Product Spotlight: Diapering

chaos-and-coffee

Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. Feel free to comment on threads like these throughout your time at the board, not just when they're in their week in the spotlight, if you discover something new OR are new to the board. This week it's.... Diapering!

FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome!

For all:
Brand you like?
Any diapering accessories, you reccommend?
If you've cloth diapered, any tips you can give FTMs?

mountainmenmama

Brand you like? I live in Europe, so this won't be helpful at all... But in general I would really recommend to try to get your kids used a cheaper brand from the start. When we went to the us in the summer we used loves and Walmart brand. Liked the loves diaper a lot better except they have some perfume which no other diaper I've ever bought has... But it didn't bother my 1yos butt so it was fine. 
Any diapering accessories, you reccommend? I'd always buy as little as possible... Really all you need for throw away diapers is diapers, wipes, and a towel for mishaps. Maybe a water proof liner... But I didn't need a changing table or mat... We mostly changed on the floor or a bed or outside in the grass or wherever. Baby doesn't care and once they start objecting.... Well I had do some solid months of diaper changes while baby was standing because that was the only way. Worst case in the shower
If you've cloth diapered, any tips you can give FTMs? I cloth diapered my first one. It wasn't tough in itself. I had a bunch of different brands etc... But my problem was, no matter what my son's onesie was always a bit wet on the sides. Every brand, no matter how much I stuffed them or not. YouTube has some great videos to learn. My mom came to visit us and help for baby two and her take was cloth diapers are for first babies (she has 3 kids) 

chaos-and-coffee

I liked pampers when DS was a baby and seventh generation. After that, huggies are the only things that contain his pee. He leaked through everything else. Huggies overnights at night too, we went through a period where he peed on me every night for a while. 

Agree that you don’t need a ton of stuff. We had a changing pad I put on top of his dresser with a few different covers and waterproof liners. Boy pee goes everywhere so use a wipe or washcloth to cover as you are changing. For diaper cream we use butt paste or aquaphor. That’s really all you need. 

alli392

We use mostly Luvs for disposables and AlvaBaby Pocket diapers with a better microfiber insert for cloth diapering. We do the cloth diapers during the day when we’re home and it cuts down on disposable costs without being overwhelming. 

Favorite accessory is the little plastic diaper cream applicator wand thing. We didn’t get it at first then went through a bad diaper rash time. So thankful and keeps yours hands cleaner

carpediem55

Brand you like?
Pampers Swaddlers for the newborn stage. Then the cruisers for after that. 

We tried honest at first but my daughter was sensitive to them. We ended up using Honest for years 1-2. 

We use huggies overnight diapers for night time diapers. 

And now that she’s potty trained, I do use honest pull ups for nap time. 

Any diapering accessories, you recommend?
Baby Bum diaper cream brush. I’ve actually used it A LOT! 

We tried a lot of diaper creams and most didn’t work for us. Triple paste was the only diaper cream that helped faster. They have a big tub on Amazon and it’s worth the price and the flip up top. 

Diaper bags - they’re like dog poop bags but for diapers. They are great for when you’re out and don’t have a trash nearby, or a car change. 

And always always have at least one or two extra outfits with you. We went through so many poopsplosions! 

If you've cloth diapered, any tips you can give FTMs? N/A

chaos-and-coffee

One other thing I always keep in my diaper bag is a little mat that folds up. I have changed so many poops in the trunk of my car. And babyganics hand sanitizer. 

runwmusic

We use Costco diapers which I'm pretty sure are huggies but about 2/3 the price. Overnight we use huggies overnight.

Cream - Boudreaux butt paste all the way 

I got one of those butt spatulas but only used it for Vaseline on the diaper for circumcision healing. It was worth the money just for that purpose to me. 

Once the babies are a little older, having toys that are only used on the changing table helped us reduce flips. Common toys aren't fun enough to keep him laying there. 

Changing pad, then liner, then cover, then another liner, then another cover. Layering them makes it so you can strip off a dirty layer when needed and not have a bare changing pad. We have three layers on. Game changer for night time messes.

Don't buy a big pack of newborn. We never used them and went right to size 1.

kyrwyn

My son started in preemie diapers, which I was totally unprepared for, and only pampers have been narrow enough for his skinny butt.  The best thing that happened to us was a friend made us a diaper cake with her leftovers from every size 2 & up. I swear DS outgrew diaper sizes during naps a couple times and it was a lifesaver to have a handful of next size up diapers to pull from when we were on the cusp of moving up. I recommend having the next size up on hand before you think you'll need them!

