Product Spotlight: Diapering

Avrilmai

This week's spotlight is all about diapering. As always tell us what you like, don't like, worked/didn't, what do you recommend and what to avoid.

Diapers: Cloth? Disposable? That new hybrid style!?

Wipes: What works for you and your family?

Diaper Rash treatment

Changing pad (at home, we will have travel necessities/diaper bags in upcoming spotlights)

Feel free to resurrect this thread as needed.

Product Spotlight Spreadsheet with links to past topics and list of upcoming spotlights

monstera13

Team disposable diapers in my house! We found the Huggies brand worked best for DS3, both for diapers and wipes. 

We had a changing pad with a cute washable cover on the top of his dresser in his bedroom. The cover is essential for blow out situations! 

Also we used a diaper genie trashcan to hold the diapers until taking them to the outdoor garbage. Pre-baby I thought I didn’t need one, but I’m so glad we caved and got one. It was one of the ones where you can cut and tie the bag off at any size, so you can empty early for extra stinky diapers without wasting bags. 

Avrilmai

I think all of this is with the caveat that kids are different and may require different things. 

When you do a registry you often get "welcome gifts" this was a great way to sample diapers.(pampers reg & pure, huggies, up&up, honest co, seventh generation were all samples we received, and others I'm forgetting.) we were also gifted some open packs of newborn diapers from a friend that had a baby a few months before us (you do NOT need a lot of newborn diapers). In the end we stuck with pampers/pampers pure. they worked well for us and contain everything. we've had very few diaper rashes. The pure do seem a bit bigger and are almost an in between when moving up in diaper size. 

Wipes. Also got a bunch of samples of these. We use the pampers pure or water wipes. My kiddo has sensitive skin and we use water wipes to wipe up hands/face after dinner. 

I got a lot of opinions and feedback on this, more than i ever wanted or needed, and we were gifted so many different things. in the end Aquaphor works best for DS. His pediatrician also recommended it.

We have the skip hop wipe clean changing pad. no complaints and it is easy to clean. We didn't have a diaper pail initially, but ended up getting one about a year ago that randomly I won. It's an Ubbi. It doesn't require a proprietary bag, you can use a regular trash bag, and yes, it contains smells, when it's closed, but if you open it...I still don't think a diaper pail is a necessity, but I may be in the minority on that. 

we have the OXO wipes dispenser for his room. it is not a warmer, a wipe warmer just seems like a breeding ground for bacteria and also a possible fire hazard. 

bluecampanula

I *mostly* cloth diaper for the first year. I switch to disposables for nighttime once I’m trying to get them to STTN, and for long outings/vacations.

I use the Flip system and have found it to be really simple to use and economical. My mom gifted the cover parts and I bought the inserts, and at that time (8 years ago) I did the math and realized the inserts paid for themselves in a month of use. 

I had bought the microfiber inserts and they worked great for awhile (like 12-18 months). But I’ve since realized that natural fibers (cotton, hemp) get more absorbent with use and last longer, while synthetic fibers are the opposite. So now I use cotton prefolds wrapped around a thin hemp insert (not necessarily by the same brand). 

The flip diaper covers can be aired out and reused if the poop doesn’t get on them so I can typically switch between 2-3 covers for one day. So you don’t have to buy as many as with other styles of diaper covers.  And then I do diaper laundry about twice a week. 

My experience with BF babies is that they don’t have that stinky of diapers until they’re eating solid foods, especially meat. So combined with a BLW approach to introducing solid foods, stinky diapers isn’t really an issue for at least half that year. With DS4 I never even hooked up the diaper sprayer, most solids could be dumped into the toilet and flushed (so again, no stinky diapers sitting around). 

After the first year, there’s less diapers, and with DS6 and DS4 I managed to have major things happen (a car crash, and a concussion) that meant I had to rely on lots of outside help, so cloth diapering is the thing I cut out. My cloth diapers work for me, not the other way around

ETA and I have never soaked a diaper. I just give them an extra rinse cycle before washing. (I do that with my kids, and DH’s, muddy clothes now too)

minnie_yoga_mama

As a FTM, I have so many questions on this topic!

