and mum had to clean the couch where he had been sitting watching a movie with Melissa. By mid afternoon he was getting tired after his night of interrupted sleep, so when Melissa decided it was her nap time he decided to join her for the first time in months.

“I’m going to take a nap too.”, he announced to mum and Melissa as he entered their bedroom as mum was sliding a nappy under Melissa on the change mat.

Mum looked around and told him, “Ok honey, can you please go and try going to the toilet first.”

“Ok mum.”, he replied as he turned and left the room again.

He sat on the toilet and tried to wee. Nothing was coming out. It didn’t really feel like he needed to but he had had a large drink at lunch and hadn’t used the toilet or had an accident yet. He tried straining a bit but it wasn’t working.

Toby sighed and relaxed, thinking about how much better life was while he was still in nappies. A moment later he started weeing and quite a bit, he was surprised how much came out and proud that he had managed to hold it.

When he got back to the bedroom Melissa was in bed already. Toby pulled off his clothes down to his undies and slid into bed.

Toby woke up, he didn’t know how long he had slept for but Melissa was already gone from the room. His sheets were thankfully dry and even better he felt that his bladder was full. He pulled his clothes on and concentrating very hard on keeping his wee in his bladder, he walked to the toilet. Almost as soon as he sat down he started to wee. The relief was fantastic and he again felt proud of himself for holding it and managing to go to the toilet.

For the rest of the week Toby worked hard trying to keep his pants dry. He had less and less accidents until by bed time on Saturday he had managed to stay dry all day. As proud as he was of his day time advancements, his night times were different. He had only managed to stay dry one night since Monday even with mum waking him up to go to the toilet during the night. Friday night he had even wet the bed before she had come to wake him up. The one night he had managed to stay dry all night he decided not to take Melissa’s advice. After so many wet beds and pajamas he just really didn’t feel like being in them again deliberately.

“Suit yourself.”, she had shrugged, after she had reminded him again to make sure his bed was wet to make sure he went back to night time nappies.

There was another downside to not wearing nappies at night other than the wet beds and that was how tired it had made him every day. He had joined Melissa in having an afternoon nap most days, he had even wet in his sleep during those naps twice.

“Well I think it’s no more nappies for you during the day.”, announced Mum as she tucked him into bed on Saturday night.

“What about at night?”, he asked her, the prospect of waking up wet again filling him with dread for the night ahead.

“Well, you haven’t really made much progress there, there is more we could do but I think it’s been stressful enough already, so I think maybe from tomorrow night onwards you can go back to nappies at night.”

“Really?”, he asked gleefully.

“Yeah, you seem very happy about that, most kids don’t want to wear nappies to bed, at least they didn’t when I was your age.”

“I’m just sick of waking up all the time.”

“Well that I can understand.”, she replied soothingly as she stroked his hair.

Before he could say anything else, Melissa cut in with, “Now we can be in the same class when we start school.”

Toby whooped and mum clapped. As sad as he was to no longer be in nappies all the time, he was glad to be starting primary school in the same class as Melissa.

Toby fell asleep that night feeling content. He had managed to toilet train successfully in one week and he would be going back to nappies tomorrow night, so no more being woken up by mum or waking up to a wet bed. He was woken up a few hours later to go to the toilet and then a few hours after that to a wet bed. Unlike earlier in the week, he now knew it was better to just go and get mum and she would help him get himself and the bed cleaned up.

Toby was awoken on Sunday morning by Melissa getting out of bed, he lay where he was and pretended to still be asleep as she walked past his bed, her nappy crinkling under her nightie. After having to wake up twice during the night and having done so for a whole week Toby was not his usual self on a Sunday. Normally either he Melissa would have woken up first and in getting up woken the other before they both bounded out to the lounge room to watch cartoons. Today though Toby didn’t want to leave the bed yet. He lay there for another twenty minutes before he finally got up and made his way out to the lounge room to take his place on the couch and watch with Melissa.

It was quite a warm morning and Toby dozed off watching the TV.

“Mel, I think you need to go and jump into the shower, Emma will be here in half an hour.”

Toby jerked awake when mum spoke.

As Melissa slid off the couch, mum came over to Toby.

“Are you feeling ok honey?”, she asked him.

