Paraphilic infantilism is the desire to wear diapers and be treated as a helpless infant. ^[1] One who engages in infantilistic play is known as an adult baby (AB). About one in three adult babies is also a diaper lover (DL)^[2][3], so they are collectively known as AB/DLs^[4]. The majority of infantilists are heterosexual males^[5]. In psychology and sexology, paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a term that describes sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations which may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. ... Baby diapers are often imprinted with child-friendly designs. ... Diaper lover (or DL for short) is the popular term for a person who feels a strong desire to wear or use diapers without physiological necessity. ...

Infantilism Contrasted with Diaper Fetishes

One way to describe paraphilic infantilism is to contrast it with a diaper fetish, and this contrast is most clear in fantasies. Although there is no typical AB/DL fantasy, they often fall within two extremes. One extreme involves the fantasy of being an infant or small child; adorable, sexually innocent, and powerless. The infant fantasy might involve diapers, baby clothes, and toys to help define the infant's role, as costume and props. In the end, the infant might drift off to sleep in a soft crib. The other extreme is the erotic lover. The lover fantasy would focus on diapers as fetish items, sexually charged objects. The lover fantasy would end in orgasm and ejaculation. See fantasy for an account of the literary genre involving the development of common or popular fantasies. ... An infant Infant is a slightly more formal word for baby, the youngest category of child, meaning a human from birth to age 1. ... A function is part of an answer to a question about why some object or process occurred in a system that evolved or was designed with some goal. ... Yarkand ladies summer fashions. ... Theatrical properties, or props, are items used in stage plays and similar entertainments to further the action. ... A cot is a small bed (called a crib in American English) specifically for babies and infants. ... Eroticism is an aesthetic focused on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... Sexual fetishism, first described as such by Alfred Binet in his Le fétichisme dans l’amour, though the concept and certainly the activity is quite ancient, is a form of paraphilia where the object of affection is a specific inanimate object or part of a persons body. ... An orgasm (from Greek orgasmós, from orgán - to swell, be lustful), also known as a sexual climax, is a pleasurable physical, psychological or emotional response to prolonged sexual stimulation It is often accompanied by a notable physiological reaction, such as ejaculation, blushing or spasm and may be followed... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Most individuals who have these fantasies do not seek psychotherapy ^[6][7]. According to the American Psychiatric Association, if there is significant distress or impairment for a period of over six months, paraphilic infantilism or fetishism might be diagnosed, depending on the focus^[8]. The urges and fantasies caused by diaper fetishes focus on the diapers themselves, while infantilism focuses on becoming a baby. (Please note that many published cases are only tangentially related^[9][10][11] to infantilism and diaper fetishism and should not be confused with the basic paraphilias ^[12].) Psychotherapy is a set of techniques intended to improve mental health, emotional or behavioral issues of individuals, family members or a whole familys interactional climate. ... The American Psychiatric Association is a professional organization of psychiatrists whose members are American and international physicians who are trained in psychiatry. ...

In practice, the distinction is between the two is much narrower; both involve diapers and adults. Those who try to act out the infant fantasy or similar ones are called Adult Babies (ABs). This may involve adult sized diapers and baby clothes, etc^[13]. If their partner is willing, they may engage in mother/baby roleplay. The adult baby may choose not to engage in sex while they are in the baby role, since it isn't babylike. In contrast, diaper fetishes are much more practical. They may involve adding diapers to otherwise ordinary sexual activities^[14]. Those who do are called Diaper Lovers (DLs). Neither are adult baby practices exclusive to paraphilic infantilists, nor diaper lover practices exclusive to diaper fetishists. Many AB/DLs describe themselves as 'mostly AB' or 'mostly DL,' based on which they engage in more frequently. Those with urophilia and coprophilia may enjoy similar practices. In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... This article or section should be merged with Watersports (BDSM) Urolagnia (also known as urophilia) is a paraphilia involving sexual attraction to urine. ... Look up coprophilia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Coprophilia (from Greek κόπρος, kópros - excrement and φιλία, filía - liking, fondness) also known as fecophilia or coprolagnia, is the paraphilia involving sexual attraction to human feces, or rather to its excrementation. ...