Diapers: Cloth? Disposable? That new hybrid style!? We considered both, but ultimately decided on disposable diapering for convenience and to avoid having the laundry room smell like poopy soaking diapers. However, we want to choose as “natural” of a diaper brand without all those funky chemicals. Right now the top runner is Andy Pandy. Has anyone tried these before? Any opinions welcome!

Wipes: What works for you and your family? Right now in our registry is Waterwipes. I imagine we wouldn’t need anything fancier than that?

Diaper Rash treatment: On our registry is some Earth Mama bum balm. Would that work, or would we need something different to help with diaper rash?

Changing pad (at home, we will have travel necessities/diaper bags in upcoming spotlights): We decided on the Keekaroo Peanut changer pad because it’s a waterproof wipeable surface. We figured we could save some money here by not having to buy a waterproof sheet and changing pad cover to go over it— we can just wipe or rinse it down when it gets poopy. Anyone have experience using this pad?

Also: We’ve been going back and forth between the traditional Diaper Genie brand or the Dekor hands free. Any input is greatly appreciated! 

We are also planning to use the elimination communication method for early potty training. Any mamas out there who have successfully tried this method? Thanks in advance for all your help, veteran Mamas!

kiwi2628

diapers: we just disposables. My kids work with any brands- pampers, huggies, up and up- I usually just get what’s on sale on Amazon prime

Wipes: Water wipes!

Diaper Rash treatment: aquaphor for preventing but desitin for treatment. The best prevention is just changing the poor diapers the moment they poop. Neither of my kids really get diaper rash much though so I don’t use much stuff

Changing pad (at home, we will have travel necessities/diaper bags in upcoming spotlights) the keekeeroo! It’s wipable which is fantastic, long so it fits my long ass babies all the way to potty training at 2 and comfy

oh and the dekor pail is awesome!

hoosiermamajayden

We used cloth for our youngest two (well, I switched back and forth a lot once we moved and started remodeling a house when DS4 was 2, but you know) and they worked really well. Super cute and definitely saved us money. Pockets are my favorite but profiles and covers work really well, too. Pockets are more prep time when you do laundry but with covers sometimes it’s harder to arrange everything while a toddler tries to squirm away.

I plan on using cloth again with the twins but having some disposables for longer outings because carrying around enough cloth diapers for two babies for a day sounds like a huge chore. 

We use a stainless steel trash can with washable liner for a diaper pail. 

For wipes we go back and forth between buying the more natural option in bulk at Costco and using thin/cheapie baby wash cloths with water. I’d use a peri bottle filled with water, squirt a cloth or two, and take care of business.

Blondesweety444

We used disposable diapers. We started with pampers but found he was having a lot of blowouts out the back. When we switched to Huggies that got better because they have more of an elastic ruffle in the back. I have heard that pampers tend to work best for girls and Huggies for boys. I can’t confirm because I’ve only had a boy 🤣. His daycare used honest diapers and he started developing a huge rash from them. No clue why he couldn’t handle those. 🤷🏼‍♀️ (Important note here is to not go crazy investing in a bunch of something that may not even work for LO)

Nothing special for wipes. We did have a wipe warmer for when he was a baby. It was nice, but as he got older and we weren’t using as many it just dried out the wipes. I did like getting the giant refillable wipe packs from Costco and refilling my own containers. You will have 1.2 million half open packages of wipes in every nook and cranny of your house and cars 😂. 

Water wipes were nice, but expensive so we didn’t use them as sanitary wipes. So we used those for hands and face only. I liked them because they were wetter than regular wipes so they did a better job getting crusted milk and food off the face. Plus were a bit more gentle. 