“I’m just tired.”, he replied quietly.

“I know,”, she said softly, “It’s been a hard week for you, but you have done so well and I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

“Mel has her friend Emma coming over today. Would you like to invite any friends over this week?”, she asked.

He thought for a moment, “Uh, can I invite Camden over?”

“Sure, when do you want to have Camden over?”

“Can he come over tomorrow?”

“I’ll call his mum and find out.”

She gave him a hug and before she left she said, “Once Melissa is out of the shower, you should probably go and have one too.”

Later after having a shower and getting dressed Toby was playing in his and Melissa’s bedroom when he heard the doorbell ring, followed by Melissa excitedly opening the front door and greeting her friend. He decided he better go and say hello.

“Hello Emma.”, he said greeting her.

“Hi Toby.”, she replied.

“Toby doesn’t need nappies anymore!”, exclaimed Melissa.

Toby felt his face flush as Emma glance down at his crotch.

“Uh... yeah”, he got out.

“Well done! No more nappies!”, squealed Emma.

Toby smiled at her feeling a little relived. He wondered from her reaction if she knew that Melissa wore nappies to bed.

“Come and see my princess doll.”, said Melissa enthusiastically, pulling Emma away by the hand.

Toby decided that he would go and play outside in the sandpit if the girls were going to play with dolls.

Toby had been playing in the sandpit for half an hour, he was building a road with his Tonka grader when the boy next door poked his head over the back fence.

“Hey Toby!”, called the boy.

“Oh hey Jack.”, he replied to the boy, “Want to come and help me, I need someone to drive the dump truck.”

Toby pointed to a Tonka dump truck parked nearby in the sandpit.

“Yeah sure! Let me just go and ask my mum.”

Jack’s head disappeared back over the fence and reappeared a few minutes later, quickly followed by an arm, then a leg and finally Jack pulled himself completely over the fence so that he was sitting on top of it and then climbed down the tree close to the fence that all the kids used to get between the two backyards.

Jack was almost a year younger than Toby and Melissa and like a lot of five year olds he was still in nappies and today he was wearing overalls that already had green stains on the knees. He quickly got to work helping Toby building in the sandpit.

Toby and Jack had been playing for a while when Toby realised that he needed to go to the toilet.

“I need to go to the toilet Jack.”

“Just use your nappy.”, he replied without even looking up.

“I’m not wearing a nappy, I had to toilet train for school.”, he said pulling up shirt up and his shorts down a bit to show Jack his undies.

Jack looked shocked for a moment, “Oh. Ok, I’ll come with you and say hello to Mel.”

Jack followed Toby inside.

As they came into the kitchen Mum greeted jack.

He replied, “Hi Mrs Scott.”

“You mum called to say you were coming over. She asked if I could check if you need a change.”

“I don’t need a change Mrs Scott.”

“Well let me check anyway, I know what you boys can be like when you want to play.”

Mum looked down the back of Jack’s overalls and then put her hand down the back to feel.

“Looks like you do need a change, young man.”

Mum led Jack away and Toby went off to the toilet.

When he was done he went to their bedroom to find mum changing Jack on the change mat between his and Melissa’s beds, she had his nappy open and was wiping him down with some wipes. The girls were sitting on Melissa’s bed with their dolls watching.

“Toby still needs his nappies.”, explained mum to the girls, “But maybe when he is a bit older he will want to be like you kids and learn how to use the toilet like a big boy.”

“Nuh uh.”, giggled Jack.

The girls giggled on the bed.

“Do you remember being in nappies?”, mum asked Emma.

“Yeah, I remember. But I don’t need them anymore.”

“Do you remember when I used to have to change your nappy here too in front of your friends?”, she continued.

Emma turned slightly red and nodded.

“You didn’t like having your nappy changed in front of your friends did you?”

“No”, she shook her head, “that’s why I got toilet trained. I don’t need nappies at all, even at night.”

“See Jack, if you were toilet trained you wouldn’t have to have your nappy changed in front of the other kids.”, she said to him smiling as she slid a new nappy under him.

“Nah, I don’t care.”, giggled Jack, squirming slightly.

Mum laughed, “That’s what Toby used to say. But he is a big boy now and uses the toilet.”

