Recommendations for someone new to AB brand diapers?

Hi all! Sorry if this is a generic thread/been answered before but I thought I'd ask :sweatdrop: So with the upcoming holidays season my housemates are all going back home while I'll be staying alone in the house and I thought this privacy would be the best opportunity for me to finally try out wearing some AB brands. I've been wearing mostly store bought adult sized nappies so far and wanted some recommendations for a first time AB brand wearer. I'm mostly looking for absorbency, comfort and affordability, I'm not super concerned with other things like discreetness or appearance though (but I do really love nappies with cute patterns/designs!) Would love peoples' thoughts on which brands & types are the most reliable in these areas and where to order them from, I live in Australia and a medium size if that helps at all :biggrin:

Try BetterDry / Crinklz.
They can absorb a high amount of wet without any leaks, are very comfortable and have a comparatively good price-performance ratio.

You seem a bit conflicted as to what you're looking for, absorbency and comfort usually oppose affordability, and not concerned with looks but love cute designs.

Maybe approach this from a different angle and set some boundaries. How many diapers would you like to order? (many come in bags of 10-12, cases are various numbers of bags usually 3-8 bags in a case) Have you decided on a specific dollar amount to budget for the purchase? Do you want to avoid "medical looking" diapers? (or do you have a specific preference, like "all white if possible"?) Do you want to get just one kind of diaper or a sampler of several different kinds? There are samplers available that allow for mixing say your choice of any six bags in a case, and other samplers of 2/ea of 8 different kinds or 2pc samples a'la'carte but the 2pc options usually have a huge mark-up in price. (a "mixed case" of choice of bags is the best value of "variety option")

Do Betterdry/Crinklz still have the crappy tapes which fall off all the time?

If you want really good tapes, then try Bambino Magnifico. It has cute dinosaurs wearing diapers for the print. The tapes have a hook-tab grip that never comes loose.
For very heavy absorbency, try Rearz Safari or ABU Little Pawz. The tapes last for a good amount of time. They both absorb about 5-6 wetting for me. The print on the Safari contains animals you would see in the jungle and little pawz have padded cats & dogs with pawprint that fade away when wet.
There are many others you can find by just doing some research.

bambinod said:

You seem a bit conflicted as to what you're looking for, absorbency and comfort usually oppose affordability, and not concerned with looks but love cute designs.

Click to expand...

I moreso meant I was looking for the best average choice across the board in those categories, I understand you probably can't have the top-of-the-range absorbency and most comfortable diapers at a totally affordable price. I'm more concerned with brands that fulfil each category to a decent degree - the best 'all rounder' so to speak - but I also wanted to know as you say about other brands that might be great in one or two areas but lacking in the third for whatever reason. And I just meant I like cute designs purely as a passing comment, ultimately the appearance has no influence on which diapers I would want to purchase. Sorry, I see how I didn't make things very clear! :sweatdrop:

I'm fairly uneducated about reasonable prices for different brands of AB diapers so I wouldn't know what an appropriate budget limit would be, but I probably wouldn't want to spend much over $70 AUD for around maybe 8-10 diapers. I'm also not too fussed about trying lots of different types either, personally I like to stick with one thing and become familiar with it for a while to form a solid opinion before I move onto the next thing so I suppose I would want to try just one brand/type for now.

Some random suggestions:

Abena Abri-Form M4 (PE-backsheet)
BetterDry
Super Boompa
ID-Slip
Tena Slip

ABU sometimes sells mixed samples but I don't see them available right now. XPMedical has done sample sets in the past also but again I don't see them at the moment.

Rearz currently does have a mixed case available for $94: http://rearz.ca/mixed-case-of-printed-diapers/

44+ diapers, at least 4 styles of printed diapers

28 boosters

Size 6 pacifier

Click to expand...

Looks like they just throw in a random selection of whatever they have in surplus, it doesn't look like a fixed set.

Actually ABU currently does mixed cases and half cases also I see, a mixed half case is within your budget: https://us.abuniverse.com/temp-mixed-cases/

"Half-Case (40 Diapers) $84.99 USD"

Click to expand...

Looks like you get a total of four bags, and can pick two different styles and even different sizes. Not the best variety, but something to start with.

Avi8tor said:

Do Betterdry/Crinklz still have the crappy tapes which fall off all the time?

Click to expand...

No, that has been fixed.

These are the most abdorbent fmdialers by far. They don't sag too horribly bad (though they do absorb so much it's inevitable). The tapes hold great, but after a while the olastic will stretch some, which will require you to use the second-chance tapes.

Fyi, crinklz is the same as betterdry, but with prints. As of monday the 30th they are out of large betterdry though.

Slomo said:

No, that has been fixed.

These are the most abdorbent fmdialers by far. They don't sag too horribly bad (though they do absorb so much it's inevitable). The tapes hold great, but after a while the olastic will stretch some, which will require you to use the second-chance tapes.

Fyi, crinklz is the same as betterdry, but with prints. As of monday the 30th they are out of large betterdry though.

Click to expand...

Thanks Slomo, you're a star! As it happens, I was picking up an order from NRU/Inco shop down south and took some betterdry samples and wearing one right now. As you said with much better tapes! FWIT, The chap in the shop also mentioned they're getting some more stock of BD/Crinklz as well as Rearz in very soon too

Have a look through Littles Down Under at Bambino’s Magnificos. They ship quickly and discreetly.

Would love to recommend ABU Australia as well but don’t think they have any mediums in stock.... Actually you should check them out as well.

SpAzpieSweeTot said:

Here's an interesting thing about affordability. Better means changed less often, which can make those cute designs you like more affordable than cheapos, over time, especially considering you don't need as much laundry detergent, upholstery cleaner, or floor cleaner, because of fewer leaks. Now that we have your budget, cloth-backed, or plastic? 1 tape per side, or 2?

Fair warning, I don't know jack about Australia, besides the fact that ABU has a presence there. All the other resources I know of are UK based. Sorry not to be more help.

Click to expand...

I think I would want plastic-backed ones, and probably 2 tapes per side for better stability assuming that's the case, there might be 1-tape diapers that are stronger but again I'm pretty uneducated about the benefits/weaknesses to either as well as the plastic-backed diapers :sweatdrop: Australia has pretty decent access to AB/DL brands and products as far as I'm aware, you're right there is an Australian connection with ABU and onesiesdownunder is obviously from here too

Cillow said:

I think I would want plastic-backed ones, and probably 2 tapes per side for better stability assuming that's the case, there might be 1-tape diapers that are stronger but again I'm pretty uneducated about the benefits/weaknesses to either as well as the plastic-backed diapers :sweatdrop: Australia has pretty decent access to AB/DL brands and products as far as I'm aware, you're right there is an Australian connection with ABU and onesiesdownunder is obviously from here too

Click to expand...

Hi Cillow,

I was in your shoes (er, diapers?) not all that long ago. For me, I was looking for a diaper that was very toddler-like, meaning that I wanted one tape on each side rather than two. Among those I've tried, I like ABU diapers the best, particularly the Super Dry Kids, Cushies, and Kiddos. Kiddos were surprisingly comfortable and absorbent, at least from my estimation of things. I don't wear them 24/7 and I don't wet repeatedly in one diaper, but those three I liked the best out of ones I've tried. The one-tape ABU diapers are pretty big tapes and for me they held very well.

Hope that helps?