We had the diaper genie. I would highly recommend something in the nursery, because you go through so many diapers all the time. But we found once he started eating solids the diaper genie couldn’t contain the smell. We switched over to the munchkin brand and it did a much better job! I would recommend the munchkin one over the diaper genie!

Our last house was single story and easy to take him to his room for changing. So we didn’t use any sort of portable changing station. But our new house the nursery is upstairs. So we are going to make a little changing corner downstairs as well as in the nursery for convenience. 

Throwing in doggie poop bags into your diaper bag was the best way to contain wet clothes and gross diapers while you are out and about. Don’t waste money on those waterproof bags. 

aloha_mama

We are a cloth diaper family. DH was a little hesitant at first but he was totally on board once we looked at finances and ease of use. All together, we paid maybe $1000, and every once in a while I bought a new cover if I saw a cute one, but they held up really well and we saved them to use again so overall it was a great investment for us.

Cloth Diaper Soapbox if you’re interested:

We use the Flip diaper system. I did a ton of research on Baby Gear Lab (highly recommend this website for anyone on the fence about baby products) and it looked the best fit for us. I needed something that fit into a small space, economical, easy to put together, and durable. The inserts can be stacked according to your needs, so just one insert worked well for a while but as DD got older we would stack two nighttime inserts and one moisture-wicking daytime insert on top for her. It made her fluffbutt HUGE but it worked really well and we got a lot of cute pictures out of it! We used them until she potty-trained at three. 

We decided not to buy newborn diapers and rented from a local shop. We also have a few all-in-one Rumparooz that we used for babysitters and her daycare, so they wouldn’t have to worry about putting pieces together.

For wipes, I use cloth wipes that I bought from Flip as well as cut-up pieces of a cheap flannel blanket I bought from Walmart. I fold them in accordion-style and store them in a wipes warmer, and soak them in water. That way they’re right there ready to go and can be pulled continuously through the warmer. I also used an organic baby wash spray for those tough cleans.

The stink was a non-issue for us. We never soaked diapers (you’re not really supposed to because it’s a safety hazard and breaks down the cloth diaper’s effectiveness over time, and if you’re washing them correctly you won’t need any soaking). I got a great wash routine down from Fluff University, where they tailor your wash and dry routine according to make and model of washing machine and recommend what kind of detergents are best to use. I never had to strip or throw away ruined diapers. With the amount that we bought, we would run through them in about three days, which is the longest a cloth diaper should be sitting in a bag anyways. I washed them with our regular clothes and pillowcases so the amount of energy and water used was negligible. And I line-dried when I was able to so we could save on energy from the dryer. 

I have a diaper sprayer that we used once she began eating solids. Breastfed baby poop dissolves in the washing machine so there wasn’t any need to rinse anything until she was 6 months old. Most of the time it just plopped right off into the toilet but the sprayer came in pretty handy— I still use it to clean the bathtub. 

I expected cloth to be a bit of a hassle but I was prepared for it since, to me, helping the environment and saving money were our main concerns. It turned out for the best, too, because DD ended up having super sensitive skin and would get a nasty rash the few times we used disposables (like while traveling). But it actually turned out to be really great and not that hard, once I had a routine down. 

doxiemoxie212

We used pampers pure. I used to do scientific communications for them, I'm confident in their skin health features, they're super absorbent (and quickly), and they don't have a weird baby powder smell. 

But different diaper brands will have different leg hole sizes, etc, so some of it is going to be dependent on your specific baby. 

We used the bumbo changing pad, mostly because we had her in NYC and had really limited real estate on our dresser. I like it, it's really easy to clean.

Bloom wipes were my favorite, but they're hard to find now. I think water wipes are kind of annoying - they don't have enough grip, and you pull like 5 out when you just want one. I think amazon brand wipes are too thin, but they're great for travel/the car. I don't like huggies or pampers wipes very much. So I don't know, we were able to use Bloom all through DD3's diapering days, and now she just uses amazon brand for herself by her potties, but I'm going to be annoyed if I have to use those with new baby. 

shlecks

We were a Pampers Swaddlers family and went to Luvs for overnight a few months in.  The Pampers worked during the day.  Diaper subscription on Amazon is where it's at! We use wipes from Costco.  