“There you go! All dry!”, announced mum when she was done, before pulling jack back to his feet, sliding his overalls back up and refastening the straps.

“Thank you Mrs Scott.”

“That’s ok kiddo.”

“I called Camden’s mum Toby.”, mum started, “She going drop him off at 9 tomorrow morning to play with you for the day.”

Toby cheered, “Thanks mum!” I can’t wait, it’s been weeks since I played with Camden.”

After they went back out to play, Toby looked at Jack and felt a twinge of jealousy, he would get to wear a nappy again to bed but gone were the days when he would get to play care free, and getting to enjoy nappy changes. At least they weren’t gone forever he thought.

That night Toby happily lay on the change mat while Melissa leant against her bed and watched as mum took one of Toby’s nappies from the wardrobe and brought it over to him. From where he was laying Toby could see Melissa’s nappy under her nightie.

Mum took Toby’s ankles in one hand and deftly lifted his legs and then pulled up on them to lift his backside off the change mat and with the other hand and slid the nappy under him. As his backside made contact with the nappy Toby felt comforted by the softness of it and he started to feel secure as she brought the front of the nappy up between his legs and he felt a new contentment he wasn’t sure he had felt before once the nappy was taped in place.

“I’ve missed this.”, he whispered to Melissa after mum had tucked them in and left the room.

Melissa giggled, “Me too, I hate waking up during the night when mum has to change your sheets.”

“At least you weren’t the one waking up in wet sheets.”, he retorted, feeling the softness of his nappy under his pajama shorts.

“At least you are through the worst of it now.”

Toby lay thinking for a moment before asking, “If you like nappies as much as me, why did you want to toilet train?”

“Well,”, she started thinking for a moment, “All my friends were toilet trained or in training and I was feeling left out, and some of them would tease me about it.”

“Oh, so you wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t tease you?”

“No, I was happy before and toilet training was horrible.”

Toby agreed, “It was.”

“But I’m happy I did it, most of the time and it’s nice that I still get to wear a nappy every day.”

Toby awoke the next morning well rested and with a wet nappy. He was immediately excited when he remembered that Camden would be coming over to play. He wondered if Camden was in undies now too. He left the bedroom to go and watch cartoons in the lounge room where he was soon joined by Melissa.

When mum got up she asked them to both go and have showers and get dressed. Melissa went first so Toby stayed watching TV until she called out that she was done. Toby got up and headed to the bathroom. When he got there he looked at himself in the mirror. The bulk of his nappy was pretty obvious under the boxer shorts he had worn as pajamas with the warm summer weather. The waistband of the nappy was sticking out the top of the shorts at the rear. He pulled down his boxers to get a better view of his nappy. It was quite wet as he had wet it more since getting up and it was sagging down between his legs quite a lot. Toby turned around on the spot so he could see the back of it, which he could see was wet almost all the way up to the waist band. There was something he liked about seeing himself in the nappy, it just seemed right, but then that was the way he had seen himself for almost all of his life. He undid the tape on the right side and the nappy swung open still hugging his left leg and then untaped the left side and let it fall to the floor with a plop.

He picked it up and was about to drop it into the bin when he saw Melissa’s nappy in it. He put his nappy down on the floor and reached into the bin. Before his fingers reached her nappy a strange feeling came across him and he asked himself what he was doing about to take his sisters used nappy out of the bin.

He hesitated for a moment and then his fingers took a hold of the front of the nappy and he pulled it out. It was just as wet if not more wet than his, it certainly felt heavier. He stood holding it for a moment looking at it wondering if Melissa had the same thought as he did when she looked in the mirror and saw herself in nappies. Did that look normal to her after she had been wearing undies for so long. He dropped her nappy back into the bin and then picked up and dropped his in too.

As soon as Toby and Camden were alone, they had gone out to the backyard to play in the sandpit, Toby had one burning question to ask. He couldn’t tell the answer by looking at his shorts.

“Has your mum made you wear undies too?”, he asked.

Camden nodded sadly, “Yeah, it’s the worst. I’m not very good at getting to the toilet yet. It’s too easy to forget while I’m doing something. I asked if I could wear pull ups today but my mum said that you are toilet training as well so your mum could handle some wet pants.”

