THE PROBLEM
The catheter diaper that does not exist yet
Search for a catheter diaper and you will find instruction sheets, not products. A urinary catheter and a diaper have never been designed to work together, so caregivers cut, tape, and stack ordinary diapers. This page explains why that matters, who it affects, and what DiviDiaper is building.
Who wears a diaper with a catheter
- Infants and children after urologic surgery, including hypospadias repair.
- Children and adults with spina bifida, spinal cord injury, or other conditions that affect bladder control.
- Hospital patients in the NICU, PICU, or on a ward who are diapered and catheterized at the same time.
- Older adults in long term care who use an indwelling catheter and an incontinence brief.
Why a standard diaper fails
A standard diaper has no opening for the tube and no separate space for it. The catheter is pinched by the leg cuff or bent at the waistband, and stool collects around it. Hospitals teach double diapering to work around this: one diaper for stool, a hole or a routed tube, and a second diaper for urine.
Read our guide to double diapering
Why stool near the catheter matters
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection, or CAUTI, is among the most common infections picked up in hospitals. The CDC reports that about three in four hospital urinary tract infections are linked to a catheter. One recognized route is bacteria from stool reaching the catheter and travelling along it toward the bladder. A diaper that lets stool sit against the tube is working against every other step of catheter care.
What a catheter diaper should do
Based on the published workarounds and on our own experience, a diaper built for a catheter would need to:
- Give the tube a fixed exit so it is not pinched, bent, or pulled.
- Keep urine from the catheter in its own absorbent space.
- Keep stool away from the tube and from any surgical site.
- Work as one diaper, so a change does not disturb the catheter.
- Fit the way a normal diaper fits.
What DiviDiaper is building
CathEase™ is designed to do exactly that. A built-in port is designed to hold the tube steady, and a sealed front compartment, the Catheter Containment Compartment™ or CCC™, is designed to collect urine from the catheter apart from stool. It includes the Divider™, a soft barrier designed to keep urine and stool in separate zones. For diapered patients who do not have a catheter, Harlows™ uses the Divider™ alone. Both are part of the Waste Isolation Platform™, which is covered by a U.S. patent. An evaluation agreement is secured with a major NYC academic medical center, ready to commence upon inventory delivery.
Guides
Questions people ask
Q: Is there a diaper with a hole for a catheter?
A: Not as a manufactured product. Hospitals teach parents to cut a hole in an ordinary diaper, or to route the tube over the edge of an inner diaper into a second one. DiviDiaper's CathEase™ is designed to replace that and is in development.
Q: Can adults use a catheter diaper?
A: The need is the same for adults with an indwelling catheter who wear an incontinence brief. DiviDiaper's platform is designed for every diapered patient. Product sizes and timing have not been announced.
Q: Does a catheter diaper prevent CAUTI?
A: No diaper can claim that, and DiviDiaper does not. CathEase™ is designed to keep stool away from the catheter, which is one recognized route of contamination. It has not been tested in a clinical study.
Q: Does the Divider work for girls as well as boys?
A: Yes. The Divider™ sits at the perineum, the strip of skin between the genitals and the anus, which is the same spot in boys and girls, so it is designed to keep urine and stool apart for both.
Written by the DiviDiaper team.
SOURCES
- CDC, Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
- Children's Minnesota, Double diapering
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Urology: Hypospadias
Last updated October 23, 2026.