Ivorytower2

Same as some of the fellow vet Moms above. Pampers Swaddlers have always been our go to- best for preventing blow outs and preventing irritation. We use Pampers Sensitive wipes. I came here specifically to rave about the diaper cream we use. I am linking below because this stuff is amazing and the only you will ever need:

Triple Paste Medicated Ointment, 2 Ounce (Pack of 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004AI7LUU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BWM3YMV5XRND5VKKVEJ6

SmashJam

We did Honest diapers with DS6 at first-it was the only diapers that didn't give him a rash, including seventh generation. DS3 could wear literally anything but we stuck with Honest for the cute prints-until they changed them at some point and the absorbency totally changed, as well as the fit, and we had constant blowouts and wet throughs.  Also the wipes all come out at once now and its so damn annoying. We did Seventh Generation for the remainder of his time in diapers. ETA: I think its interesting that no one here has a rec for Honest diapers. It was very different on my first two boards, I think.

This time, I'm considering Dyper because they pick up and compost-it sounds cool! But I dunno if that's something I can do here in VT. Also with DS6 we had a semi anti-cloth daycare and with DS3 we discovered we had no hot water coming to our washing machine-something we couldn't fix immediately because it involved running new pipes and that was pricey-so we couldn't do cloth successfully. All this to say, I'm always considering cloth. We'd have to do All in ones or H would be out, and that's expensive to start a stash. It's also our last kid, so we'd never use them again. But our daycare is supportive now, we have hot water. Maybe we could make it work. 

queenklau

@SmashJam, 

I used Honest with both my girls. I noticed the change recently but never had rash or blow-out issues. I use the overnights at night and they work very well. I also love the prints, they make changing diapers a little better. I still like them and plan to use them for this LO. I am a sucker for the Halloween prints!

 I don’t know if would recommend them because they are a bit pricier and not everyone cares for the print stuff…haha

Blondesweety444

Here's a link to our favorite barrier cream. The NICU used this a ton when DS5 to prevent diaper rashes. She would tell us to frost his bum like a donut whenever we did the diaper change We continued to use it at home and had very few rashes. Its a preventative cream, so it won't treat an existing rash. But it was really nice once he started sleeping through the night. He would almost always poop at some point in the night but we wouldn't know until morning. But we put this on before bed every night and never had any rash issues! It wipes off super easy and doesn't leave any sticky residue. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NS4MMY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

boymom312

We’re team Pampers over here. Swaddlers for NB, then switch to baby dry at size 1. I swear this is why all my kids STTN between 8-9 wks. 

For wipes, it’s pampers sensitive. We’ve tried huggies, but they seemed too dry. Water wipes irritated their skin surprisingly. They all have sensitive skin though. We’ve used a munchkin wipe warmer for a minute, but it was more hassle than it was worth. Dried out wipes are annoying when you have a poopsplosion. 

We’ve always used a changing pad cover. We add a changing pad liner until they are in solids though. They are much easier to get poop stains out of than the actual covers. Plus, the liners are less expensive so less covers are needed. 

We do have a changing station in the playroom on the first floor. We used an old IKEA cube shelf, turned it on its side, and added a changing pad and caddie. Works perfectly. Until about 4-5 months we also keep a changing pad on our master bathroom on the 2nd floor. It sits on the vanity between the sinks. A caddy is on the floor. It’s so much easier for MOTN changes then going into their room. Too many doors opening and a crying baby in the hall wakes the other kids. I’m lazy and tired and need my other kids to SLEEP. It works for us. We do have the typical changing table in baby’s room, but it’s not used often until they start sleeping in there. When that happens, our master bath setup goes away. 