“Yeah it sucks.”, he agreed, “I’m able to keep dry during the day now. I still can’t stay dry at night so last night mum let me start wearing nappies at night again.”

“Oh you’re lucky!”, he exclaimed, “Mum said I have to stay dry for a whole week before she will even consider letting me wear nappies at night again.”

“Oh dude....”

“I miss nappies so much.”, moaned Camden, “I just feel like I don’t feel safe any more.”

“I know what you mean, it felt so nice to be back in nappies last night.”

“Lucky...”, muttered Camden looking sad.

Toby hugged Camden, while he was doing so a sneaky idea occurred to him.

“I reckon I could sneak a couple of nappies out of my bedroom and we could try to put them on ourselves to play in.”, he proposed to Camden.

Camden nodded vigorously.

Toby walked calmly inside, Melissa was in the lounge room colouring in a colouring book. He got to their bedroom and feeling a thrill of excitement he crept in and stealthily opened the wardrobe door. He took two nappies from the stack of daytime nappies and pushed them down the front of his shorts and pulled his shirt down over them sticking out the top. He walked as fast as he could out of the house worried his mum or Melissa would notice the bulge on his front, when he reached the back door he ran to Camden.

“I got some!”, he told Camden gleefully, “Let’s go around the back of the shed.”

Camden followed him to the garden shed that was in the backyard, it had a row of bushes between it and the back fence, they slipped between the bushes and shed and arrived in a little hollow that he and Melissa used as cubby house.

“Awesome!”, gasped Camden, his eyes eager as Toby pulled the nappies out of his shorts.

“Ok you first.”, Toby instructed Camden.

Toby and Melissa had lined the ground with some old pavers and some wooden planks, they were just enough for Camden to lay on. He pulled his shorts and undies down and lifted his butt off the ground ready for Toby. Toby opened the nappy and noted there was already a small wet patch on the front of Camden’s undies. He slid the nappy under Camden and then mimicked what he had seen his mum do countless times, it was a little bit harder to get it to fit right than he thought but after readjusting the tapes a few times he had Camden fairly securely in the nappy.

Camden looked down at the nappy and ran his hand over it’s smooth plastic, “Oh I’ve missed this so much.”

Toby laughed. As soon as Camden stood up and pulled his shorts and slightly damp undies up over the nappy, he lay down in the same spot, pulling his own shorts and undies down.

“This is really weird to do to someone else”, remarked Camden as he tried to do up the tapes on Toby’s nappy.

“Yeah, it was weird to put one on you, I’ve never done it before.”

“I think that’s good.”, said Camden as he adjusted the tapes again.

Toby sighed in relief and then stood up and pulled his pants and undies back up.

Camden felt his nappy through his shorts, “I’m wet already, I was struggling to hold on, it was so much nicer to use the nappy than the toilet.”

Toby giggled, “You are a pro at wetting nappies.”

The two returned to the sandpit and continued playing and driving their trucks around. It wasn’t long before Toby’s nappy was also wet, it was such a relief to use a nappy while playing and it felt so natural and normal. Camden was driving the excavator, he was picking it up and dumping sand into Toby’s dump truck. Toby was then taking the sand across the sand pit and dumping it out into piles. They were slowly building a hole in the sand. Once the hole was big enough, Toby took his grader and smothed out the edges of the hole to make them smooth and sloping gently. They then filled several buckets with water and filled the hole with it to make a pond before setting a toy boat sailing in it.

“Hey boys!”, called Toby’s mum from the back door, “Time for lunch.”

The two boys happily jumped up from the sand pit and ran inside ready to eat. Before they sat down at the table they washed their hands in the bathroom.

“Here you go kids!”, said mum as she placed a plate with two hot dogs in bread in front of Toby, Camden and Melissa, who had joined them at the table.

Toby took his first hot dog and chowed into it. He felt the need to wee, so he just let go and let his nappy absorb all of it. The warmth and wetness felt fantastic on his bottom.

As he took his second hot dog, mum walked back into the dining room with a salad for her lunch, “Excuse me young man?”, she asked looking at Toby, ”What are you wearing?”

Toby froze, he hadn’t realised that his shirt had lifted up a bit and his nappy was poking above his shorts.

