Paper Diapers

[Dillipop]

For those who use paper or a combo of paper and cloth, I need your help. We are going on vacation in a few weeks and I need to figure out what size to get. DS is 8 months old and 20-22 pounds and 29 inches. He wears a medium fuzzibunz, medium swaddlebees, premium prefold with medium bummis. Looking at packages today, 3 goes 16-26 pounds and 4 goes 22-30 ish. I am thinking he would need a 3, but he seems to have a long rise and may need a 4, besides the fact that we need it to work overnight, too, so might need a 4 absorbancy.

Also, what brand should I get? Pampers cruisers or huggies supreme? I tried luvs on my oldest and didn't like them and mostly used huggies. Do the cruisers smell like the swaddlers? If so, then I guess we'll go with huggies.

Thanks for any insight on sizing. Not using them makes it hard to decide on a size and we really only want to buy one size and have it fit.

One more question...How many do you go through in a 9 day period? Will a small package work or should we get a large one?

[skaterbabscpst]

size 4 white cloud or Huggies would be my suggestion.
FWIW, our last vacation we just took our cloth with us and it was no biggie, of course we were well into potty training and she only used 5 diapers for the entire week....

[rlsadc]

i would say a size 3 in huggies (dd is 17-18 lbs and they are big on her) the box says until like 28 lbs:)

[LuvBug03]

if he is a heavy wetter I would say size 4. They can hold more, probably if he is anything like my DS when you are out of the house he will hold it longer and pee more at once(and more forceful). So Id definitely say size up for the extra gel.

[KAK22]

Go with size 4 - DD is 2 years, 35 in and 28lbs and has been in size 4's (Huggies) for over a year. They just fit better.

[Yoshi]

I always found Huggies to be really stiff and cardboardy feeling AND the gel inside gets HARD and pebbly when it's wet:confused: :eek: :confused: I like Pampers and Luvs. My DD never leaked in a Luvs even overnight.

[tl01]

If your DS has a long rise then I'd go with size 4. We don't go by the weight at all. DS is 11 months and has been in size 5's for at least a few months. He's 26 lbs but has been in them since about 23 lbs. We find that the bigger diapers leak sooooo very rarely for us. He'll probably be in size 5's for a long time. We love Pampers Cruisers. They are a lot flatter when packing them than Huggies and they hold so much:)

[LuvBug03]

DS ALWAYS leaked in luvs lol! I dunno what that was about! Id even size up and still... he was a forceful all at once peer for overnight though, so that must be why. It couldnt slowly absorb it had to act fast! Huggies leaked overnight as well. He was in cruisers or nothing when he was in disposables, they were all that worked.

[Yoshi]

DS ALWAYS leaked in luvs lol! I dunno what that was about! Id even size up and still... he was a forceful all at once peer for overnight though, so that must be why. It couldnt slowly absorb it had to act fast! Huggies leaked overnight as well. He was in cruisers or nothing when he was in disposables, they were all that worked.
Maybe because he is a boy, and the pee saturates the front of the diaper??? DD didn't leak in Luvs, so maybe it's a gender thing!LOL A long time ago when DS was a baby (17 yrs ago!!!) they sold Luvs for boys or girls- with different absorbency areas.
To the OP- you might need 4-5 diapers a day at your child's age if he is a heavy wetter.

[Dillipop]

But do the cruisers have that sickly smell that the swaddlers have? I am pretty sure I'll go with a 4, but I can't stand the smell of the swaddlers. We used swaddlers for a trip in october and were constantly thinking the baby was dirty. He never was, it was just the smell of the dipes! If the cruisers smell, they are out.

When DS1 was in dipes, he would leak in luvs, too. I know kids are different, but we want something that I don't have to use a cover with. (Although, I might just bring all wool for his pants and use a cover at night for just in case!)

Do any of the generics have nice flexible wiast tabs?

[LuvBug03]

lol! I remember when they had girl and boy specifics! Now they do that will SOME trainers.

[LuvBug03]

You know, Im not sure. Its been years since DS was in sposies lol! I remember that swaddlers smell, but dont remember the cruisers having the same smell. They have since redesigned the swaddlers and cruisers a little since we used them, 3+ years ago lol!(Im pretty sure it was 3y ago last month that we switched to full time cloth)

[AdventureMom]

We used mostly cloth, but when we used sposies we always used Huggies. Sometimes folks loaned us some - Luvs and Pampers - and I thought they smelled funky...

