A Diaper Review
January 24, 2007
My friend Chloe recently asked me about my diaper review, and in my Diaper Bag Review, I promised to comment on diapers when I had finally decided on a brand. Xander has now grown from the newborn swaddler diapers in size 2 diapers! In poundage, this is almost double birth weight - from diapers that hold an 8 lb newborn to diapers that contain a 15 lb baby. Throughout the four months, Zach and I have sampled a number of diaper brands. We kept going back to the Huggies diapers.
There are a few features that Huggies has that the other brands don’t. My favorite feature is the elasticity of Huggies. The tabs that attach the back of the diaper to the front of the diaper are stretchy, so they fasten near the middle of the diaper, about at the belly button. It feels like there is a tighter, more secure closure this way, instead of the tabs on diapers such as Luvs or Pampers, which fasten closer to a baby’s hips.
Next is the “leak lock” feature that Huggies loves to advertise. Around the legs of the diaper, there are two layers, one inner blue layer (the “leak lock”) and an outer white layer, the actual outside of the diaper. When you put a diaper on, you just have to make sure that the legs of the diaper are pulled out, ensuring that the inner “leak lock” layer can hold everything inside.
The Luvs diaper has a blue leak lock strip on it, but you have to make sure that you’ve got the strip higher than the leaky baby parts, or else the baby will leak right out of the top of the diaper (I’m assuming this isn’t as much of an issue for little girls. Pampers doesn’t seem to have any blue leak stuff on the insides of their diapers…
Finally, the quality of the material used is generally nicer. The Huggies diapers are soft, and feel almost like cloth, where the other brands tend to be more stiff and plastic feeling. Huggies has been put to the test, and we have had far fewer leaks with Xander in Huggies diaper. This diaper has shown that it can handle 8+ hours worth of containment without leaks. The other diapers can sometimes meet that mark, but not as consistently. So, as Xander grows into bigger and bigger diapers, we will be buying Huggies, and not any other brand.
It should be noted that different diapers work better on some kids than on others. For example, we have a friend who has 2 children - with one baby they were able to use the generic WalMart brand diapers without any problems. The other baby needed name brand diapers to survive without leaks. So, I cannot say that Huggies would work great with any kid, but with our kid, it is definitely the diaper that won our contest.
On a side note, we have found that we start to experience more leakage as Xander starts to outgrow the diaper. It’s sort of a subtle change, and it’s not like you get a notice that it’s time to buy the next size diaper. It took us about a week of frustration and lots of leaks and outfit changes before we realized that we needed to upgrade from Newborn to size 1. We’ve recently started putting Xander in size 2’s, and that transition was much smoother, since we were aware of the signs. None of the other mothers I know (my mother, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law) and talk with frequently warned me about this, so I wanted to pass on this little tidbit of information. Since my mother and mother-in-law used cloth diapers, I’m guessing they didn’t have as much experience with the disposable kinds. Don’t expect a review on cloth diapers anytime soon - I definitely don’t have the energy or dedication to use cloth diapers!
Thanks for the review, Sara. I am not really sure where you live, but I haven’t heard of the Luvs diapers (I am from Toronto, Canada). We do have Huggies & Pampers and some store-brands, but those ones give Natasha rashes, so we’ve been using Pampers exclusively and Huggies only when received as a gift.
You’re right that different brands work for different babies; we didn’t experience “leaks” with Pampers, although that might vary girl/boy wise.
Hi J - I hadn’t really thought about different regions having or not having brands of diapers that I’m so accustomed to seeing around… I live in New England, and just assumed that Huggies, Pampers and Luvs were the three big brands that could be found almost everywhere. I do wonder if the difference between Huggies and Pampers is a boy/girl difference. If we have a girl next time, we’ll definitely have to experiment with that!
thanks for the review of diapers~ my little boy is due next month & all my friends with newborns swear by pampers swaddlers but they all have girls so I wanted to hear a mommy of a little boy’s point of view on diapers before I buy multiple packages of a particular brand.
