Now-a-days Diaper is the first cloth a baby wears soon after birth, except cotton towel used for wrapping the baby and not any other textiles. The diaper is used inbaby caring from the spill of urine and defecate. By this the surroundings of the baby and the persons caring him/her are protected from the spill of urine/defecate. Diaper also protects baby from getting dirtied or wet from urine or defecate. Since these excretes are absorbed by diaper the baby feel warm and the tender skin is also protected. Hence use of diaper is for better health of baby. However, care should be taken to see that rashes are not developed, and enough airing takes place while using diapers. Frequent change of diaper, after every 4-5 hours and/or after every excretion, is necessary to keep baby healthy. In India 2.58 cr. babies born every year and the population of diaper wearing babies can be considered as 7.74 cr. (0-3 yrs age group). With increasing trend of working ladies, more and more nucleus family system, dependency of baby care centres, economic growth and affordability, awareness, etc. the use of diaper is increasing fast even at rural areas.
Current market size of baby diaper is estimated to be about 4000 cr. rupees or a penetration (usage) of 4% (by considering actual use of less than 5 pieces/day) on an average. At 100% penetration the market size would be 14,000 cr. pieces/yr or 1,27,000 cr. rupees. Growth rate, the market is continuously achieving well above 20%, one of the highest rates among technical textiles. This speaks about the immense potential this product enjoys in Indian market. Even the rural population is aware of this product and started using it regularly, though may not for the whole day.
The basic structure of the product should have construction similar to sanitary napkins, purpose being absorbency of fluid. However, due to difference in quantity and rate of flow, fluid/solid properties, etc. the design of diaper is more complex compared to sanitary napkins.
