Bambino diapers quality drop PSA

They've been doing the same thing P&G and kleenex has done with their diapers. Thinner, flimsier, and far less absorbent with each new iteration. Sucks to see them go down this path.

See my blog post some years ago on this topic. I've been wearing diapers for almost 50 years and they've come a long way. However, a lot of manufacturers have used the bait and switch approach over the years. Leave them. They are banking on the apathetic, yet fully aware of what's happening customer, and the entirely new "omg, these are awesome" customer, who doesn't know any better. Put your money where the better products are and you'll be doing us all a favor.

Thank you Spaz. I had many similar experiences and believe the term shrinkflation comes into play with greedy corporate junk products.

I will barely buy cost reduced medical diapers anymore (unless it is an emergency) but will support ABU (current company) since they are bunking the trend and from my experience increasing the quality of their products.

I understand in tough markets when companies put the price up of their products but can never support downgrading the quality.

I agree with the call, where is a rep from The Bottom Half Group to take this onboard?

Spaz said:

However, a lot of manufacturers have used the bait and switch approach over the years. Leave them. They are banking on the apathetic, yet fully aware of what's happening customer,

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Diapers aren't really a product you can keep creeping quality down on. They need to last a specific amount of time. It's like selling faster burning candles or batteries with less lifetime. Their value is directly determined by how long they last, and many users have a minimum required quality.

If a company decides to drop diaper quality instead of raising the price, and the consumer finds the diaper no longer lasts all night or all day, they're not just going to buy more of them because the product no longer works as it needs to, because it makes so much more sense to buy a better diaper than to try to wear two every night or get up and change. They're going to switch to a different brand that has better quality, even if it costs more. I don't understand how they don't see this.

bambinod said:

Diapers aren't really a product you can keep creeping quality down on. They need to last a specific amount of time. It's like selling faster burning candles or batteries with less lifetime. Their value is directly determined by how long they last, and many users have a minimum required quality.

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Yes, but it happens all the time. Depends and Attends used to be decent disposables in the 90's. Today they suck. Abena, Molicare, Wellness, Dry 24-7, Bambino, they have all declined in quality. The thing is the market is driven by hospitals, nursing homes and lots of old people (mostly females) with leaky bladders. They can get by with a pad, pull-up brief or just change the patient every 2 hrs and charge the insurance company outrageous prices.

Don't get me wrong, there are far better adult diapers out there today than 30 years ago, but you have to order them online (or by phone), they cost an arm and a leg and the good ones will eventually decline in quality and be replaced by another upstart, until they too cut corners and decline in quality.

So they are getting thinner, and that's not good since I just had another case delivered. Now I have to figure out another diaper that fits my waist size though, and that's been a real pain so far.

Sounds like a great time for these to get a new full review. If the capacity changed, people will know exactly where on the spectrum of value they fall now. If not, everyone can be amazed at the more compact design.

There's no way these are the same capacity as before. They don't swell any more than the old ones, and they weigh less. I tried many times to weigh four bags of each on my bathroom scale, but it's too coarse to get a solid reading. It's very evident holding the stack of each which one weighs more though. I could do it blindfolded. An updated review with exact numbers would be a good idea to provide proof.

goten said:

I tried many times to weigh four bags of each on my bathroom scale, but it's too coarse to get a solid reading.

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You need to find a scale with a fine degree of precision at the largest weight you can use it to measure. A bathroom scale you can read to the pound on say, a ~45 lb case, has a precision of 1/45 (0.0222), about 2%. A digital fish scale that reads up to 10 lbs by the ounce (160oz) ha a precision of 1/160 (0.00625), about 0.6% which is better than the bathroom scale. Note that if you had two cases available to weigh on the bathroom scale, you'd have 1/90 (.0111), improving precision to about 1%, though still not as good as the fish scale. So that's why it's important to use as much of a scale's range as possible. If you hang a bag of diapers on the fish scale and are only getting a reading around 5lbs (80oz), you're using 1/80 (0.0125), slightly worse precision than the bathroom scale at two cases. So a more coarse scale can sometimes give a better reading if used properly.

You can ignore the division and percentages for simplicity... just find a way to get the biggest reading possible, the most pounds or the most ounces or most grams or whatever unit your scale supports. The bigger the number is before you divide by the number of diapers you put on the scale, the higher quality the measurement will be.