We have two of these, one for each car, and they've been super helpful. 

cclaineDC

We did cloth diapers (rumparoos?) but abandoned them after 8 months when DD started daycare. I was not a fan of cloth diapers. After that, we used Target brand disposables and sensitive skin wipes. They're nothing cute or fancy, but they were super affordable.

hanshotfirst77

For diapers I liked pampers swaddlers for newborns and then huggies little movers for when he was bigger. Also want to second triple paste. That stuff was amazing. A little expensive but worth it in my opinion.

I don't remember exactly at what point (DS is 5.5 now) but I also remember using huggies overnight diapers at night but going up 1 size. That helped prevent any leaks overnight and really minimized the amount of times I had to do sheet change. Also reccomend doubling your sheets and using the water proof mattress protector. I did the protector, sheet, protector sheet. That way if he did leak through, you just remove a layer or 2 and don't have to strip everything MOTN. 

kimber308

I've always sworn by Target diapers. They are the best!

ErikandAfton

For disposables I preferred 7th Generation or the Pampers Pure ones. We mainly cloth diapered DS though from about 8 weeks to 2.5 when he pitty trained.

Creams: Grovia Magic Stick, CJs BUTTer, Earth Mama Angel Baby Diaper Balm. 

Accessories: the plastic diaper bags for poop diapers until we get home and wet bags. Even if you aren't a cloth diaper family wet bags are a Godsend. We use them for wer accident clothes and just outfit changes too. 

Cloth diapers: DS was sensitive to pretty much every diaper with the exception of honest company and 7th generation. And wetness sensitive on top of that. So I was changing diapers as soon as he was wet and going through twice the amount a day they say you need for a newborn. So we switched to cloth.

Suggestions for cloth diapering: do some research, as people you know who cloth and see what some options are. Discuss with your partner the types. Pockets and prefolds/flats with covers are the cheapest options but they may not be a fit for your family. Dh was on board as long as I could find something that was as similar to a disposable as we could get. We ended up doing All In Ones where the absorbancy is attached to the shell and All in Twos which are covers with snap in insets and you can reuse the covers a few times before washing.

Brands we used: Best Bottoms with Microfiber inserts ( I'm going to be replacing these this time with their bamboo/hemp inserts because MF are prone to compression leaks).

Bumgenius Freetimes. Although these are MF I didnt have the compression leaks with them and really like them. 

Lighthouse kids company. I found these when L was about 1.5. I freaking love this brand. They have a lot of stretch and good absorption plus are super trim. 

Lalabye baby. This is a pocket or AI2 style. I discover these later in my cloth diaper journey too but love them. 

GroVia ONES. I used these for night only
 They are bulky and hold stink and the elastics go out fast. I will likely be ditching these this time around.

Wool covers. If you have a heavy wetter wool is awesome. Pop it on over the diaper at night and it absorbs 3 or more times its weight. Its anti fungal and antibacterial and can just air dry during the day and be used for a month or so before washing. 
 

kjack86

Brand you like? Right now, we use Pampers 360. They go on like a pull-up, so they’re fool-proof for husbands that never can seem to get the Velcro strips just right. I ordered them on Amazon by accident and ended up loving them. However, they’re only available size 3 and up. When my son was younger, we rotated between Pampers Swaddlers and Huggies. I preferred the Pampers, but the Huggies were better when he was in between Pampers sizes. Don’t pay any attention to the weight ranges on packs of diapers...they are nowhere near accurate. 

Any diapering accessories, you recommend? The diaper cream paddle is totally worth the price! I also keep diaper sacks in the diaper bag for poop changes in public. At home, the Diaper Genie is a must (in my opinion). As far as creams, we liked Aquaphor best. 

If you've cloth diapered, any tips you can give FTMs? Never tried it. 

kiki75

Disposables: We have used Pampers Swaddlers for daycare because they’re cheaper and at home we use Pampers Pure. Plus Pampers overnights. Some will say they’re a waste of money but with a stomach sleeper boy, they are worth every penny. Like @hanshotfirst77 said, if they start waking up wet even in overnights, go a size up from daytime. When he was a NB, we also used Huggies because if I remember right, they had a blowout catcher across the back. 

Creams: We use Butt Paste but also keep a little tube of the Grovia in the diaper bag. When he was new, we pasted every change. Now I paste overnight, any time he might be soggy for an extended time (like travel), or if his buns look sad. I just apply with my pinkie finger, then wipe the excess on the inside bum portion of the new diaper. For boys, you mostly do crack & buns. When we were always pasting, I’d do a little under the scrotum. Now I only do it if it’s looking rashy. 

Bags: We just use regular dog poop bags for stinky diapers and diapers when we go out. You can usually get a huge pack at TJ Maxx for pretty cheap. Absolutely agree with @ErikandAfton on getting a couple wet bags even if you don’t cloth diaper. We keep a last resort kit in the car with one diaper, one outfit, and one garbage bag to line a car seat, in a wet bag. It’s for the times you thought you had more in the diaper bag but don’t. Or you went through it all. I also keep a couple at daycare to send dirty clothes home in instead of plastic. Plus swim. Or toys or whatever. 

