Diaper Discussion

ShallowSeas · April 2016

H had a mini freak-out when he read about how many diapers we can expect to go through in the first year, so he has decided that we need to stock up on some diapers ahead of time. We bought a couple packs of Huggies in different sizes because they were on sale. We are first time parents and don't know much about diapers. My question for the ladies who have already had a child and use disposable diapers, what brands did you like the most? What brands would advise against, and why? Also, what size(s) did you use the most? I know every child is different and diapers will fit different ways, but I'd like some sort of idea so I don't feel so clueless about diapers.

hellopartyof5 · April 2016

So the thing about diapers are different brands work best for different babies. We love kirkland brand (Costcos brand) in this house. Pampers is ok, Huggies is ok. Honest didn't hold enough pee in my opinion (and they run small) Seventh Generation are ok, but they also don't hold much pee and smell kind of strange when they're wet. Once the babies get to a certain age and start eating solids the daytime diapers don't matter as much. We used 1s for awhile and breezed through 2s quickly. 3s we were in for awhile and now we've been in 4s for a long time as well.

Amyboxer · April 2016

We started off with Pampers swaddlers and loved them! But they're pricey. We also tried Earths best organic and the honest Co diapers and they both leaked and we're just terrible. Now we used Target brand diapers and they're great! They have them on sale a lot as well where you get target gift cards. DS was a small baby so he had NB size for two months. Size 1 for about 4 months. Size 2 for about 6 months or so. So I guess he used size 2 the longest the first year. If you keep your receipts and the boxes unopened you can usually exchange for a bigger size if you don't end up using them all. When he wore size 2, around 5 months and slept all night we went with Pampers baby dry Extra Protection. They're amazing and I swear they hold like a gallon of pee and never leak. Worth the splurge for overnight. But Target brand all day. Hope that helps!

hellopartyof5 · April 2016

Now that I'm remembering, it's not that we used 1s for that long, its that we just used SO MANY of them. They're really pooping and peeing machines at that point.

TrulyBlessed22 · April 2016

I think this is a tough one to answer because as PP said it will vary by baby. I loved Pampers Swaddlers and wasn't really a fan of any of the other brands. The blue dye they put in many of the brands to make them "hold more pee" gave DD a rash so I had to stay away from those. DD was in 1's FOREVER but she was a little peanut....in fact even though she's potty trained now we still diaper her overnight just in case and she still fits in a 3 lol. Yet my cousin's son and my neighbors son skipped size 1 and flew through the other sizes and ended up in a 6 before they became potty trained (they're only 7 months older than DD).

My point is how long your baby will be in any given size will really depend on their birth weight and weight gain. As for brands it will be trial and error as your child may pee more, have chunky legs, certain product sensitivities or have several other factors that will determine which brand is best for him or her.

One thing I think we'll all agree on is you will go through A LOT of diapers...I think it's something like 10-12 a day in the beginning. That's about 300 diapers a month. and then 8-10 for the remaining months.

I think that while it's a good idea to stock up on some diapers now, you're probably better off just putting some $ aside strictly for diapers and that will give you brand/size flexibility. There is always some type of sale/coupons on diapers as it's a constant need.

ETA: Found this and in my experience it was pretty accurate.

https://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=431

Oh final tip - stock up at the hospital! Most nurses are more than happy to hook you up before you are discharged and prior to that just say "excuse me I need more diapers" and stash them I think the preferred hospital brand is Pampers.

CCrane22 · April 2016

We swore by Pampers Swaddlers in the beginning, and then continued papers the whole time, minus using Target brand here and there. She only had a small handful of blowouts/leakages so I didn't want to temp fate and use anything else

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

I agree strongly with @nauticallife that different diapers are best for different babies. I think its a good idea to have a few brands in nbs and 1s. We had seventh gen, bambo, and pampers at home. Ultimately I didn't like any of them and went with honest which we still use. We also use huggies overnights for the extra protection for that 11/12 hr stretch. My son is very tall but narrow and has a mini waist so I wanted diapers that were long and fit snuggly. Pampers are shorter and squatter as are huggies. Seventh gen and bambo fit well but didn't have enough absorbency. Earths best were too small.

ShallowSeas · April 2016

I know it's a hard question to answer because all babies are different, but if 20 people say, "Oh don't use 'so-so' brand, they're awful" then that gives me a pretty good idea of what not to waste my money on

mrs_hoyahoo · April 2016

We started in Pampers Swaddlers as a newborn, and pretty much stuck with them through the whole first year. They held plenty and he never got a diaper rash, so I was hesitant to change things up. We went through a spell of using Target brand and those worked great. Now we're in Huggies because they have Mickey on them. When he started fighting diaper changes, having Mickey on our side really helped.