~ alison
Hi Alison, congratulations on the upcoming baby! I’m glad the diaper review was helpful. We were equally happy with the pampers swaddlers and the huggies newborn diapers. As soon as Xander outgrew the swaddlers, we had lots of problems with the pampers. Good luck!
IMHO huggies are largely overrated. they did not work at all for us, in fact they were so bad we threw away a complete package after using only one. the main problem is the diaper do not absorb a lot, they are wet even with very small amounts of fluid: our son looked like he’d worn a plastic bag instead. In addition, the ‘unbeatable protection’ did not work either: it leaked in more than one place. switching back to another brand (pampers swaddlers in our case, others may work as well) did the trick.
Hi John - I’m very interested in your experience with Huggies - clearly not the diaper for your little guy! We used Pampers Swaddlers until Xander out grew them, but then we weren’t as satisfied with Pampers for the larger sizes. I will be interested to hear what your family settles on once your son grows out of the Newborn size. I hope that you’ll let us know!
Hi sara.I am 16 and I was looking for the best baby brand of diapers for my baby brother (age 12 i just call him baby) He was adoped and has a damaged bladder(He wets 24 7) which is HORRIBLE for his self esteem. We have tryed youth diapers and adult diapers but we saw that baby diapers aculy work the best. Anyways we tryed all of the brands and I have to say the huggies were horrible, but pampers took 1st. He curently just got home from the hospital and is now back in his normal diapers. Tip for parrents that if their kids go into the hospital with bladder or kidney problems. THE DIAPERS SUCK!!!!!!!. This reveiw helped us find the best brand, and we thank you
Hi Sarah - I’m glad to hear you were able to find something that works so well for your brother. It’s interesting how differently we are all shaped. Huggies worked great for us, but not so great for you. Pampers weren’t all that exciting for us, but worked wonders for you. I hope that your brother is doing ok now back from the hospital, and since it sounds like you’ll have much more experience with diapers than I will, if you ever come across anymore feedback, please let us know!
Hi again, yes hes doing a little better now being home from the hospital. He has TB (tuberculosis) and is on antobiotics. The poor guy has some really bad mental issues (bipolar and depression)I love the little guy to bits still. We will keep experimenting with other brands and would be happy to update you. If you have anyway of contacting you that is easier then posting (AIM, e-mail, ect)so we dont keep rambling on and on and taking up the posting space that would be great.
I totally agree with you girl! Baby boys do best in Huggies! I have the best luck with them and have tried everything under the sun! HUGGIES RULE!
i have a chubby little girl (35lbs at 15mo) and huggies are not at all good for her. my sister, however, swears by them. i should mention my daughter is squeezing out of size 6 (i really need to find size 7 diapers) and huggies always leaves her with “plumber butt” even when they did fit but my 3yo niece’s size 4s fit her snugly all around. for my little sumo-ette, pampers baby dry works the best. the cruisers are AWFUL - they have this stupid net affair that holds the poop snugly up against her girlie bit ensuring an even infection while there’s white fluff that sticks everywhere to make sure she’s itchy if the infection didn’t do it.
Hey threenorns you commented that u needed to find size 7 diapers well unfortunately the only size 7’s u will find that are made is pampers cruisers. I have a 5yr old and a 3 month old. Both of our kids are allergic to cotton so we have been told we need to find old plastic diapers? Do they even make them and what grocery store would have them?
Hi Threenorns - It’s interesting, I’ve talked to a lot of moms who have daughters, and it seems like Huggies don’t work as well for them. Have you done any research into bigger kid or adult size diapers? There are plenty of incontinent kids and adults out there, and they must use something, but I have no idea what that would be… If you find out, please let us know, I’m sure you aren’t the only one struggling with this issue. I know that I worry about what will happen when Xander outgrows the size 6’s he’s in now - he isn’t even 2 yet. He doesn’t seem ready for potty training, but I don’t know where we are going to find bigger diapers either…
Hi Anthony - I didn’t realize that disposable diapers had cotton in them? Or are you looking for reusable diapers? I don’t know where one would find plastic diapers - I’m sure you’ve tried things like google searches, or searching on the babycenter store… Good luck!