• Adult Baby (AB)
  • Maybe paraphilic infantilism
  • Self-image/alter-ego focused
  • Sexual relationship with partner separate from adult baby play
• Diaper Lover (DL)
  • Maybe diaper fetish
  • Focused on an external object
  • No inherent roleplay

Other contrasts

Pedophilia

Confusing infantilism with pedophilia is a common misunderstanding^[15]. Pedophilia is a sexual preference for children^[16][17]. In contrast, infantilists have a desire to be infants themselves, and those with a diaper fetish have a sexual interest in diapers. Generally, they have ordinary heterosexual or homosexual sexual experiences otherwise. Inside the AB/DL communities, a sharp distinction is observed. DPF, one of the older AB/DL organizations, will expell child molestors. ^[18] Pedophilia (Am. ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... The term child sexual abuse (CSA) is commonly defined in contemporary western culture as any sexual acts engaged in by prepubescent minors and adults. ...

Other infantilisms

'Paraphilic infantilism' is usually shortened to 'infantilism.' This can lead to some misunderstandings, since 'infantilism' can also mean 'lacking development.' Mental retardation involves never having achieved an average maturity, in contrast to adult babies, who actively set their maturity aside. In turn, psychosexual infantilism, a term coined by Freud, referred to those who haven't "matured" through the psychosexual stages into heterosexuality. Psychosexual infantilism includes paraphilic infantilism as well as other paraphilias and sexual orientations. Finally, regression is a broad term with many meanings. Adult babies regress, but those who regress aren't necessarily adult babiess. Mental retardation (also called mental handicap and, as defined by the UK Mental Health Act 1983, mental impairment and severe mental impairment) is a term for a pattern of persistently slow learning of basic motor and language skills (milestones) during childhood, and a significantly below-normal global intellectual capacity as... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... In Freudian psychology, an individual progresses through psychosexual stages as they develop. ... Heterosexuality is the scientific name for sexual attraction and/or sexual behaviour between animals of the opposite characteristic sex, or being straight. It is the fifth element of the classic quinto-modal continuum of sexual orientation, which consists of asexuality, autosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and heterosexuality. ... Generally, regression is a move backwards; It is the opposite of progress. ...

Practical or voluntary use

Those who wear diapers because of incontinence are probably not AB/DLs. While they may wear and use diapers, they aren’t necessarily doing it to express an alternate self-image or indulge a fetish. This also applies to those who use diapers for practical reasons, such as astronauts, scuba divers, and sadomasochists. Finally, there are some who start wearing diapers as a "new kink." Urinary incontinence is the involuntary excretion of urine from ones body. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... SCUBA is an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. ... Kink is a term used to refer to unconventional sexual practices such as bondage, domination and submission, and sadomasochism (known collectively as BDSM), and sexual fetishism. ...

There are many that wear diapers but are not paraphilic infantilists or diaper fetishists in the strictest sense. Their motivations and underlying mechanisms are different. However, those who share AB/DL interests and practices are generally welcome in the communities, and may sometimes be counted as AB/DLs. In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism is an unconscious way to protect ones personality from unpleasant thoughts which may otherwise cause anxiety. ...

Common fantasy elemets

See fantasy for an account of the literary genre involving the development of common or popular fantasies. ...

Coercion

Force or coercion is sometimes present in AB/DL fantasies. Coercion is the practice of compelling a person to act by employing threat of harm (usually physical force, sometimes other forms of harm). ...

Identification

AB/DLs may enjoy looking at pictures showing who they want to be, as opposed to who they want to be with. For example, a heterosexual male adult baby may enjoy looking at pictures of men in diapers: he may be imagining himself as the men in the diapers. Heterosexuality is the scientific name for sexual attraction and/or sexual behaviour between animals of the opposite characteristic sex, or being straight. It is the fifth element of the classic quinto-modal continuum of sexual orientation, which consists of asexuality, autosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and heterosexuality. ... Imagination is, in general, the power or process of producing mental images and ideas. ...

