The Great Diaper Debate

One of the most important items you will purchase after the birth of a child is diapers. But there are so many different kinds and brands. How will you know which one is right for you?

For the longest time I didn't know. It pretty much took until my third child before I became convinced that I had finally got this whole diaper thing figured out.

For me this was never a question. For my lifestyle and the fact that I was always chomping at the bit to return to work after each new addition to the family it was a no-brainer that I would go with disposable. Yes, I know that decision is the worst for the environment, but I try to make up for it elsewhere. Life is about compromises, you know.

A mommy friend of mine who also had a child about the same time I had number 3, opted for the cloth reusable diapers. For me she is a trusted source of information. She was a stay-at-home mommy and when all was said and done, she stated that the diapers only added about one additional load of laundry to the pile. She also pointed out that in changing a diaper you are already up to your elbows in baby poo, so just complete the cycle and clean out the cloth nappie. That is a very noble decision on her part, and I give her props for being more of a supermom than I can commit to.

So instead, I opted for disposable diapers for all three of my children out of convenience. With child number 1, my husband insisted that the premium diaper brands (ie: Huggies and Pampers) were priced as more because they obviously were of a better quality, and only the best would do for his baby. I remained skeptical and stubborn and purchased which ever brand of diapers were on sale or whichever ones I happened to have a coupon for. (I mean really, how much do I want to spend on an item that is designed to catch poop and be thrown away?)

I have used three major brands through out the course of my three children: Huggies, Pampers, and Luvs. I mostly used Pampers when the kids were really small. All the hospitals I delivered at used that brand in their nursery and generally we just continued using them after we got home. I have never had any complaints about Pampers. They work wonderfully and very rarely leak, even on a long night after the baby has drained a lot of bottles. I love the Pampers Swaddlers brand, but that line stops right about the time the baby is a year old and begins to walk. At that time, I guess we are supposed to switch over to Pampers Cruisers. My one and only complaint is the price for the larger sized line.

The price for these larger sized diapers are substantially higher than the Swaddlers line and me trying to be frugal would eventually win out over the spouse and begin purchasing Luvs which is much more affordable.

And this is where things start to decline. With my older two children, using Luvs was an occasional inconvenience. Every once in a while they would fully empty more liquid into their diapers than I previously thought to be possibly contained within their pint-sized (appearantly gallon-sized) bodies. Leaks bad enough to have to change out their crib sheets maybe happened once every two months. So even with this little inconveniences, the product was still worth the price.

That was until child number 3.

On this fate-changing morning, I woke the older two and got them ready for school to catch the bus. It was early in the school year and light was streaming in through all the windows, promising "Today is going to be a beautiful day! Nothing can go wrong!".

It lied.

After gathering up the necessary items to wake number 3 and get him ready for daycare, I approached the door to his room. The gentle snoring from within lulled me into a false sense of security, and I cracked the door open quietly. (I love getting in the room before he wake up so I can see him sleeping peacefully.) However, as soon as the door was cracked the air from the room spilled forth and enveloped me within a putrid cloud.

Something was very wrong, if the smell assaulting my nose was to be any indication. I carefully creep over to number 3's crib and peered in. The sight laid out before me was one of parenting horror. Number 3 was still snoozing contentedly on his stomach, knees drawn up under him, BARE bottom up in the air with poop smears on both cheeks like some sort of yoga sun salutation: poopy variation.

Poop was EVERYWHERE!

(This scene has been recreated for dramatic purposes and is not an actual scene from the event)

I picked up Number 3 as gingerly as I could to contain the already catastrophic mess and ran him to the bathroom. Number 3 grumbled at his rude awakening but settled quickly and contentedly into a bubble bath. With the bathroom door open I went across the hall to assess the damage and try to piece together what happened. The only incriminating evidence as to what happened was the sad, scraggly Luvs diaper with a broken strap on the side. In the middle of the night, Number 3 woke briefly and dropped a decent deuce. He then curled up and went back to sleep. Somehow twisting around in his sleep the strap on the Luvs diaper broke spilling the stinky contents within. It took several hours to clean the mess. Since then, as the slogan for Luvs goes, (and almost gets it right) "You live and you learn, and then you DON'T get Luvs!"

The saying goes you get what you pay for and I definitely got what I paid for. 

For more information regarding the Disposable vs. Cloth debate below are some awesome sites that help break down the pros and cons.

www.thebump.com

www.babygearlab.com