Diaper rash cream has been the extra strength buttpaste in the red bottle. We use it profilactivly with every change and that’s kept their bums healthy. In the rare event they get a rash, I slather that stuff on. If it’s a yeast rash, it’s wiping with a warm wet washcloth, then adding athletes foot cream to the rash with a buttpaste top layer. Clears it up super quickly. 

Diaper pails… we had an arm & hammer one for our first 2, but got rid of it for our third. We have a diaper trash can in the garage that works well. It’s much easier and less expensive than buying separate bags and deodorizers for the diaper pail. Those bags really don’t hold much anyway. I much prefer the garage garbage route. 

basil6

Has anyone used Hello Bello Diapers? I’ve been hearing about them a lot recently as a Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard insta follower but am interested in them because they are 100% made in the US.

jessabelle05

Ok - I’m bringing back this thread because I have questions. For those of you who went/are going the cloth diaper route, what brand/type do you use? A couple of you mentioned flip, but when I last looked they didn’t seem to have much of a selection for covers, which was disappointing. I’ve tried researching different options, but I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Tips/tricks/suggestions?

emky0704

FTM and I'm going to try cloth diapers. So I can't promise this is the best route, but after a LOT of self-debate, I selected a variety for my starter set:
12 pack of Green Mountain Cloth-Eez Prefolds for newborn (can later be used as burp cloths)
2 Grovia All-in-ones
2 Grovia Hybrid + 4 cotton insert packs
5-pack of Bungies Pocket Cloth Diapers, comes with inserts and a wet bag 

Check out the blog Cloth Diapers for Beginners - she has the most comprehensive and logical washing guide I've found. And I'm going with Seventh Gen detergent, one of her 4 recommended brands.

aloha_mama

@jessabelle05 I have Flips and Rumparooz. We used them until DD potty trained at 2 and we’re going to reuse them again this time. Baby Gear Lab was really helpful when I was deciding what CD system to go with. I actually got maybe half my cover stash through Facebook marketplace— I bought all the inserts new. We have maybe 20 covers that are all different colors and patterns, so they’re out there! Not sure why so few are listed on their website right now, that’s weird, they usually have a lot more choices. Jillian’s Drawers has a lot of options on colors. 

When it comes to washing routines I highly recommend Fluff University, they have washing guides for just about every washing machine model out there and have extensively tested a ton of different detergents since a lot of them build up residue inside the CD inserts and decrease their absorbency over time. 

aloha_mama

@jessabelle05 @emky0704 Just a warning— most CDs don’t fit newborns until they hit a certain weight, so you would have to either buy newborn-sized CDs or use disposables. Obviously if you’re trying to save money this isn’t the best route because they only fit for maybe a few weeks. With DD I rented newborn diapers from a local CD store and they gave me a set of 20 with 5 different types, so I was able to test run which I liked the best. I had already bought some Flips and Rumparooz so this just solidified my decision. It was nice to be able to try out different types without committing and see which ones I liked and which weren’t so great. DD didn’t fit in the regular-size CDs until she was about 8 weeks old.

hoosiermamajayden

@jessabelle05 @emky0704

We used cloth with my younger two. I’m a big fan of the pocket style but also used covers and prefolds sometimes. My favorite brands were Rumparooz, Bumgenius (same brand as Flips), and Thirsties. When I started out I bought a big used cloth diaper lot from a mom on Craigslist that had a lot of different brands. That was great because I could try out a lot of different brands and a couple styles for much less than I would have if I’d ordered them new individually. 

On newborn cloth: honestly the smaller they are, the easier it is— especially if they’re breastfed because their bowel movements are water soluble. But as @al@aloha_mama  said, the smaller size fits for a very short time. So if you have small babies or have more kids later on (difficult to know ahead of time), the cost makes more sense. Or if you can borrow/rent a few that would be good. I have a single baby’s worth of newborn cloth and I’ve decided that instead of buying more I’ll make do with what I have and make up the difference with disposables. 

I also second Fluff Love for troubleshooting and wash routines. A lot of it is trial and error but it’s super doable and it can be a lot of fun!