[snowbird25ca]

But do the cruisers have that sickly smell that the swaddlers have? I am pretty sure I'll go with a 4, but I can't stand the smell of the swaddlers. We used swaddlers for a trip in october and were constantly thinking the baby was dirty. He never was, it was just the smell of the dipes! If the cruisers smell, they are out.

When DS1 was in dipes, he would leak in luvs, too. I know kids are different, but we want something that I don't have to use a cover with. (Although, I might just bring all wool for his pants and use a cover at night for just in case!)

Do any of the generics have nice flexible wiast tabs?

The cosco kirkland generics have the flexible tabs. I've heard they're made by Huggies... not that you'd need a whole case. ;) (That's in Canada anyways, but I'd assume they're the same in the US...)

We've only used a few disposable on dd since we switched to cloth, but my experience was that after using cloth, disposable just stink regardless of brand.

[lovemyfamily]

I have always used disposable diapers, with both my boys, when they were in diapers. With DS#1, I first tried Huggies and found they leaked. We switched to Pampers Baby Dry and have never had any problems with leakage, even with some pretty nasty blow outs. I don't find they have any odor.

[scatterbunny]

I always loved Pampers Cruisers the best, they just fit dd the best. They had really nice stretch. Huggies, both kinds, were too trim and she leaked on the inner thighs. Luvs worked well, the newer, softer kind, not the plasticky-kind, which I found odd, since they are not very stretchy.

Now that we use cloth at night (dd is a bedwetter) instead of Pull-Ups, I do notice a smell on disposables.

[Patriot201]

I like Pampers Cruisers the best, but Huggies are good too.

I would try size 4. The weight guidelines on the packages are usually not very accurate (at least in my experience).

My 13-month-old (but petite) niece weighs 19 pounds or so. She is currently in size 4. My good friend's 8-month-old weighs about 22 pounds and he is in size 5, but he is very long-torsoed, so he needs the rise.

When I worked in the daycare center (10 years of working in an infant room, so I changed A LOT of diapers! :)), I found that *most* kids were in size 3 or 4 by the time they were 8 months old. *Most* of those kids were fitting diapers in the lower weight guideline of the larger size on the packages, not the upper guideline of the smaller size.

[Patriot201]

i would say a size 3 in huggies (dd is 17-18 lbs and they are big on her) the box says until like 28 lbs:)


Wow! 28 pounds!! I guess for some kids...


I can't even imagine! My niece was out of size 3s when she was about 9-10 months old, I think. At the time, I think she weighed about 16-17 pounds? She has been in size 4s for several months now and she doesn't even weigh 20 pounds yet.


I did a little "experiment" the other day with diapers. My niece usually wears size 4 Pampers Cruisers, but I had some extra diapers at my house- a size 3 Huggies Supreme, a size 3 Huggies Ultratrim, and a size 3 Pampers Baby Dry. Each time I changed her, I tried a different diaper. She is definitely a size 4. I could get the size 3s to fit, but they gave her VERY little "clearance" in the front and back. I was worried about leaks! She definitely needs size 4!!

[Splash]

Yes, Cruisers stink. Horribly.
CVS apparently makes decent diapers. AJ's aunt cleared out a CVS by her house and gave them to Jess and us (why us, I have no clue). They don't smell as bad and they have stretchy tabs.
When we were to NYC in November, we bought a small pack of diapers and probably used about 20 in the 4 days we were there. But we took cloth for overnight and naptime and when in the hotel let him be naked.
Just buy them when you get there so you don't take up space in your suitcases! Or take pocket dipes with microfiber inserts. VERY easy to wash in a hotel sink and hang dry quickly!

[kangato2roos]

We use sposies at night and cloth during the day. Ds is a HEAVY wetter, particularly at night... it seems once he falls asleep he just lets go and pees all night long nonstop. No cloth combination works to hold him overnight, so sposies we have to use.

I've found Huggies diapers work best for us, but he's got chunky thighs and no tush at all. Dd, on the other hand, couldn't use Huggies and had to use Pampers. I tried the White Cloud and the Parent's Choice brands of diapers and they don't hold as much as the Huggies, but they worked nicely until he started to pee so much at night.

I'd suggest a size 3 in Huggies or Pampers but a size 4 in store brand... for some reason the sizing is different between name brand and store brand (and really, I LIKE the Parent's Choice and White Cloud more than Huggies or Pampers) even though it lists basically the same weight range.

