absorbency plus

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qwertyqwerty

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I am debating buying between absorbency a+ level 3 or 4, or Northshore plastic briefs. What are your opinions? I am around a 34 inch waist should I go medium or regular size on the A+??
 
I LOVE Gary and XP, but I've gotta say, I find the Northshore briefs far superior to the A+ briefs. Now, I admit that I haven't tried the 2nd generation of the A+ briefs, but comparing the 1st generation to the Northshore briefs, the Northshore briefs are clearly superior. They are much thicker, and more absorbent with better features and quality. I, too, have a 34" waist and the Mediums of both brands fit me fine.
 
I wear the A+ level 4's for daytime use. What I would do is get samples of the regular and medium and
see which size fits best. Or you can get a pack of each. There's only 8 in a pack and the price is less
than ten dollars a pack.
 
Get samples before buying either. I like the Northshore Care Briefs more, but you have to let them decompress and you knead them a bit, otherwise they are a bit stiff. They hold an amazing amount of liquid. I do use the absorbency plus 3 off and on for morning diaper use and use the northshore ones in the afternoon. The cost of the northshore ones are a lot less, especially if you use the free shipping code NSC87. Northshore also has the standing leg gatherers. The benefit I see with the absorbency plus ones is they have a middle size that works better for those with thick thighs or have a waist that is kind of in-between large and medium.
 
mattyd said:
Get samples before buying either. I like the Northshore Care Briefs more, but you have to let them decompress and you knead them a bit, otherwise they are a bit stiff. They hold an amazing amount of liquid. I do use the absorbency plus 3 off and on for morning diaper use and use the northshore ones in the afternoon. The cost of the northshore ones are a lot less, especially if you use the free shipping code NSC87. Northshore also has the standing leg gatherers. The benefit I see with the absorbency plus ones is they have a middle size that works better for those with thick thighs or have a waist that is kind of in-between large and medium.

That's my only complaint about the A+, is that no standing leg gathers. I have to put those diapers on tight so they don't leak around the back of the legs, and that's largely because... no standing leg guards. Ordering a case of the Northshores because I hear good things about them. They say in their ads that you have to uncompress the diapers because they are compressed for shipping purposes. I would do with them like I do with my Abenas and take them all out of the packs and allow them to decompress naturally. They seem to work better that way.
 
Another vote for getting samples first. If they haven't sent you samples before, Northshore will send samples of two products to you for free if you ask them via their chat, contact form, or phone.

That being said, we much prefer the Northshore over the A+. They hold a lot, have leak guards, and wick better than any diaper I've seen. We leaked out of the A+ far before it's capacity was anywhere near used.
 
Letting them decompress naturally is the best bet. They require less messing with. Once they decompress over a few days, its really a non-issue. I would agree with the A+, they will leak before Northshore ones do. I really can't wait for Northshore's mid range ones to come out, at that point if they are priced good enough, I probably would quit wearing the absorbency plus 3 ones. I did have a tiny issue with the bottom left tapes on the Northshores pulling a bit of clear plastic, but if you pull that a bit back, it fit fine. Only had that on about 6 or 7 in one bag, but haven't had it since.
 
I never tried the A+ 3 or 4 from XP medical because of the lack of leak guards in them. The Northshore Supreme diapers on the other hand allow me to play full contact sports (Football or equivalent) again because they are so durable. Essentially I am a 6'6" tall fellow who can tackle and get tackled again and the diaper will actually survive the impacts I put it through and still do their job right. There's a good chance I will have a small wetting when I get hit. I have even flooded them in the middle of a game with no problem so far which says something about the Northshore diapers. I hate to say it but unless XP medical puts inner standing leak guards into their Absorbency plus line I will never get them because I need those to avoid embarrassing moments right in the middle of a game.
 
The 4's are close to TWICE the thickness of the 3's, at not a lot more cost. (same number of diapers per case too) So it actually comes down to "do you really want a diaper that thick?" The 4's are less comfortble to walk and side-sleep in. If that's not an issue, I'd say go with the 4's.

The NS have several advantages over the A+, but cost more. NS have standing leak guards, lots of sap, higher capacity. (they're also considerably less comfortable and stiff, and the shell doesn't feel anywhere near as nice as the A+) They're very different diapers, a bit difficult to compare against each other.
 
A+ Level 4 is $90 for a case of 64 ($1.41 per diaper), Northshore Care is $78 for a case of 60 ($1.30 per diaper). I had mentioned that with the free shipping promo they end up being cheaper, if you pay shipping, its about $89 a case, makes the cost about $1.48 per diaper. They've been having the free shipping promo for a while, so with that, it does actually become cheaper. With the size large. It is a bit more for the northshore diapers I suppose, but its only $1.40 for A+ and $1.44 for the Northshores.
 
mattyd said:
A+ Level 4 is $90 for a case of 64 ($1.41 per diaper), Northshore Care is $78 for a case of 60 ($1.30 per diaper). I had mentioned that with the free shipping promo they end up being cheaper, if you pay shipping, its about $89 a case, makes the cost about $1.48 per diaper. They've been having the free shipping promo for a while, so with that, it does actually become cheaper. With the size large. It is a bit more for the northshore diapers I suppose, but its only $1.40 for A+ and $1.44 for the Northshores.

For myself I get my A+ level 4's for $84.50 a case on XP's auto ship every two months. That equates out to $1.32 per diaper. I only use
them for daytime use being on fixed income. I only wear one a day and the rest of the time I wear cloth.
 
I actually like that the Absorbency Plus level 4s don't have leak guards because they are excellent to use as the outer diaper when doubling. Being slightly bigger than the typical medium (in the regular size) is also good for doubling. I am very intrigued by the Northshore diapers too, I will have to try them. But I hate to do that because Xpmedical is an excellent company to do business with!
 
Don't discount the A+ because of lack of leak guards. The level 4's are one of my go to day diapers. Really don't miss the standing leak guards on them myself.
 
Azie said:
Don't discount the A+ because of lack of leak guards. The level 4's are one of my go to day diapers. Really don't miss the standing leak guards on them myself.

I tried a sample back before Gary fixed the tape issues, etc. They better now? I typically won't use a diaper for daytime wear without the leg guards because I have to be active at my job.
 
Lorica said:
I tried a sample back before Gary fixed the tape issues, etc. They better now? I typically won't use a diaper for daytime wear without the leg guards because I have to be active at my job.
I never had tape issues with both the first and second gen absorbancy+ diapers. That said, the refastenable tapes for the second gen are great. It's not that much for a pack of 8, so definitely worth giving the levels 4s another try imo.

I've also never had problems with the lack of leak guards in the absorbancy+ diapers. The first few times I wore them I had leaks on the first wetting while sitting, but then I stopped cinching them up so tightly and never had anymore issues with them. I think they're just very sensitive to the way you tape them on.
 
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