Permanent regression

A common fantasy among adult babies involves a permanent return to a more infantile position. This may involve being put back in diapers or returned to the nursery for the rest of their life. These fantasies may be enjoyed even by ABs who are consciously aware that they would not want to give up their adult lives. A nursery is care facility for children below schoolgoing age, but usually from infancy up to the ages of three to four. ...

Exhibitionism

Modesty and self-consciousness are not expected from infants and small children. Babies can be out in public in just a diaper and t-shirt, and can have their diaper changed in public. Adult Babies cannot legally do these things, but may fantasize about them. Exhibitionism is the psychological need of a human being to exhibit naked parts of the body to other people — that is, parts of the body that would otherwise be covered by clothes according to the standards of the individuals cultural surroundings. ... Modesty describes a set of culturally or religiously determined values that relate to the presentation of the self to others. ... Self-consciousness is the knowledge of ones own presence. ... T-Shirt A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a shirt with short or long sleeves, a round neck, put on over the head, without pockets. ...

Integrating other interests

The individual AB/DL may have other interests that have become integrated with AB/DL. For example, a sissy baby has an integrated infantilism and transvestism. In turn, a babyfur has an integrated infantilism and furry fandom. Sissys and babyfurs are among many groups resulting from the integration of side-interests with infantilism. The combinations can themselves be combined in countless ways. For example, there are sissy babyfurs. Typical sissy baby outfit A Sissy baby is a male infantilist who, in addition to wearing diapers and regressing, also prefers to play the female role while engaging in this fetish or lifestyle. ... The term transvestism has undergone several changes of meaning since it was coined in the 1910s, and it is still used in all of these meanings except the very first one. ... The process, act, or product of skinning human infants for their fur. ... Shanda the Panda #12, an example of a furry comic Furry fandom is a subculture that originated from the science fiction and fantasy fandoms. ...

Practices

Aside from the many things that AB/DLs would like to do, but cannot, there is an extensive list of practices that they might actually engage in. Some common elements and practices are listed here.

Diaper usage

A central practice to AB/DL is wearing a diaper. When wearing diapers, many AB/DLs like to urinate in them, and a smaller number like to defecate in them. Others do not because they find it gross, do not enjoy it, do not want to go through the cleanup afterwards, or wouldn't be able to without being obvious. Some AB/DLs have difficulty wetting their diapers when they want to, as the result of overtrained bladders or paruresis. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Anatomy of the anus and rectum Defecation or feceation, in physiology, is the act or process by which organisms eliminate solid or semisolid waste material from the digestive tract. ... Paruresis , also known as pee shy, shy kidney, bashful bladder or shy bladder syndrome, is a type of social anxiety disorder in which the sufferer is unable to urinate in the (real or imaginary) presence of others, such as in a public restroom. ...

A common compromise between wanting to wear diapers and needing to go about daily life is to wear diapers under normal clothing. When adult babies do so, it is in their everyday mindset, as opposed to an infantile one. A few adult babies wear diapers all the time, and may seek to develop urinary incontinence. The level of enjoyment in wearing diapers all the time is mixed, and it may have lasting effects.^[19] Other AB/DLs enjoy wearing diapers intermittently more than they would enjoy wearing them all the time. Urinary incontinence is the involuntary excretion of urine from ones body. ...

Coming out

A difficult choice that AB/DLs must make involves who to tell about their interests. This offers the possibility of being accepted for who they are, and not having to hide. However, it also includes the risk of disgrace at home, school, and work. Coming out of the closet (very often shortened to coming out in winking reference to the public introduction of debutantes) describes the voluntary public announcement of ones sexual orientation, sexual attractions, gender identity, or (less commonly) paraphilia. ...

Finding a "mommy" or "daddy"

A difficult part of life as an AB/DL is finding a compatible spouse. For diaper lovers, the search is difficult because there are few diaper lovers in the general population. For adult babies, the search is hard. The drive to be an adult baby is rare, and the drive to baby an adult is rarer. Female AB/DLs are not necessarily willing to be mommies. Some AB/DLs are willing to be 'switch' mommies or daddies.