“I... I...”, he stammered.

“You are supposed to be in undies and I don’t remember putting you in a nappy today.”

Mum didn’t look angry but her face was stern. Melissa looked surprised.

“I just didn’t want to have to stop playing while Camden is here.”, he explained.

“I don’t mind if you want to wear nappies occasionally, but you need to ask me.”

He nodded.

“Are you wearing a nappy too Camden?”, asked Mum.

Camden nodded.

“I think I will need to tell your mum about this.”

Camden’s face dropped.

“What about you Mel?”

Melissa shook her head, “No mum, I’m in my undies.”

“Ok, good girl. After lunch boys I want you to take those nappies off, if I catch you in nappies again when I haven’t said you can wear them there will have to be consequences.”

“Ok mum.”, agreed Toby sadly.

They finished eating their lunch in silence and then mum took the boys to Toby and Melissa’s bedroom, Melissa followed along behind them.

“I know you boys miss being in nappies all the time, but you can’t stay in them forever, grown ups don’t wear nappies.”, chided mum as she lay Toby down on the change mat.

Toby lay in silence and stared at the ceiling while mum untaped the nappy and wiped him down. When she was done, she pulled Toby to his feet and pulled his undies and shorts back up. Toby’s shorts felt empty and boring. Toby sat beside Melissa as mum repeated the process with Camden. Toby thought Camden’s nappy was much wetter than his. No wonder he was still having trouble keeping his undies dry.

Toby and Camden returned to the sand pit, they were both sitting sadly on the edge when Melissa came out to them.

“You could have told me your were going to sneak some nappies to wear.”, she told them.

“You would have been caught too.”, Toby replied.

“I would have told you to be careful, you guys are too used to nappies.”, she said crossing her arms.

“Well it’s a bit late now.”

For the remainder of December Toby got very used to being in undies during the day and continued to wake up in a wet nappy every morning. He had started taking a nap in the afternoon with Melissa so that he would be put into a nappy for the afternoon and it had worked a couple of times but mum had decided that they should wear undies for their nap as “practice” for staying dry at night. He tried having a few more naps, as they were quite nice sometimes but he had woken up wet a few times and given up. Melissa had stayed dry for each of her naps but she had wet the bed deliberately each time in an effort to show mum she needed nappies. Mum hadn’t budged in her decision and so Melissa had also given up afternoon naps as well.

Most days the twins would get up and watch TV in the mornings still in their nappies until their parents got up and asked them to go and get changed or take a shower, Christmas day had been a bit different. The twins had awoken extra early and gone to the living room to see presents piled up around the tree, they were excited to start opening them but had to wait for their parents to get up. After watching a Christmas movie on TV until their parents got up they immediately got to opening presents as soon as they were allowed to even though they were still in their nappies. Once present opening was done they were excitedly playing with their toys, still in their wet nappies. They ate breakfast still in nappies. It wasn’t until late in the morning they were asked to go and take showers that they had to take their nappies off. Toby was somewhat relieved to take his off as he was worried it was going to leak because he had continued to use it while he had had the chance.

Finally in January, it was the twins birthday, they were having a small party with some of their friends playing laser tag in the afternoon. Normally the twins woke up well before their parents but today their parents decided to surprise them and they were woken up to their parents entering the room with presents for each of them.

“Presents!”, exclaimed Melissa sitting up in bed as dad took a seat on the end of her bed and mum took a seat on the end of Toby’s.

“Happy birthday!”, cheered mum and dad in unison.

“Thank you!”, replied both twins as they were each passed a present by their respective parent.

Toby tore into the wrapping paper, it was a lego star wars ship, Toby couldn’t wait to build it and play with it. Melissa hot gotten a fur-real puppy and was furiously ripping into the packaging to get it out.

“I will call him Oscar.”, she decided as dad took it to help her get the batteries in.

Once they were finished opening presents mum asked, “Whose ready for breakfast at McDonalds?”

“Yay! Me me!”, replied Toby excitedly as Melissa jumped out of bed.

“Ok then. Can you two please get changed then and we can get going straight away.”

“Mum?”, asked Meliisa.

“Yes Mel?”

“Can I uh...”, she started turning slightly red, “Can I stay in nappies today?”