Wipes: We use water wipes at home and Honest in the diaper bag. Water wipes don’t come with hard plastic closures and they’re so wet that the package will leak all over the diaper bag. Some kind soul gifted us a pack of Seventh Generation wipes and I hated them. They fell apart all over DS while I was wiping him. Chunks everywhere. 

While we’re talking about diaper bags, one off topic thing I will add is that that is not “your” bag. It’s “the” bag or DS/DD’s but as the mom, it’s not just yours. It’s a small thing that seems inconsequential but it affects thought. The responsibility, and therefore the bag is shared. Keeping it stocked, organized, and using its contents is not your job alone.

jhysmath

ETA: I just figured out why none of the threads said I read them or why I didn't recognize any of the names here...definitely clicked on June and not May. oops. 

@cclaineDC I am not a fan of rumparoos, they did not fit my kiddo well at all. They're still in rotation (I have 2) but they're on their last size up where most of my diapers only have had one size up since she was born. If you like other ideas of cloth diapering I'd say try some other types they might work better.

@ErikandAfton I'm thinking about going cloth overnight now too I've got to look into some wool, I'm terrified of having to change bedding in the middle of the night seeing how she sleeps with us. 

We cloth diapered from the time we were out of the hospital (or should I say I cloth diapered, it took awhile to get MH on board). Tips in the spoiler because it got long and if you don't care about cloth diapering you'll just roll your eyes at me   

We use disposable over night because my daughter was a heavy wetter. Now that she's not nursing overnight I'm tempted to try cloth again the amount of stuffing we needed over night when she was tiny look so uncomfortable to sleep in I couldn't do it. We really like pampers for disposables as they're very soft, I hate huggies because I felt having 2 of those in the room stunk so bad of urine even with my cloth bin overflowing you couldn't smell the urine, no idea what huggies has in them that makes them smell so bad. We currently for the last 9 month have used BJs store brand diapers and they work really well and are super cheap compared to pampers. I think we paid $20 for a box of 156? 

• My biggest tip is to get a bunch of different type until you find one that you like, then buy more of those, but don't replace everything with that one type because what works really well for a small baby may not work as well for a crawling/walking/knows how to take a diaper off baby.

• Do follow cloth diapering forums/facebook groups for tips, tricks, and help but try not to fall down the rabbit hole of needing all the cute diapers and all the accessories or the cost savings will be moot. 

• You don't need a fancy sprayer if you're not afraid of poop, you can dunk and swish in the toilet to get the majority of poop off. 

• Newborn diapers will likely last you 1 or 2 months if you have an average sized baby, I personally like having them to get into the groove right off. I did find I liked covers and prefolds best at this size though as the newborn diapers she would out pee quickly. 

• Find out what your partner will be on board with, mine didn't like them and always put her in a disposable especially when we were traveling. I think it was the 3rd up to ear, all through the carseat, on to the actual seat blow out of breastfed newborn poop that finally convinced him I can use cloth in the car just fine. He still prefers velcro diapers over the snaps and often puts snap diapers on backwards. He cannot figure out how to work prefolds so all in 2s or all in ones are what he likes. His favorite are the Grovia ai2s as the velcro for that is the whole top band so you can really adjust the sizes, we just have to make sure DD has pants on when she wears them because she can undo velcro very easy now that she's a year and a half. 

• Use Tide Powder detergent from day one. Don't bother with the sensitive stuff you need your diapers clean and unless you have a super sensitive baby you should be all set as long as you rinse well. Find a good wash routine and stick to it if you need help with a wash routine check out a facebook group and they can help very much. The basics of a wash routine you want to do a short wash/rinse in cold water, then do your heavy duty cycle with hot water. I always add a second rinse to my cycle to make sure all the soap is out, but it's likely unnecessary. Wash every 2-3 days and you won't get stains, if you become lazy about it you likely will, but hang them in the sun a few times and they will magically go away. Now that my daughter is older we go through maybe 5 diapers a day so I only wash once a week and I have been getting a lot of stains. Breastmilk poop you don't have to rinse off before throwing in the wash so that really encouraged me to stick to breastfeeding and hold off on solids until the recommended 6 months.

• Size up onesies or don't use them as you'll likely get leaks around the leg holes from compression. 