To be honest, using cloth all day and sposies at night, I notice a nasty odor on ALL sposies, both right out of the package and once wet. Brand doesn't seem to matter, they all smell to me.

I would go ahead and bring his cloth for the trip though. It's not as hard as you think to do cloth on vacation (it's almost as easy as doing it at home, actually). Everywhere we go, cloth goes with us.

If you do decide to go with sposies, plan to change his diaper about as often as you change his cloth diaper. I know sposies can hold more urine, but I just hate the thought of kids sitting in urine drenched diapers all day just because "they aren't full yet". I change cloth as soon as he wets, I would change sposies as soon as he wets too.

[arly1983]

The Pampers smell horrible!! I knew they smelled but just didn't realize how much until I swithed to cloth. I didn't like the Huggies, when wet, the little crystals inside got all over the diaper area. The Luvs were ok, they were the default diaper, having neither of the above probelms. For some reason Jackson leaked out of every other brand I tried (parents choice, white cloud, target brand)

[joycemom]

We have always used Huggies because they just fit dd better from birth. One day we did have to buy pampers though and they did smell funny. To me they smelled like they were pre babypowdered. They seemed to fit dd differently to. My cousin did tell me that the pampers seem to fit boys better and the absorbancy is more towards the front which i did notice when my dd wore them a while. I would definatly go a size up my dd has always been up a size up because of leaks. She is really long and just needs the diaper to be long to. She is just over 25lbs and will be a size 6 any day. I watched a little girl for a while and they always just used what store brand was cheapest. I hated them all but she was a heavy wetter when she slept and they never contained the leaks. I would have moved her up at least one size though because they didn't fit good either. I have also heard the best store brand is kirkland and really wish i had a cosco card.

[joycemom]

Yes, Cruisers stink. Horribly.
CVS apparently makes decent diapers. AJ's aunt cleared out a CVS by her house and gave them to Jess and us (why us, I have no clue). They don't smell as bad and they have stretchy tabs.
When we were to NYC in November, we bought a small pack of diapers and probably used about 20 in the 4 days we were there. But we took cloth for overnight and naptime and when in the hotel let him be naked.
Just buy them when you get there so you don't take up space in your suitcases! Or take pocket dipes with microfiber inserts. VERY easy to wash in a hotel sink and hang dry quickly!

What is CVS???

[_Jessica_]

What is CVS???

CVS is similar to wallgreens, eckerds, ect.

[broken4u05]

CVS is a drug store. The twins use huggies and i only sometimes notice the smell. They have size 3 and 4. Jack wears size 3 all day and 4 at night. He is 20 pounds Drew is only is size 4 and is 23 pounds. They are 16 months. I think i would use 3 but 4 at night. But if you just want 1 size than get 4

[rlsadc]

But do the cruisers have that sickly smell that the swaddlers have? I am pretty sure I'll go with a 4, but I can't stand the smell of the swaddlers. We used swaddlers for a trip in october and were constantly thinking the baby was dirty. He never was, it was just the smell of the dipes! If the cruisers smell, they are out.

When DS1 was in dipes, he would leak in luvs, too. I know kids are different, but we want something that I don't have to use a cover with. (Although, I might just bring all wool for his pants and use a cover at night for just in case!)

Do any of the generics have nice flexible wiast tabs?

target has a great generic brand honestly...they are just like huggies tabs for the most part...as far as how many youll need i am not sure...aleah goes through about 4-5 a day and 1 at night...but she is also younger

[SamPacey&Joshua]

Joshua is 11-months old, 19.5 lbs. and 28.5 in., and he wears 3's very comfortably. He is on the skinny side though, so if your little man is chunky, 4's might be better just to be on the safe side and since you want the extra absorbancy for night time. My older son wore size 4's for a while around 1 year old (22.5 lbs.). Once he started walking, he slimmed down A LOT and I put him back in 3's. He was in size 3's until he was just over 2 years old (25-26 lbs.).

Pampers Cruisers are my favorite kind. They fit the boys the best and are very trim. I don't notice any "stinking" except for the overnight diaper smelling like pee...but that's a lot of pee, so I expect it to stink. We've never had a leak with them unless they've peed a ton in the overnight diaper or they've had bad diarrhea.

Pampers Baby-Dry (3's and up) work pretty well too. They are very similar to the Cruisers, but are a little cheaper.

I've always liked Huggies (regular and Supreme), but they leaked more for my boys...probably because they don't fit as well. They seemed to leak right through the front of the overnight diapers, no matter how much or how little they peed. They also didn't fit as trim as I like for diapers to fit. They are a little cheaper than Pampers though. Oh and they sag pretty quickly...even if there's not much pee.