“Uh...”, mum looked at day, who shrugged, “I guess seeing as it’s your birthday, if you want to, but only until the party.”

“Yay, and Toby too?”

“Hmm, I still haven’t forgotten about Toby and Camden sneaking nappies, but I guess it is your birthday. Do you want to as well Toby?”

He thought for a moment before simply nodding.

“Alright then, in that case jump on the change mat Mel.”, instructed mum as she slid the change mat out from it’s storage location under her bed.

Melissa jumped straight out of bed and landed straight onto the changing mat pulling her nightie up to expose her wet night nappy. Mum quickly had her cleaned up and changed into a dry nappy, as soon as she was out of the change mat, Toby jumped out of bed and took her place. As he lay on the mat while mum changed his nappy, the first time in over a month that he had been changed out of wet nappy into a dry one, he watched Melissa get changed. She pulled off her nightie and stood at the wardrobe in only her nappy considering her clothes, before she pulled out a yellow sun dress and pulled it over her head. She twirled around making the hem spin outwards a bit and then satisfied with her choice, she left the room.

Mum finished taping on Toby’s nappy and he took his turn to choose some clothes for the day.

Toby came out to the living room to find his parents and Melissa waiting for him. He followed them out to the car and Dad strapped him into his car seat. It was only a five minute drive to the closest McDonalds. During the ride Toby was quite aware of the nappy under his bottom. He never used to notice it before but now that he wore undies during the day it was quite noticeable.

Once they arrived at McDonalds, Toby released his own car seat straps and jumped out. The four of them entered the McDonalds.

“What do you kids want to eat?”, asked Dad.

“Hotcakes!”, said Melissa gleefully.

“Yeah hotcakes!”, agreed Toby.

“Alright, go grab a table and I’ll get our food.”

By the time he had finished eating, Toby felt pressure in his bladder, before he toilet trained he would never feel pressure in his bladder, he would mostly wee without realising it or sometime he would realise that he was going mid stream. But despite the over a month of using the toilet it only took a moment for his body to realise what he was wearing and he started wetting his nappy easily.

After they had returned home, the twins went to their room to play with their gifts. Toby decided to ask Melissa, “Do you find it hard to wet your nappy now that you use the toilet?”

She thought for a moment and answered, “No, I don’t really think about it, I just feel that I need to wee so I do.”

“But you still have to decide to go?”

“Yeah.”

Toby wasn’t sure how he felt about this, it made sense that now he was toilet trained he was aware and in control of his bladder but it felt like part of using nappies was missing.

Later after lunch they were both playing a new video game in the lounge room when Melissa cut in, “Can we pause please, I just need to use the toilet.”

“What about your nappy?”

“No I need to do a poo.”

“So?”

“I haven’t done a poo in my nappy since I was toilet trained, I’m not sure I want to.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad, I prefer it to using the toilet.”

She thought for a moment, “Hmm, ok.”

Toby watched as she slid off the couch and crouched in front of him and started straining a little.

“This feels nicer than using the toilet.”, she giggled, “I forgot what it was like.”

Toby laughed too. When she was done she just slid straight back up onto the couch with Toby and continued playing the game.

They had only been playing for about 10 more minutes when mum came in.

“Whew! Smells like one of you needs a change! It’s time to get ready for the party now anyway so if you kids come to your room with me I’ll help clean you so you can get ready.”

They both laughed and Melissa went red.

Mum got Melissa on the change mat first and untaped her nappy to start cleaning her up.

“You know when you said you wanted to wear nappies all day I didn’t think I would need to change any dirty nappies.”

Melissa turned even more red, “Neither did I.”

“Well I don’t mind too much, but don’t get used to it, I would prefer you wear undies during the day.”

“Ok mum.”

She lay quiet for a moment before asking, “Can I stay in nappies for the rest of the day, even at the party?”

“I said you could wear them only until the party.”

“Pretty please mummy!”, she begged pouting, “It’s my birthday.”

“Are you sure you want to wear nappies around your friends?”, asked mum concerned.

“Yeah they don’t need to know.”

“Alright, I guess you can if it means that much to you, just put some tights on over your nappy in case your dress lifts up.”

“OK!”, agreed Melissa.