The only thing I would caution against is buying too many in Newborn size - they can grow out of those quickly.

Have you looked into Amazon Mom? It has some good deals on diapers and wipes, especially if you can buy in bulk.

Roxell · April 2016

Be careful buying too many of 1 kind, you never know if your child will have a bad reaction to a certain brand. I loved the target brand diapers but my DD would get a terrible rash!

I would suggest instead of stocking up on diapers you invest in gift cards. Then you can use them to buy whatever brand works best for your baby.

BmcD2016 · April 2016

My review is dated as my children are much older, things may have changed a lot in the diaper wotld in the last 9 years. ***

My oldest was born too big for newborn diapers at 8 lbs 11 oz. Pampers Swaddlers were our diaper of choice because they're so darn soft. I once tried Huggies, the newborn ones were fine, but after the newborn ones the diapers were very stiff like cardboard. So, we're a pampers family, although we will try Costco brand this time around.

sugar9277 · April 2016

Pampers have worked really well for us - swaddlers through size 2 and cruisers now in size 3. I get mine from amazon subscribe and save for less than I would pay at target.

LikeICantEven · April 2016

It's definitely overwhelming. Newborns tend to have more blowouts than older infants just because their poo is runnier. If you join some couponing groups, they have awesome day-to-day tips on when/where to score. A girl in my last group hooked everyone up with Well Beginning diapers from Walgreens for a couple bucks, it was awesome.

For baby boys, I have heard and learned myself that Pampers Swaddlers work well, then we switched to Huggies Lil' Movers when he started crawling around 6 months. They'll be in 3s the longest most likely, it really depends if you have a peanut or not. My son was over 9 lbs so he wasn't in Newborns long at all. The put the weight requirements right under the numbering on the packaging.

Also, Pampers Sensitive wipes are the best. Can't say enough good things about them, I live by them. I hated Huggies wipes because they shredded into bits every time I pulled one out. Ridiculous.

hellopartyof5 · April 2016

OH! And everyone join the FB group "Kidz deals and steals" they let you know when there are diaper deals! Last month I got 144 (i think) pampers size 4 diapers for $22, I also got 135 Seventh Generation size 4 diapers for $19. Those will last us at least 3 months at my sons age. Then I get Costco brand for bedtime. I've been on the lookout on that FB site for awhile and the last time I bought diapers was in December! They also let you know about other deals as well (I got venus razor refills for free).

sugar9277 · April 2016

FYI - If you do pampers swaddlers, there is a yellow line down the front of the diaper that turns blue when the diaper is wet. We didn't figure that out for at least 2 weeks!

mrs_hoyahoo · April 2016

Roxell said:

Be careful buying too many of 1 kind, you never know if your child will have a bad reaction to a certain brand. I loved the target brand diapers but my DD would get a terrible rash!

I would suggest instead of stocking up on diapers you invest in gift cards. Then you can use them to buy whatever brand works best for your baby.

I think this is a great idea! Easier to store too

LikeICantEven · April 2016

sugar9277 said:

FYI - If you do pampers swaddlers, there is a yellow line down the front of the diaper that turns blue when the diaper is wet. We didn't figure that out for at least 2 weeks!

I LOVED this feature with my son. But as time went by, I realized I was being a psycho with how often I changed him. I couldn't stand the thought of him sitting in pee, even if it was soaked into the diaper and off his skin. I feel like Pampers knows about OCD Mamas like me and that's why they made them! I finally weaned myself off of them when he hit 3s.

It was the hardest thing I've ever done in life.

Af2013nl · April 2016

We liked Pampers Swaddlers for Newborn and size 1, used one large box of each. Tried a bag of Pampers baby dry and hated them--they smelled really bad when wet. Went to Huggies at size 2, and they were ok, but switched to BJs brand and liked them better--plus they were way cheaper. We were in size 2 for a good few months (longer than most friends because DS is a stringbean). I stock up when they have their coupons for $3-$4 off per box. I know the size 3 ended up being 12 cents a diaper that way.

Knottie1458416769 · April 2016

No diaper experience but just want to say that I've tried a lot of Honest beauty products (like lotions) and they are AWFUL! I would never, ever buy anything from the Honest co again, ever. The fact that an actress started this brand should have given me a clue to stay far, far away, but I was swayed by the pretty marketing.

Sheybre · April 2016

I definitely prefer pampers. We kept having blowouts in huggies. But I do prefer huggies One and done wipes over pamper wipes!

mrsjlang · April 2016

We're first timers for this one, but we're heavily considering cloth diapers. Part of it is the obvious cost savings over years (especially when looking at having multiple kids), keeping a ton of waste out of the landfills, and they're just so freaking cute.

