The 411 on Disposable Diapers

I have been a mommy now for 14 whole weeks (can that be right?!!), so I think that qualifies me to write this particular blog post. I feel like I'm the expert on disposable diapers by now. I haven't tried every single diaper out there, but I've tried quite a few, and more importantly, I have OPINIONS.

We started out with Pampers Swaddlers, because that's what they used in the hospital (we swiped a bunch to take home with us!), and because our very nice Cuban neighbors gave us a boatload of the newborn-sized Swaddlers with the little notch cut out for the belly button umbilical cord thingy. Yay! Little did we know how awesome it was not having to go out and buy diapers for the first several weeks. I also inherited some miscellaneous Huggies and Kirkland (Costco brand) from friends. However, once we ran out of those, we got a rude awakening. We stood there in the diaper aisle, our heads swiveling. All these choices! Is it like most things where you don't want to buy the cheapest, but you probably don't need the most expensive either? Do you choose the middle-of-the-road diaper? Or is it that you get what you pay for, in which case you want to go with the Cadillac of diapers? I think I'm leaning toward the Cadillac diapers myself. The cheaper ones tend to leak (think Poopsplosion, to borrow an awesome word invented by my fellow mama & friend, Michelann). Not good. Who wants to have mustard-colored poo all over them? Not me. I have experienced this first hand. Yucky. It's not even cute when it's your own kid.

I also recently had an attack of guilt because I'm just adding to the landfills with all these disposable diapers we're going through. I should use cloth diapers, which would be much better for the environment. But then I thought of working full-time, and how I barely have enough time to get the laundry that we already generate done on my off-time. So to compromise, I bought two different brands of "all natural" diapers, Nature Babycare ("Eco-friendly baby diapers") and Seventh Generation. These were the two brands of "all natural" diapers that got the best reviews on diapers.com. They both advertise that they are chlorine free, fragrance free, hypoallergenic & latex free. Seventh Generation claims to provide "soft, cloth-like comfort" and Nature Babycare says their diapers have a "soft, cloth-like feel." Hmph. That's if you find paper bags soft, cloth-like and comfortable! Seventh Generation wasn't as bad as Nature Babycare. Those really were about the opposite of soft and cloth-like. Both brands leaked. Then again, I haven't yet come across a disposable diaper that doesn't especially when there's an abundance of poo in it.
Isabel didn't seem bothered by the two all natural diapers though, so I guess they weren't horrible.

However, after a fair amount of trial and error (aka research), I've decided that my favorites right now are Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive. I like them because they really are soft, because they have that cool stripe down the butt that changes from yellow to green when there is something in the diaper, and because there are a minimum of blowouts.

Oh, and Pampers Dry Max?? They should really call that Pampers Wet Max. Those suck. I've even read that the Dry Max variety has caused chemical burns on some babies!! No thank you. Huggies leak a lot, as do the Kirkland brand. I haven't tried Target's brand yet, but I'm quite satisfied with my Cadillac brand of diapers. So for now, my daughter's behind will only be wearing Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive. ;)