Mum turned to Toby, “I guess you want to stay in nappies too?”

“Yep!”, agreed Toby.

“Alright, can you grab me two fresh nappies from the wardrobe.”

Toby opened the wardrobe and pulled out two daytime nappies, there wasn’t many left now that they were really only wearing nappies at night.

About 7pm the car pulled back into their driveway, Toby was nearly dozing and Melissa was fast asleep. The party had been a great success, they had had a great time playing laser tag with their friends and then they had some party food and cake. Nobody had noticed their nappies. Toby told Camden that he was wearing nappies for the day, much to Camden’s amazement and jealousy. Melissa came the closest to getting found out her dress had lift right up as she jumped down a ramp but the only one that saw was Toby and with the tights she had on under her dress it wasn’t obvious anyway. After the party finished the twins and their parents had gone to their grandparents house for dinner.

As Toby got out of the car and headed inside, behind him dad carried Melissa, he felt pressure in his bowels. His nappy wasn’t too wet; they had both been changed at their grandparents house. Once he was inside dad carried Melissa past him to their bedroom leaving Toby alone in the front passage. He squatted and could barely contain it as he easily did a poo in his nappy. Once he was done he stood back up and walked to the bedroom. Dad was just pulling a nightie over Melissa’s head.

“Phew,”, whispered dad as he helped Melissa get into bed, “Smells like someone needs a change before bed.”

Toby giggled, “yeah...”

“Did you kids have a good day?”, asked mum peeking into the room as dad untaped Toby’s nappy on the change mat.

“Yeah it was so much fun!”, exclaimed Toby.

“Yeah.”, agreed Melissa sleepily, “Thank you for letting us stay in nappies mummy.”

“That’s ok sweety. Just remember that it was only for a special occasion.”

“Uh huh.”, she agreed barely awake.

After his change both of his parents tucked Toby into bed and he soon drifted off to sleep.

1. Epilogue

It was Toby and Melissa’s first day of prep, they were in a class of preps and grade ones. The whole class had played a couple of games to get to know each other and start learning each others names. After this their new teacher, Mrs Price, took them all for a tour of the school. They saw where the library was and all the books that it had, they saw the hall and music rooms and before they returned to their classroom they walked through the school office building and as they were nearly back at their classroom the teacher pointed out the girls and boys toilets.

“Alright everyone listen to me.”, requested Mrs Price, “We still have a little bit of time before recess but we have finished all of our introductory activities, so I thought we could have a bit of free time, you can play with the games at the back of the classroom or you can get some paper from the craft corner and do some drawing if you like. Everything will need to be packed away before recess so don’t make a big mess.“

Toby and Melissa grabbed some of the craft supplies and took a seat with a boy and girl that were both in grade one on the floor at the back of the classroom.

“Hi I’m Tracy.”, said the girl smiling.

“Hi I’m Mel and this is Toby”, replied Melissa taking a seat.

“Hi.”, said Toby sitting beside Melissa.

“I’m Tom.”, said the boy.

Toby started doing a drawing and Melissa helped the girl, who was cutting out a chain of paper people. The girl was sitting cross-legged and like the other girls wearing a school dress, as she reached for her pair of sissors her legs pulled apart a bit and Toby cought a glimpse underneath. He was sure what he had seen, he had seen that exact same pattern under Melissa’s dress thousands of times.

As Toby and Melissa went outside for Recess, Toby looked around until he spotted Tracy and then without saying anything he pulled Melissa by the hand towards her.

“Hey Tracy.”, he called out.

She stopped and turned around and smiled as they came close.

“Hi guys, what’s up?”

“Hi Tracy.”, Toby greeted her, Melissa was looking confused, “Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure.”, she replied looking inquizitive.

“Do you wear nappies?”, he asked.

“Toby you can’t just ask people that.”, chided Melissa looking a bit shocked.

“It’s ok.”, laughed Tracy, “Yeah I wear nappies, why?”

“I thought you have to be in a special class if you still wear nappies at school?”

“Well, I’m incon-.. incntien.. I can’t toilet train, my bladder just doesn’t work so I have no choice. There was a special class, but they’ve changed that rule now and you can be in any class and wear nappies.”, she explained.

“WHAT!”, exclaimed Toby.