We haven't decided for sure yet. And I'm fully prepared to eat my words later on this. But they just seem practical.

atcwag · April 2016

I coupon quite a bit and stocked up on diapers with DS. I refuse to ever pay more than $.14/diaper, and stock up when I find them for $.12 or under. Thankfully, we didn't have any issues with DS and any kind of diaper. I tend to find the best deals on Huggies. DS is 2.5 and we've yet to pay full price for diapers or run out. I've already begun stock up for #2.
If you look online, you can find some typical use for each size.
This photo is taken 2 months before DS was born. I probably added some more after that. Count here is:
Wipes: 4835
NB: 72 (2 packs)
1: 882
2: 780
3: 867
4: 169 - this isn't a final, I started stocking up on 4/5 when I hit my smaller size goals

TrulyBlessed22 · April 2016

@atcwag that's funny, I started couponing last year and my max budget for diapers was .12 a diaper and only for Pampers. Love couponing!

shevaCC · April 2016

@mrsjlang, we've used cloth diapers with both kids and will for #3 as well. They work well and are much cheaper, especially by now. I've spent $80 on diapers for DS in 1.5 years and most of that is because he now wears a paper diaper overnight since I couldn't contain the overnight pee in one cloth diaper and got tired of changing sheets.

mom2fallbabies · April 2016

I love swaddlers. My first DD got horrible rash with anything else so even if we tried to switch it up sometimes, we always came back. We also found that other brands/styles tended more towards leaks/blow-outs with her. When we had our second DD we decided to stick with the swaddlers. She's less sensitive but I just love the fit, materials, and the blue line. DD 1 is a tall kid, too, so she's been in every size.

I'd also like to second the comment on the pampers sensitive wipes. I feel like they're thick enough without being too thick, hold up really well, and are pretty gentle on sensitive skin.

TwandaFTG · April 2016

My son is 18 months old and still wears size three. We used the Sam's brand and get over 200 diapers for $39. We probably buy diapers every month or so. We also use their wipes.

We started out in swaddlers. We liked them but so expensive. The leg openings on the Huggies where too big for my boy so we didn't use those until he was towards the end of the weight limit for that size and never bought them again.

We had really good experiences with the Target brand , Up & Up, but we moved so we are not as close to them as we were before.

atcwag · April 2016

About wipes, everyone is definitely different. I HATE Pampers wipes. They feel greasy and overly lotiony to me. I highly prefer Huggies wipes, even the Simply Clean which are the cheapest. I haven't had any issues. I certainly will use Pampers if I get them on sale, but don't prefer them.

hollowway · April 2016

I use Honest Co diapers with DD and will with this LO as well. Every time we buy diapers for DD, I buy a pack for LO. Right now, newborn sizes (probably like 6 packs)... then I'll buy a couple size 1 boxes and size 2 boxes. See where that gets us.

muybueno · April 2016

shevaCC said:

@mrsjlang, we've used cloth diapers with both kids and will for #3 as well. They work well and are much cheaper, especially by now. I've spent $80 on diapers for DS in 1.5 years and most of that is because he now wears a paper diaper overnight since I couldn't contain the overnight pee in one cloth diaper and got tired of changing sheets.

Why do you always take the words out of my mouth?

I'm not fiercely in love with cloth diapers like some people are (it's much more convenient to toss a poop in the garbage than it is to rinse it off in the toilet, for example) but damn if we don't save some serious dough using cloth. And if you research disposable diapers and their effect on the environment, it's INSANELY depressing.

TinyAlligator · April 2016

CLOTH DIAPERS FTW!!
But seriously. We use disposable overnight and for the longest time just used the walmart brand. I hear good things about target brand too (we didn't have a target near us when I first had my daughter) I know there are some good times to stock up on diapers at Target with the red card and coupons. Also Ibotta (a coupon rebate app) often puts diaper rebates on there too. You're probably not going to know what diapers work best for your kiddo until he/she gets here but if you see huggies swaddlers on sale, it doesn't hurt to buy those. Oh and we were in preemie diapers for ages... those are hard to find sometimes. So if you end up having a preemie and someone asks what you need, ask for those tiny diapers.

m6agua · April 2016

I don't have any experience but most of the moms I know use Luvs.

Also with cloth diapering how much more are you paying on your utilities a month?

TinyAlligator · April 2016

muybueno said:

shevaCC said:

@mrsjlang, we've used cloth diapers with both kids and will for #3 as well. They work well and are much cheaper, especially by now. I've spent $80 on diapers for DS in 1.5 years and most of that is because he now wears a paper diaper overnight since I couldn't contain the overnight pee in one cloth diaper and got tired of changing sheets.

Why do you always take the words out of my mouth?

