Your plan to get some of a few different kinds and try them is the best way. Some brands just plain fit some babies better than others. Pampers Swaddlers were best for my daughter, but I wouldn’t bet any money they would work best for other kids we might have.
RR
We used Pampers with no leaks.
Costco’s Kirkland are WAY cheaper, but I could never buy in quantities less than about 60, so I didn’t take the risk that they would suck and be stuck with a box of diapers I didn’t want.
I had no problems with Luvs diapers - and they were cheaper. Store brands were usually good as well.
One place we spent money was for wipes - those thick wipes really do make a world of difference!
I really liked Pampers Swaddlers when our little one was a newborn. We switched to cloth for a while, which was great, but some of the wrappers on the cloth diapers can be so bulky, they can prohibit your baby from sitting up on his own when the time comes, or at least that’s what happened to our son. So, when he was five or six months old, we switched from cloth back to disaposable and, two days later, he was sitting up by himself. After the cloth diapers, we used Kirkland while we were members of Costco and Member’s Mark now that we’re Sam’s members. If I recall correctly, Kirkland wipes were awesome, but I didn’t like Sam’s store brand wipes, so we use Huggies for Sensitive skin.
Another thing to take into consideration later on if you’re deciding between cloth and disposable and if your wife is taking a maternity leave and plans to return to work, is what the daycare or sitter will accept. Some daycares won’t let you use cloth because they have to store them for you every time the kid poops or pees. We worked something out with our daycare where they would put the inserts into an individual ziploc for us every time they changed our son, which kind of defeated the point of using cloth diapers (I’m crunchy sometimes, but there is no way I’m keeping a pee- or poop-filled ziploc).
I wouldn’t put that much thought into it. Go buy some Pampers and be done. If your baby tends to poop a good bit, s/he will blow it out and up her back no matter what diapers you’re using.
I’ve met the occasional parent who says they don’t like a certain brand, but 90% of the folks we know will just keep buying what they’ve always bought. Someone’s kid outgrew their Huggies size 2 & we usually use Pampers? pffft. I don’t care. Hand them over.
After you’ve been a parent for a few months (maybe considerably less), you won’t give it much thought.
A lot of diaper companies will send you a free sample if you ask. Check out their websites.
It’s funny, I only heard one person who liked the Huggies best. I started out with Luvs, but switched to Pampers because I could get deals on them from BabiesRUs, and it turns out I like the Pampers a lot better. She’s in Size 2 Swaddlers right now and they’re working great. They feel a LOT softer than the Luvs.
Celtling has the super-sensitive Irish skin, so it’s been pampers and cloth all the way for her. We started with swaddlers, and then mover to Baby Dry. I use Kirkland during the day at home, because she’ll get changed promptly, but I only trust the baby-dry for nights or at daycare, when the wetness will be there longer. She’s mostly potty-trained now, but the diapers are cheaper than pull-ups, so I saw no reason to switch.
The cruisers are more expensive, and they leaked on her.
A lot depends on body type and skin sensitivity. With normal skin and a little baby fat you can use almost any brand. Celtling is long and svelte, and all diapers leak in the legs occasionally. We also had a problem with “poop up the back” before she started sitting up.
We’ve had good luck with the Pampers Swaddlers (well, he’s in Cruisers now) with the current baby, but his sister was Huggies only. It really depends on the shape of the baby’s butt and legs. Kirkland didn’t fit either of our kids well, but I have a friend who swears by them.
No matter what brand you use, here is the most important tip: All of the brands have a little “ruffle” of elastic around the legs. It is very easy for this ruffle to get tucked under the elastic, instead of staying on the outside. The last stage of diaper changing should be checking the ruffle and pulling it out if it’s folded, every single time. Otherwise, it acts as a conduit for liquids (and worse, semisolids) to the outside of the diaper.
I think any name brand diaper, including Kirkland, is going to do the job. I mean you’re changing the damned thing 6 or 8 times a day.
Yanno all that money you are going to be saving? It’s gonna be going towards a video game system…reallllll sooon.
Just sayin’.
Well, no. Some fit better than others. It all comes down to the shape of your baby’s butt.
I agree that the real issue here is the physique of the mini-Doper to be (and congrats on that, by the way!)
No matter how well the different brands are designed, you’re looking at a piece of clothing that needs to fit well - and since the munchkins come in so many different sizes and body types, it’s likely not possible that all diapers will work equally well.
We’ve been using Pampers on the Pipercub. Tried the Huggies, but too many leaks, so it’s Pampers all the way. But a friend had exactly the opposite experience with her little guy - leaks with Pampers, dry with Huggies.
So experiment. Maybe you’ll be lucky and your baby can wear most of them well. Or maybe only one or two brands will work. If you’ve got some that don’t work for your baby, just send them to the nearest women’s shelter and chalk it up to experience.
Just don’t buy too many of the real small ones, because he/she will grow out of the littlest size fairly quickly.
:D:cool:
Thanks!
S^G
OK, my info is about 9 years out of date, but here goes…
We tried just about every brand of diapers on the market. Pampers were the best, but were also the most expensive. Luvs were very nearly as good, but much cheaper. We generally used the Luvs–best value vs. price, IMHO.
Pampers Swaddlers. I’ll also echo the diapers.com recommendation.
Also, if you’re having a boy, remember to point the penis down when diapering. Nobody told me that and it was two weeks of wet clothes until I figured it out. :rolleyes:
On that same note, don’t buy too many newborn infant clothes, either. They outgrow them in just a few weeks, or very nearly so. They will definitely outgrow them before they get much use, in my experience.
The first time I changed my little boy, I felt water hitting my shoulder from what I thought was the ceiling, only to see that it was coming from a perfect three-foot high arc beginning with my son. :eek:
This, along for use as burping cloths, is what cloth diapers are good for. I always kept one handy in case he decided to cut loose again. And though I was so prepared for the whole rest of the time he was in diapers, he never did it again. 
I’m a Huggies man, all the way. I have a boy, about top 25% in height and weight, who poops like a baby but pees like a man.
I recommend the Supreme Gentle Care for newborns, moving into the Snug and Dry w/ Leak Loc when they get older. I do not recommend the Supreme Natural Fit (the one with the brick commercial), the hour glass shape gives too much room around the leg- lots of leaks.
Since my boy is a hell of a pisser, the local store brand could not contain him and it did not keep his skin dry. More high end diapers were an investment to keep me from having to change his diapers/clothes/bedding in the middle of the night which meant there was a strong chance he was going to stay up for a while.
On the subject of wipes, getting one of those cheesey wipe warmers actually makes all wipes better because you can add water to the warmer. A warm wipe damp with warm water wipes a butt clean more quickly and efficiently. I might just get one for myself.
We used the next to rock bottom cheapest diapers out there for containment.
The cost of Pampers and Huggies alone kept me far away from either. The stuff is about containing bodily fluids, not TOP DOLLAR prices.
The only brand that was absolute crap was Fitti. Two kids. Two different body types, neither fit.
If I could go back in time, I would have invested in cloth diapers. I was a stay at home mom and doing laundry was what I was doing anyways. The initial start up is a kick in the balls, but when your kids are potty trained, you have the best rags in the world for windows and cleaning.
We keep a small washcloth at the changing table as a shield. It’s large enough to cover the fountain, but small enough that you can wipe everything.