Monday, August 23, 2010

More on Diapers

So y'all should see this kick-ass spreadsheet I'm putting together with diaper prices. I'm neurotic, I know. I'm basically recording the regular prices for each size in the different brands y'all suggested - but only in the largest quantity available at a given store. I'm doing Pampers, Huggies, Kirkland (Costco), Publix brand, and Target brand. Pampers seem to be the fave though... not as much love from y'all for the Huggies.

And I've only scratched the surface here... apparently there are different *types* of diapers. Like someone please explain Huggies Snug & Dry vs. Little Movers (or whatever they're called). And Pampers Cruisers vs. whatever the other kind is called. I see a price difference, but what is THE difference? Is one a Toyota and the other a Lexus? Please explain, mommas.

Also, there are apparently night-time diapers. Well, they make night-time maxi pads, so I guess that makes sense. My question - are these necessary? Maybe that question has an "it depends" kind of answer. I have no clue.

Some also mentioned their babies having sensitive little booties... is this really a diaper issue or a wipes issue or both? I did notice some "sensitive" diapers on the shelves. Dear me. This is hella confusing! I'm having a hard time figuring it out and I'm not even a mom yet! Seriously how do you guys decipher the diaper world with a screaming kid on your hip?!

Lastly, the stores I've checked/am checking are: Publix, Kroger, Target, Wal-mart, Babies 'r Us, Costco, and Sam's. Oh and diapers.com. Any other stores/sites you frequent that I should definitely check?

One last question... if I come across a really slammin' deal on diapers (in any given size or brand) - would it make sense to buy some ahead of time or is that completely stupid? Oh shit - are there different diapers for boys and girls? I didn't notice! OMG.

11 comments:

GoodnessGraces said...

So far we've tried : Pampers, pampers sensitive, Luvs, Publix, and Huggies Little Snugglers. Only ones that I hated were the Publix brand ones, but we bought those in a pinch when we were completely out and I didn't have any coupons with us. Pampers are my favorite so far since they are soft and mainly white. Once we get to size 3 and up though most brands have predominate designs. I'd buy the Pampers designs for those sizes if they weren't so expensive but we aren't to those sizes yet.

Pampers and Huggies have lines like swaddlers and cruisers. Basically the swaddlers are for younger babies and the cruisers are for when they start moving. You can tell the difference since the cruisers don't come in small sizes and the swaddlers in larger sizes.

We haven't needed nighttime diapers yet. As I understand it those are more for toddlers. Huggies Overnights seem to be the best from the people I've talked to.

We've tried lots of wipes. I still don't have a preference on these. Basically whatever I can get the cheapest.

Unless you come across a great deal, I wouldn't stock up too early. You don't know how long the baby will be in each size. Don't get more than a couple of newborns packages. Size 3 tends to be the size that babies are in the longest, but my daughter is almost 6 months and we aren't there yet.

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

Also note that if you adopt, you might not need small sizes or diapers at all. Then again, you can always donate them to a charity if they go unused. I know lots of people who never use newborn diapers outside of the hospital too.

Bombtastic Belle said...

I don't know much about which brand I like yet, our baby isn't due until Decmeber. But we have started buying diapers when I have a really good coupon an they're on sale. We were given a huge box of Huggies (this momm of two swears by them,a nd their wipes) newborns, so the next time we got something was one small pkg of size 1's, then 2 2's, and I think one 3. To be safe I just tape the reciept to the package that way if I have to return them, I have it ready to go.

Julie Tiemann said...

I'd be careful to buy too many ahead for the same reason someone else mentioned - you never know how fast your kid will grow. My two year old is still in 3s - highly unusual. Most kids are in 4s or even 5s by now, so I'm glad we didn't buy too much ahead. That being said, you're definitely safe to buy a good bit. I'd say no more than one box of newborns, three or four boxes of the sizes after that is about all you'd want to start with. IMHO, of course. :)

I think if your kid has super sensitive skin then both diapers and wipes can play a part, but definitely wipes are the bigger culprit. We stay away from ALL scented wipes, and prefer the sensitive skin ones.

We don't use nighttime diapers - we just go up a size. Both of my girls wear 3s during the day and 4s at night. The bigger size allows for more pee pee. :)

You crack me UP with your spreadsheets, girl.

Natalie at Our Old Southern House said...

we didn't need overnight diapers until she was like 3 months old and sleeping 10-12hr stretches. they are a LIFE SAVER!
as far as stocking up...i do when the jumbo (200-diaper packs) packs at babies r us go on sale for 2/$35...especially if i have my b.r.u. $5 certificate. :-)
as far as the cruisers v. baby dry...i can't tell a difference. i might could if we left them on a really long time, but since she gets changed every 3-4 hours the "basic model" suits us just fine.
i loved the swaddlers (for newborns and size 1s) b/c they had a line down the front that would tell you when the baby was wet...very handy when they're small!

Grove Gal K said...

Dont forget that you can mail coupons into diapers.com and they will be applied to your order...also don't forget that there is no sales tax and you wont be spending money on gas or your time to go buy diapers at the store! And if you use ebates you shop diapers.com through ebates and save even more. We only ordered formula, wipes, cereal, diapers and baby food through diapers.com for our first child and got roughly $500 back by the time she was out of diapers/baby food, etc

Erica said...

In the NICU, we use Pampers Swaddlers in NB size, then we switch to Huggies for size 1-3. (We never have to go bigger than that...) We have found that Huggies are more absorbant once beyond the NB size. Also, Pampers is in hot water with a bunch of mommies right now because of extreme chemical burns from their new "Dry Max" line.

Why are you researching all this now? If it really is all about cost, you should check into cloth diapering (the "poop" factor really isn't all that bad!).

Charbelle said...

This post really cracked me up, but is so smart!!!

Amber said...

My little 2 cents ... We were Pampers snobs with Briley until a friend introduced us to the Kirkland brand. After testing the "water" when B was about 18 months?, we switched with pleasure. Also switched from using Pampers unscented wipes to the big box of unscented ones (don't like the idea of using fragrance stuff on their sensitive skin), also Kirkland brand. They are great quality and price, and we've never had one complaint ... those goes for Kirkland diapers, as well. Kirkland brand strives for the same quality as name brand products. So, if/ when they find that something's not up to par, they take it down and fix it until it is. (Side note: After Avery was out of the preemie and newborn diapers, we moved onto the 1-2's Kirkland brand. This is the smallest size they have at Costco.)

I will say that we grabbed a great deal on some diapers last week through diapers.com (with coupon). So, you just have to keep your eyes and ears on the lookout ... which you're great at doing anyway.

Susan said...

You need to share this spreadsheet that you worked so hard on!

As for the diapers, we used pampers on our first because he didn't leak in them. We started using the overnights when he was probably 2. They work great! We just had our second and have switched to huggies because they are so cheap at Costco. I have also tried the costco wipes. Not a huge fan. I'll be going back to huggies wipes or pampers thick kind. Target also has great wipes. It's so much a personal preference with all this stuff.

Good Luck!!! :)

AEOT said...

I am currently loving LUVS brand, and I hated Pampers. They stuck to SYT's butt and he still pooped through them (he explodes out of every diaper we've tried). We are trying out the Up and Up brand from Target right now. I think they're okay so far.

Definitely consider researching cloth diapering. If my daycare would let me bring them, I would CD in a heartbeat. MUCH cheaper and a lot better for their skin. A lot of bloggers are on the bandwagon, so there's quite a bit of info out there. If I stayed at home, even part time, I would do this in a heartbeat!!!!