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Disposable diapers: Does higher price mean higher quality?

Results so far:

Yes
33% 75 votes Total: 227 votes
No
67% 152 votes

Yes

by Samantha Elliott

Created on: March 23, 2010   Last Updated: March 24, 2010

Everyone is familiar with the extreme conditions that automobiles go through for testing prior to marketing. Well, my son was the equivalent to the diaper companies of what the test cars are to the automotive industry. No, he was not involved in the product development labs, but he sure could have been.


When one says the word “explosion”, a strong visual comes to mind for most that usually involves a towering plume of smoke, a thunderous boom, and maybe some building fragment projectiles. When I hear the word, I relate it to messy diaper flashbacks. As a new Mom five years ago, I learned that leakage wasn’t just about a little pee around the leg bands. For my sweet and adorable son, it meant ‘number two’ all the way up the back. None of my baby books covered this department in enough detail I guess, and I just assumed that going potty equaled some sort of solidness to it. Oh, how wrong I was.


During this learning curve, my husband and I had greatly reduced income since I didn’t return to work. One way we decided to cut corners was by trying the less expensive, less frills diaper brands. The number of diapers that new babies go through in a week’s time was mind-blowing we discovered, and regardless of the quality it was still quite an expense. Unfortunately, the cheaper brands definitely did come with cheaper designs as well. The elastic banding around the legs was powerless against my son’s ‘quirky’ digestive system, and the material at the waist lost many a battle with the force at hand.


Now I am not a wasteful person, but I do not have a strong stomach for germy, bathroom-related disasters. Many an outfit was simply thrown away during these early years, and a lot of time was put into cleaning and sanitation efforts. This got tiring enough to where we decided to splurge a little more and we switched to Pampers and Huggies-not the basic lines, but the premium diaper offerings. Not only did they feel much more luxurious and comfortable than all the rest, but they worked like magic against the aforementioned fiascoes. The engineers behind these marvels sure had babies like my son in mind when they made the double rows of banding on the bottom and the superior stretchy tabs up top. The upgraded design did exactly as promised and held the ‘you-know-what’ down where it was supposed to be found.   


Therefore, I side with a resounding “YES”. With my few years in the diaper trenches, the highest priced diapers absolutely provided the highest quality, the strongest barrier, and probably saved quite a few darling little pants and pajamas from an early demise.

Learn more about this author, Samantha Elliott.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

No

by Danelle Karth

Created on: April 09, 2008

Often in this life we find ourselves feeling like "you get what you pay for". This inspires many of us to spend more on items we feel need to be better. Often diapers fall into that category, after all, who wants leaking diapers. However, when it comes to diapers a higher price doesn't mean a higher quality.

Disposable Diapering Options.
There are many well known brands for diapers in a wide range of prices. You can buy store varieties for very little and then usually get what you pay for. These diapers often leak and can cause horrible messes. For just a little more you can buy Luvs. More then that and you find yourself with Pampers and finally Huggies. Most of these companies offer a few different kinds of diapers for your child and his or her needs. However, just because one costs more then another doesn't mean that it is really the best of the diapers.

My Diaper Experiences.
I was blessed with a wide variety of diapers when we had our baby shower. Here we got Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, and a few different store brands. I tried them all as my son grew into them and formed opinions about each. Since that time I have tried the new Pampers as well for my blog (they actually contacted me and asked me to do a review). The information below isn't just an opinion and it isn't based on what an ad told me, it is personal experience.

Store Brands.
Most store brands are sufficient when the baby is small. As long as your baby isn't doing a lot of moving around, these diapers are soft, and absorbent. The problem comes when the child can move around. While these diapers offer plenty of protection for a still child, they just aren't as good.

Huggies.
Huggies have their advantages. Their newborn size comes with a cut out for the cord. This makes things faster and easier. However, your baby has to be of a size that they can fit into the newborn size and many babies aren't there these days and if they are they quickly grow out of it. Huggies is a very expensive brand (comparatively). They are good against the leaks, soft, and absorbent. However, they aren't better then less expensive brands and therefore not worth the money.

Pampers.
Pamper s are soft, absorbent, but they aren't really baby shaped. This makes for a pain when you are trying to put the diaper on the squirming baby. Additionally, it isn't as good for holding in the mess as the baby is running around and terrorizing the world. This makes them worse then less expensive brands.

Luvs.
In my book, Luvs is the winner. I hated their commercial and laughed at it. They had some annoying commercials, and I would never have bought them. But I had a package of size three diapers that were given to us. By time my son grew into them, he was moving around a lot and we discovered just how worth it the Luvs were. While a tad bit more costly then the store brands, Luvs were the best diapers we had ever used. We had tried store brands, Huggies, and Pampers before using the Luvs. We have never gone back since then. They are soft and in some cases softer then pricier brands. They are absorbent and hold in the nastiest of messes. At 20 months I have a son who climbs, runs, and does all sorts of interesting things, without any extra messes. He has put the diapers to the test and they have come out the winners.

So, there are some things that you really get what you pay for, but diapers aren't one of them. You can get something that trumps the pricier brands, and doesn't cost as much. This can lower your diaper bills, while still keeping your sanity and your cleanliness. The only thing that might make this review obsolete for someone is if their baby has a lot of allergies in which case, finding the right diaper is about protecting the skin and keeping the baby healthy as well as clean, happy, and leak free. It's nice to find something that is cheaper then the rest, but just as good if not better.

Learn more about this author, Danelle Karth.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.


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