What do you look for in a diaper?

I was gonna make a post asking why almost all of the reviews or opinions about diapers mainly focus on the performance and disregard the looks. It is something that has been on my mind for a while, but as I thought of finally making a post about it I realized why that is.

Over the last two years I've tried several brands of diapers, and the one constant that I look for in a diaper is to make me feel like a toddler or to reinforce that fantasy.
Now some of you may say or may be thinking that the simple fact of wearing one already acomplishes that. Because of that all that is left to talk about is performance and quality of the product.

So wanted to asked instead what do you look for in a diaper.



For me two things that bothers me about most of adult diapers are: 1) The huge wings that covered a lot of the legs on the sides and 2) the excess of padding on the front and back.

These two reasons make it so that adult diapers resemble more granny pants but with padding instead of baby diapers which is actually quite interesting because it's quite possible that is the reason why they look like that.

Because of that it's extremely difficult finding diapers that I don't get frustrated because they don't give the authentic feel of wearing baby diapers. However I found quite recently, four months ago, about the Attends Slip Active (plastic cover) and the Attends Adjustable (cloth-like cover). Both just have a single tape on each side and very little covering on the legs, the latter ones even stretch similar to modern baby diapers. I also like the Tena Maxis a lot.



So, are you content which just wearing something that performs well and feels comfortable or do you try to wear something that more realistic resembles a baby diaper in an adult size?

Also what are diapers that better acomplish what you look for in them?

I mainly care about thickness, absorbancy, and comfort

I like a diaper to feel very bulky, I like to feel enveloped by my diaper as if its wearing me so to speak.

I like a diaper that rises very high in the front and back, I sometimes wear diapers that are size to large but use boosters to fill them out

As far as appearance goes I prefer fairly plain looking diapers like the dry 24/7 or A+, I do enjoy a good printed diaper once and a while however. I just dont like diapers that look or feel as like a piece of medical equipment

Hmm........does a pokemon one count? XD

The main features would be comfort and absorbency. Those are my key factors for a kind of diaper I would want. Bambino's hold the trophy for that pretty much

I've yet to experience any premium diapers...but I can say for sure that crinkle is a big factor me.

In a word, authenticity. I like the back padding to be square cut at the top (unfortunately most modern ADs seem to be rounded at the top). From the rear waistband it should run straight down, rippling horizontally as it goes, to when its roughly inline with the base of the buttocks, when it should abruptly angle inwards as it begins its journey through the legs. The front padding should go as far towards the front waistband as possible; too many cheap diapers fall short of this and expose the dark shadow of your pubic region which spoils the front on effect. I prefer clean white with as little patena as possible, again for the authenticity of the thing. Baby print is nice every now and then, but at times it has felt like I'm wearing a costume rather than a practical appendage.

Oh, and THICK.

For whatever reason, one of the biggest things for me in a diaper (that perhaps is overlooked by a lot of people) is the SAP/pulp ratio.

I simply can't stand diapers that have a higher concentration of pulp, as I don't like the way it absorbs, and hate that pulp heavy diaper seems to clump up horribly and fall already after wearing them for a while. (Yes, Abena--I'm looking at you).

For now, I much more prefer the diapers with a higher amount of SAP, like bambinos (which seem to have the best ratio of SAP to pulp like..ever) , and the new-ish NorthShore supremes.

Strong, sturdy tapes are also very high on the list of importance for me as well, as I usually like diapers pretty snug.

Dan09 said:

For whatever reason, one of the biggest things for me in a diaper (that perhaps is overlooked by a lot of people) is the SAP/pulp ratio.

I simply can't stand diapers that have a higher concentration of pulp, as I don't like the way it absorbs, and hate that pulp heavy diaper seems to clump up horribly and fall already after wearing them for a while. (Yes, Abena--I'm looking at you).

For now, I much more prefer the diapers with a higher amount of SAP, like bambinos (which seem to have the best ratio of SAP to pulp like..ever) , and the new-ish NorthShore supremes.

Strong, sturdy tapes are also very high on the list of importance for me as well, as I usually like diapers pretty snug.

Click to expand...