To that end, I set a light platform on top of a digital kitchen scale and zero it, and then stack single diapers on that until just before it overloads, then divide the reading by the number of diapers, to get the most precision reading possible from that scale. This method is a lot more precise than trying to weigh just one diaper on the same scale, and also averages out some of the minor variation between diapers.

Doin' Science!

That's disappointing to hear. I just placed an order with them and it's already shipped (with no tracking number). I would have canceled it had I read this sooner as I was already disappointed with my last Bambino order being incorrect. I'll avoid them completely if this order goes sour too. A real shame, but there's way too many other options now for anyone to be putting up with these tactics.

Can someone do another quantitative test & review please?

Thanks for the heads up. I've thought about placing another sizable order from them, so this is $200ish that can go towards more Little Pawz.

Really wish they could get a rep in here to explain. The lack of such a response makes me think they are beginning to fade now that they have some decent competition.

MilesTheFox88 said:

Really wish they could get a rep in here to explain. The lack of such a response makes me think they are beginning to fade now that they have some decent competition.

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I posted on another large AB/DL site as well. No response there either.

I think it's obvious why: they did lower the quality. Every single person in this thread that compared the old to new noticed the quality drop, and I showed it in pictures that are clear as day. It is unfortunately a fact. If they publicly admit it, it will only harm their reputation more.

But they can still win me back with an apology and a promise to be transparent in the future about either quality cuts or price increases.

The bellissimos I ordered a month ago are great. They last all night. They swell but have never leaked. My last batch had a few tape problems but nothing but giggles and grins now.

goten said:

I posted on another large AB/DL site as well. No response there either.

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afaik BabinoDiapers has never had a rep here in adisc. They don't do a lot of talking, though their email blasts have been a bit pesky as of late.

This does suck to find out that there quality has dropped. I was planing on buying some of the Bellissimo's but with what I've seen here i think i will stick with ABU and not waist my money.

yukiyoshida said:

This does suck to find out that there quality has dropped. I was planing on buying some of the Bellissimo's but with what I've seen here i think i will stick with ABU and not waist my money.

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Waist your money? This may be a typo, but it's a quality pun.

But yeah, looks like I won't be buying from Bambino again. They were my first AB company but that only goes so far.

The diapers I did buy during the Halloween sale, though, are great for wearing at work or in public. I might want to find something similar, minus the underhanded tactic.

If they at least dropped the price they're selling them for, then that'd make sense and be fair. But lowering the quality without passing the savings on to the buyers is just straight up taking advantage of their customers. I guess that's part of business to an extent and all of this is pretty much conjecture for me. As in, I personally haven't tried the new or original Bambinos myself.

However those pictures AND personal experiences from users who have used both is hard to refute.


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goten said:

There's no way these are the same capacity as before. They don't swell any more than the old ones, and they weigh less. I tried many times to weigh four bags of each on my bathroom scale, but it's too coarse to get a solid reading. It's very evident holding the stack of each which one weighs more though. I could do it blindfolded. An updated review with exact numbers would be a good idea to provide proof.

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hex000f said:

Can someone do another quantitative test & review please?

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Given the clear public interest, it will happen, but assuming I end up writing it again (it doesn't need to be me - anyone can write a review of any diaper we don't currently have reviewed - read How to Write a Diaper Review and PM me), it's not something I'm prepared to promise will happen imminently. At a guess, I'd tackle it at the same time I can get my hands on Magnificos for a review, and get some comparison shots.



We do specifically include the month/year of purchase in the beginning of ADISC reviews because diapers have a long history of getting meaningful revisions with zero warning.

Hey ADISC,

Thank you to everyone for your feedback! We have been SO busy with the launch of our new website and the introduction of our new Magnifico diaper.

We of course would like to address this situation regarding our medium Bianco diaper. To start, since 2006, we have maintained consistent high quality across our entire product line. We implement strict quality assurance methods and hold our manufacturers to the highest level. As a part of that process, we are constantly evaluating new equipment and processes to improve the user experience.

We have sold thousands of these medium Bianco cases with no issues. We have also received a handful of complaints.

We have heavily discounted these diapers during our sales lately because it is our goal to push through the rest of the stock that we currently have to make room for the old medium Bianco diapers that was loved by everyone!

Thanks for listening. We will let everyone know when the old style of medium Bianco diapers are back in stock!

Sincerely,
Bambino Diapers