For DLs, there are some prostitutes willing to partake in diaper play. For ABs, there are professional "adult babysitters." Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ...

See also

• Sexual fetishism
• Paraphilia
• Diaper Lover
• Sissy Baby

Sexual fetishism, first described as such by Alfred Binet in his Le fétichisme dans l’amour, though the concept and certainly the activity is quite ancient, is a form of paraphilia where the object of affection is a specific inanimate object or part of a persons body. ... In psychology and sexology, paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a term that describes sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations which may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. ... Diaper lover (or DL for short) is the popular term for a person who feels a strong desire to wear or use diapers without physiological necessity. ... Typical sissy baby outfit A Sissy baby is a male infantilist who, in addition to wearing diapers and regressing, also prefers to play the female role while engaging in this fetish or lifestyle. ...

References

1. ^  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000, pg 529 (IV) or pg 286 (IIIR)
2. ^  Thomas John Speaker, Psychosexual Infantilism in Adults: The Eroticization of Regression. Columbia Pacific University. pg 83. Available from: DPF, Sausalito, CA 94965.
3. ^  Section 10 - Into the Future Retrieved 2002 from http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Island/5861/ds3_s10.txt, now mirred at http://web.archive.org/web/20010424192400/www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Island/5861/DS3_S10.txt
4. ^  Watson, J. (2005, June 9). Baby Man, Phoenix New Times
5. ^  Thomas John Speaker, Psychosexual Infantilism in Adults: The Eroticization of Regression. Columbia Pacific University. pg 78. Available from: DPF, Sausalito, CA 94965.
6. ^  Stekel, W. (1952). Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism. Washington Square Press., pg 144, ISBN 0871408406
7. ^  Pate J.E., Gabbard G.O. (2003). Adult baby syndrome Am J Psychiatry 160:1932–1936
8. ^  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, 2000 Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000, pp 569-570
9. ^  Pandita-Gunawardena, R. (1990). Paraphilic Infantilism, A Rare Case of Fetishistic Behaviour. British Journal of Psychiatry. 157, 767-770
10. ^ Mitchell, W. (1954) Epilepsy with Fetishism Relieved by Temporal Lobectomy. Lancet. Vol. II, pp. 626-630
11. ^  Croarkin, P., Nam, T., Waldrep, D. (November 2004). Comment on Adult Baby Syndrome. Am J Psychiatry 161:2141
12. ^  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, 2000 Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000, pp 568
13. ^  Baumeister, Roy F. (1989). Masochism and Self, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pg 159. ISBN 0805804862.
14. ^  Thomas John Speaker, Psychosexual Infantilism in Adults: The Eroticization of Regression. Columbia Pacific University. pg 80. Available from: DPF, Sausalito, CA 94965.
15. ^  Arndt, William B., Jr. (1991). Gender Disorders and the Paraphilias, International Universities Press, pg 394, ISBN 0823621502.
16. ^ International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, tenth edition, Sect. F65.4
17. ^  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000, Fourth Edition, Pg. 527
18. ^  Gilstrap, P. (1999, March 7-11). The Diapers They Are a-Changin'. The New Times Los Angeles. Available from DPF and the website of the interviewee, Mike A.
19. ^  What Would it be Like to Wear Diapers 24/7? Retrieved March 15th, 2006 from http://understanding.infantilism.org/twentyfour_seven.php
20. ^  Landers, A. (1995, October 26th). Woman fears telling her fiance about her baby fetish, The Outlook

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) is a detailed description of known diseases and injuries. ...

Further reading

• Friday, Nancy (c. 1980). Men in Love: Men's Sexual Fantasies, Delacorate Press. ISBN 0385333420.
• Allen, Clifford (1969). A Textbook of Psychosexual Disorders. ISBN 0192644149.
• Love, Brenda (1992). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Barricade Books. ISBN 094263764X.

External links

Websites on infantilism and diaper fetishism:

• Understanding Infantilism
• www.infantilism.us
• teenbaby.net
• www.dailydiapers.com
• www.sissybecky.com