2.26.2006

The great (size three) diaper test!

the sweetest boy is quickly becoming a giant and needs a new diaper. the best diaper he has been using when not in cloth is pampers swaddlers. they only go up to size two. gasp!

swaddlers appeal is all about the stretchy side tabs. they fit and grow with boy, hold everything in, and generally resemble a pair of human underpants.

we bought a brick of every type of diaper, eight in all. here are the results, as the sweetest boy tested them with various fluids and semisolids, ranking in order of worst to best:


only if it was the last diaper on earth, honey:
pampers baby dry-like trying to use a piece of loose leaf paper as a diaper. no stretchyness whatsoever. nowhere.your child will end up with plenty of damp, yellow-stained clothes. 25 cents per diaper.


cheap - and performs that way:
target brand- weird tissue paper tabs flap out to the side of each leg like strange wings. minor elastic along the back, zero on side tabs. scratchy and noisy. pity the poor baby's rump.however, price is appealing at 14 cents per diaper


albertsons brand- looks identical, feels identical, sucks just as much, and for identical reasons. 15 cents per diaper





known brand, pricey, and not that good:
huggies baby shaped fit- on sale (buy $99 get a $30 gift certificate) -has elastic band going all the way across to *trick* parents into thinking there is stretchyness. actually the elastic is quite brittle by the side tabs. 25 cents each

huggies supreme- on sale (buy $99 get a $30 gift certificate) short tabs with an underwhelming stretch factor. an excess of elastic by the leg, three leg gussets. they don't fit well. (after all that baby shaped fit marketing!) very thick. I get the impression that Huggies just doesn't get it. 27 cents each


two worth checking out:
pampers cruisers-the premium pampers line- very stretchy side tabs-quiet but not all that soft compared to swaddlers. 27 cents each




kirkland- stretchy in the back and side tabs. not as stretchy as swaddlers on side tabs but the back is extremely elastic. side tabs will tear if handled too roughly. feels thick. 16 cent/diaper



THE EXTENDED TEST:
boy wore pampers cruisers and kirkland.

the cruisers are all around good diaper, fit, comfort, blowout resistant. another benefit is that they are sold in any store in a range of sizes. the only negative is the high price at .27 each

kirklands are comparable in fit, comfort and resistance. they are only sold in a box of 182 and only at costco, which would be a negative if he was close to outgrowing the size. they get a bit hard once wet, and the fragrance seems to be industrial strength because it caused some diaper rash on the sweetest boy's bottom. the price is the lure of the kirklands at .16 each

the B was exhausted and a bit perplexed from so many successive diaper changes!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't belive that you found the baby dry diapers to be so crapy, because that and the cruisers is ALL I will buy, I love the baby dry diapers they seem to fit good they dont leak, and over here in Oklahoma where there is NO costco, they are only 16-17 cents a diaper! O yeah!! I love pampers for one because I will not buy the store brands because they seem to leak really bad and Huggies also leaks really bad because to me they seem TOO strechy, they pee a drop and the huggies sag to the floor. I hate them.... One diaper that I did used to buy when he was smaller was Luvs, they eemed to be pretty good to, but the pampers are about the same price so I just started getting those, also you cant find the Luvs in the big box, just packs that have about 35 diapers, and I like to get the box and get it over with so I dont have to get more for a while.

*Tanyetta* said...

cool information to know. when my son was younger, i tried different types of diapering gadgets. i'm stuck on Luvs. They have the big boxes at Target now, I have to go and figure out how much they cost *each*. I never thought to do that. I always just bought the big box $17.99 and I thought I was getting a deal now, I need to go and do my homework. By the way, have you researched the best baby wipes?

jess said...

thanks for the response anonymous and days like these!

about the luvs: as rookie diaper users of a newborn we had a brick of those and experienced blowout after blowout. it was gross. luvs are actually what gave me the idea that stretchy tabs were good. b/c if my memory serves me right from that eternity ago (Actually only four months, but feels like forever) they were lacking in strechy tabs. but both of you say they are good so they might need another look...

seventh generation deserves to be tested too. but they are sold only at a store 40 minutes from home which eliminated them from the test.

as far as wipes go- that is a very good question, one that actually deserves its own post. we use viva paper towels dipped in water. they are more than half the price of wipes and keeps the sweetest boy's ass diaper rash free. we use huggies natural care when going out b/c they have a good size for our diaper bag.

Anonymous said...

Based on your comments, I think you'll like the new Seventh Generation design -- very stretchy. We buy them from somewhere online with free shipping... comes out to about 25¢/diaper.

Anonymous said...

Very helpful research, thank you....Huggies work best for us, we overlap the tabs. Pampers work too but caused a bad rash on both ends of our baby boy. Seventh Generation wipes or Whole Foods 365 baby wipes work best for our sensitive one (we only use them for travel) we use wet wash clothes at home (they work great and save money too)we use 8 clothes a day (we rinse, bag them and wash them every couple of days). Also, Aquafor works extremely well for irritated bums and/or diaper rash.
Thanks again for the research.