• My favorite brands, best bottoms once she was about 6 months before that they didn't fit her right but they're awesome now and I still have two rows left to get bigger. smartbottoms they take some effort to get the fit just right, but they have amazing prints and they fit very trimly. Grovia velcro shells with the snap in inserts because they allow me to CD as these are MHs favorite, I like the snap shells because she won't pull those off, and I have the ones, but as @ErikandAfton said they elastics go quickly on these, I don't have a stink issue, but I don't use them over night or with both inserts either, they are super soft on the inside though. Bumgenius The freetime or elemental aios are awesome they make a big part of our stash because I sitter liked those so I bought enough to send her there 3 days a week without having to wash and our sitter only had to learn one style, she's a pro now and I can send any diaper. 

• Others I don't care for but still have Fuzzibunz they were cheap and worked well when she was little the way to size these (and Charlie Banana) are by elastics in the legs. You can get a really nice fit on skinny newborn legs this way, but I found the absobancy didn't hold up well enough as she got older, I also am not a fan of having to stuff diapers into pockets. Lalabye has an awkward fit for my daughter I really like the colored snaps to give directions on putting them on, but the whole fit is just off since she started moving. I do like that the pocket is open on both ends and you can unsnap the inserts and they will agitate out on their own though, we still use the 2 of these we own just they're not the first I grab. Thirsties I have one AIO which is all microfiber and just doesn't hold enough, and many covers. The covers I have are a size one so we haven't used them since about 6 months when she hit about 16lbs. I keep thinking about getting more but realize I currently have plenty of diapers. Rumparoos These fit well when she was little and we used the smaller insert, but as she's gotten bigger and we need the bigger insert I hate the fit. The rise is let out completely and none of my other diapers fit so small like these do. They often still hang down in the front which is very unattractive. 
• Finally if you don't think you can fully commit, part time diapering saves a little bit of money and the environment even if you only use one a day that's likely over  720 diapers out of the landfill. Don't be afraid of them either, there's so much you can learn and think that there's too much to learn about them, but really most of the advice you will receive is based on opinions. I convince my cousin to use them with her daughter by giving her our newborn stash and saying try it out if you don't like it you can go to the store and buy disposables what's it going to hurt to try. She loved it and stocked up on only ALVA diapers because they are cheap and they work well for her family. Don't buy into the hype that you have to have a certain type or style of diaper because someone else said they are the best. Try a bunch until you find what works for you. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions, I've done so much research (I love researching things it becomes obsessive to a point) and I feel I need to share my knowledge with anyone who has questions and love to see people make the switch. You can post a question in a thread and tag me or direct message me I'd love to help out. 

ReneeJ2011

We used target brand with DS when we realized he was allergic to Pampers. I love them and they are cheap!!  They also run deals  frequently where you buy so many and get a gift card.  
I like water wipes and will be using those again.  Huggies wipes were also good and I may use some of those again too.  
As far as diaper bags go I highly recommend a backpack style diaper bag.  I have as Jujube one and live it. It is so easy and you don't have to worry about it falling off your shoulder or being in the way when holding baby.  It was also a good counter weight when front carrying in my Ergo.  

FigTreeMama

We use Pampers because they work for us, are nice and soft, and don’t cause leaks, but I think this is another one of those things where YMMV per kid. I know some people also don’t like the scent, but I do. We did not know overnight diapers were a thing until we needed them, and have only used those at night since that point. (Pampers for that too and we didn’t bother to experiment with brands there.) At daycare they use Cuties which she has no trouble with either. 

For wipes we have switched from regular Pampers to Pampers Pure so that we can use them for cleaning up other messes esp. a crusty nose in the morning without worrying about what all is in the wipes. (We used Water Wipes for a while for the same reason.) With diaper creams, we tried all the usual suspects and they actually *gave* our daughter a rash. Yikes. She may have a lanolin allergy. So the only things that work for us are one hard-to-find variation of Balmex, or good old Vaseline. We passed our Boudreax’s, A&D, Aquaphor, etc. on to friends. 

I’m not a believer on stocking up on any of this stuff in advance because it takes some trial and error, plus diaper boxes are huge. But once you get into the swing of it, having at least a small box of the next size up is handy. 

Accessories: I am in favor of changing pads, diaper pails, wet bags, the little scented bags to throw out stinky diapers when away from home, and backpack style diaper bags. All great, very useful, and still being used two years later. Probably the only diaper accessory I have tried and thought was useless was a hard plastic wipes case that came with my diaper bag. Just take a whole pack of wipes with a pop top. 

I have never heard of a diaper cream applicator / wand / brush until this thread. We just use our fingers. Help me understand whether this has a benefit other than keeping your fingers a little cleaner? 

kjack86

@FigTreeMama that’s really the only benefit lol. It also gives more even coverage...like icing a cake with a spatula instead of your finger! It’s not exactly necessary but I am a fan because of the minimal cost, and the suction cup on the handle makes it easy to access while taking up very little space on the changing table.  

runwmusic

@ReneeJ2011 I wanted target diapers to work because they are so cheap but ds peed through them. I ended up not been using them at all and wasting money.