I'm not fiercely in love with cloth diapers like some people are (it's much more convenient to toss a poop in the garbage than it is to rinse it off in the toilet, for example) but damn if we don't save some serious dough using cloth. And if you research disposable diapers and their effect on the environment, it's INSANELY depressing.

All of this. NO blowouts but then you have to deal with cleaning the poop diapers, which kind of suck during the mushy toddler poop stage. EBF poop is the best and I miss it. I don't love having to do diaper laundry or cleaning the disgusting toddler poos but the money we save is so worth it. Plus she's more leg than chunk and the bulk helps hold her pants up

comealongponds · April 2016

I highly recommend checking out places like VarageSale too...I signed up for lots of companies mailing lists (Enfamil, Nestle GoodStart...) and I use the samples they send me to trade for diapers and stuff on there! I've got about 200 diapers (newborn and size 1) in varying brands and I've only spent $10. I know I like Pampers Swaddlers as that's what we use at my hospital so I'm used to them, but I'm also willing to branch out and try a few other brands, especially at such a low price!

DunkinDecaf · April 2016

Pampers swaddlers all the way. I LOVED the little yellow line. We switched to cruisers when she started walking though. By that time we didn't need the little stripe to tell if her diaper was wet, because it hangs heavy now with all the running around. As far as which size you need the most, I found that generally each size lasted longer than the previous one. She's been in size 4's for a few months and I bet they'll be fine at least through the end of this year.

I tried so hard to do cloth diapers last time but ultimately failed. They were way better for poop blowouts but when she peed they always leaked a little at the top so that I always had to change her onesie. Also my husband was kinda a brat about it and mostly refused to use them. The waste still makes me sad.

beachylex · April 2016

This is my first baby but I work in the infant room at a daycare so I see many kinds of diapers on different kids. I like the pampers and target brand. Huggies are alright. Not a fan of the honest brand.

muybueno · April 2016

m6agua said:

I don't have any experience but most of the moms I know use Luvs.

Also with cloth diapering how much more are you paying on your utilities a month?

Others might have a different experience, but for us, it's been a negligible amount compared to the cost of diapers. Babies go through ten diapers a day. It's like watching pooped-on money being dumped into the garbage can.

I have to put my kids in disposable overnight diapers because cloth doesn't cut it for them overnight. It's freaking 50 cents a diaper. Times two kids. $7/week just to diaper them at night. If I also had to buy disposables for daytime use? Nuh-uh.

shevaCC · April 2016

@m6agua, at this point I do 1 extra load of laundry a week, except I also throw in my daughter's clothes if she has any accidents. I used to do 2 diapers loads a week. I can't tell you exactly how much the utilities come to but I do more non-diaper extra kid laundry than diaper extra kid laundry.

TinyAlligator · April 2016

muybueno said:

m6agua said:

I don't have any experience but most of the moms I know use Luvs.

Also with cloth diapering how much more are you paying on your utilities a month?

Others might have a different experience, but for us, it's been a negligible amount compared to the cost of diapers. Babies go through ten diapers a day. It's like watching pooped-on money being dumped into the garbage can.

I have to put my kids in disposable overnight diapers because cloth doesn't cut it for them overnight. It's freaking 50 cents a diaper. Times two kids. $7/week just to diaper them at night. If I also had to buy disposables for daytime use? Nuh-uh.

we don't pay much for water, and tbh I don't even remember seeing it go up. I do one load every other or every third day. I use my regular tide detergent. I buy one box of diapers for overnights and it lasts FOREVER

Knottie1458416769 · April 2016

While I applaud the concept of cloth diapers - who has time to do all the extra laundry? Holy moly, laundry every other day? I'd need a nanny just for cleaning and laundry.

TinyAlligator · April 2016

Knottie1458416769 said:

While I applaud the concept of cloth diapers - who has time to do all the extra laundry? Holy moly, laundry every other day? I'd need a nanny just for cleaning and laundry.

takes 2 sec to toss in the wash. then swap and another 2 sec taking out. I am too lazy to "fold" so I stuff whatever needs to be stuffed on the go. I'm lazy to the bone and even I don't think it's much work at all.

PurpleBrunette · April 2016

I read somewhere years ago, and I do apologize that I am unable to cite my source, that cloth diapers while more beneficial to the immediate home economy, have an equally negative impact on the environment as disposable diapers. Basically, the environmental toll comes from the fact that getting the water to the house and all the steps that entails then to cost of sewage once the dirty water leaves the house. Basically, all that soap residue as well as the biological waste has to be treated one way or another before the water can either be recycled to use again or released back into nature. Plus there is the environmental cost of the energy to run the washer, making the detergent.

I personally will be using disposable diapers because my DH and I are terrible about keeping up on laundry as it is. My father suggested using a laundry service for the diapers, but as I told him, if I'm going to have a laundry service, I'm getting my clothes cleaned first!

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