Luvs are alright. They don't stretch at all though and that's a deal-breaker for me. I can't stand diapers than don't stretch...they leak more often because it's harder (sometimes impossible) to get a good fit. Overall, Luvs aren't too bad...I just very much prefer stretchy diapers. They are the cheapest "name brand". They sagged as soon as they were wet on my boys.

How many diapers does your son use per day right now? Joshua goes through about 5-6 per day...so over 9 days, that would be 45-54 diapers.

[AdventureMom]

Now that we use cloth at night (dd is a bedwetter) instead of Pull-Ups, I do notice a smell on disposables.


Ditto about the smell - it's hard to describe it, though...

[jackieeng]

I use cloth, although I switch to paper when I travel by air.
Size 4 fits my 10 month old and 2.5 year old and I sometimes put a bummis wrap over the paper diaper just in case we are unable to get up...
We use Seventh Generation, which I love. You can also get coupons for them from www.seventhgeneration.com

[Dillipop]

Yes, Cruisers stink. Horribly.
CVS apparently makes decent diapers. AJ's aunt cleared out a CVS by her house and gave them to Jess and us (why us, I have no clue). They don't smell as bad and they have stretchy tabs.
When we were to NYC in November, we bought a small pack of diapers and probably used about 20 in the 4 days we were there. But we took cloth for overnight and naptime and when in the hotel let him be naked.
Just buy them when you get there so you don't take up space in your suitcases! Or take pocket dipes with microfiber inserts. VERY easy to wash in a hotel sink and hang dry quickly!

Thanks so much! We have a CVS on every corner it seems, so I'll probably just go with a 4 in huggies or cvs.

I would consider doing cloth on the trip, but we are staying with an aunt that hates cloth diapers. She runs a daycare and refuses to use cloth with the kids and if they show up in cloth it goes in a bag and they get sposies for the rest of the day. I can't imagine asking to use her washer and dryer since she is so against them and a pack of sposies will cost the same as running to the laundromat. Just easier to take a pack with us. Besides, we are driving and I can't imagine having a bag of dirty dipes in the trunk for an 8 hour drive. THe 20 minutes to my mom's house to wash can stink up the car!

Thanks everyone for your imput! It really helps having someone else put in their experiences.

[joolsplus3]

I use cloth, although I switch to paper when I travel by air.
Size 4 fits my 10 month old and 2.5 year old and I sometimes put a bummis wrap over the paper diaper just in case we are unable to get up...
We use Seventh Generation, which I love. You can also get coupons for them from www.seventhgeneration.com
I always use a cloth cover over paper diapers to prevent blowouts, too!
The last thing I want is poop covered clothing when on a trip, so we stick a large fuzzi bunz over a huggies...if there's poop on the FB, no big deal, but poop on clothes...carseats...etc...man, that's not pleasant :)

[RubysGirl]

If you pm me your address I can drop one or two size three huggies in the mail for you. They should get there before your vacation.

Lenny wears those, and he fits those other diapers you listed, too. He's about 25 lbs.

I know some people like the diapers to fit bigger, but I don't care how small they are or look on him, if I can get them on easy and they don't leak, I use them. I don't see the point in paying more. 4's fit him okay, but they go way up over his bellybutton and just look silly on him to me.

[broken4u05]

Drew is 23 pounds and in a 4 because 3 leak for him. I wish they both had the same size. But when i go out i take size 4 if it is a short trip because jack can fit in a 4 but a 3 is better.

[Dillipop]

If you pm me your address I can drop one or two size three huggies in the mail for you. They should get there before your vacation.

Lenny wears those, and he fits those other diapers you listed, too. He's about 25 lbs.

I know some people like the diapers to fit bigger, but I don't care how small they are or look on him, if I can get them on easy and they don't leak, I use them. I don't see the point in paying more. 4's fit him okay, but they go way up over his bellybutton and just look silly on him to me.

Thank you so much for the offer! However, I think I figured it out. I was cleaning the kids room today and came across a diaper bag in the closet that had a size 4 BJ's brand dipe in it and it fit DS. It was a little big, but since we are traveling and doing nights with these, I just want the one size. IIRC, they ran about the same size as the huggies when DS1 was in them. I think the 4 in huggies will be fine for the trip and if we don't use them all on this trip, they might fit on another.

Thanks again for all the help!