I understand what you mean two much of one or the other is aweful

Interesting question. I think the most important things are how well the diaper fits, and how well it performs (absorbency, feeling confident about not leaking). Then... the feeling. Nice plastic outer, full-fitting, comfortable, effective leg-cuffs, elasticated waistband... the feeling of the padding.

And last, I suppose, is its appearance. Good tapes are nice, but I've almost resigned myself to using duct tape to reinforce tapes of any quality, so... I can work round that!

Fraldinhas said:

For me two things that bothers me about most of adult diapers are: 1) The huge wings that covered a lot of the legs on the sides and 2) the excess of padding on the front and back.

Click to expand...

Oh... I actually like that. The bigger the coverage, the littler I feel.

mk1rage said:

I like a diaper that rises very high in the front and back, I sometimes wear diapers that are size to large but use boosters to fill them out

Click to expand...

I like high-rise diapers too! But I like them to fit perfectly, so I get the right size for me. Boosters are interesting... I like them occasionally. But mostly they feel a bit weird -- I'd rather just have some super-extra-thick diapers for when I felt the need.

BenzyD said:

I've yet to experience any premium diapers...but I can say for sure that crinkle is a big factor me.

Click to expand...

Crinkles are great, but it's all about the feeling for me. Crinkles are a Brucey-bonus!

Dan09 said:

For whatever reason, one of the biggest things for me in a diaper (that perhaps is overlooked by a lot of people) is the SAP/pulp ratio.

I simply can't stand diapers that have a higher concentration of pulp, as I don't like the way it absorbs, and hate that pulp heavy diaper seems to clump up horribly and fall already after wearing them for a while. (Yes, Abena--I'm looking at you).

For now, I much more prefer the diapers with a higher amount of SAP, like bambinos (which seem to have the best ratio of SAP to pulp like..ever) , and the new-ish NorthShore supremes.

Strong, sturdy tapes are also very high on the list of importance for me as well, as I usually like diapers pretty snug.

Click to expand...

Ha ha -- that's interesting. I quite like pulpy-diapers (so long as they're effective). The Abena's have become (to my mind) quite SAPy now, but they're still one of the best I've tried. They don't feel as good as they used to, but they are comfortable, full-fitting and reliable.

The (recently discontinued?) plastic-backed Tena Maxi Slip was really SAPy. Nice on occasion, but not my favourite.

Absorbancy and comfort is all I really need. Baby prints are nice but if I'm wearing my onesie I don't really care.

Thinking about this question I realized that I like quite a variety of diapers for very different reasons. So it's difficult for me to point out what I'm looking for in diapers. But the other way around should work. What I don't like in diapers:

-Too tight around the crotch: My biggest complaint about the Comficares and similar diapers. It simply doesn't feel comfortable to get your balls squeezed by the expanding SAP. Maybe my anatomy is weird, but there are a lot of other diapers, even highly absorbent ones, that are a lot 'roomier'.

-Too absorbent: That is, diapers that are half-used after a 12hours+ stint. I mean, I wear for fun and I like a filled diaper, but it feels like wasting money not using the diaper to its limits while it's also yucky to sit in your own waste for more than 6 hours. On the other hand, wearing a thick diaper still has its perks, even if you don't use it to its capacity.

-Not absorbent enough: Just the other way around, but I also can't get my head around the idea, that someone who is dependend would actually be happy with a diaper, that needs to be changed every 2 or 3 hours. If you're loosing so little urine, that such a diaper would be ok, I would argue you don't need diapers at all.

-Leg cuffs that don't seal the area around the buttocks properly: This might also be an anatomical limit of my body, but there are certain diapers that will leak long before reaching their full capacity simply because there's a huge gap where the legs meet the butt.


As far as aesthetics go: I don't like the colours of most of them. And it's always the same pattern, either solid white, baby blue, pink, violet (which is ok), light green, or a combination of white + coloured stripes. I mean, diapers are huge, why not use the plain area of the backing to print something nice on it. It doens't have to babyish, something in some way pleasing to the eye would be enough. Another thing I really don't like from an optical standpoint are hybrids: Either make them plastic or cloth backed, not both at the same time.


Apart from that, almost anything goes, variety to me is more important than sticking to one type of diaper or hunting for the perfect one for ever.

First and foremost for me is does the diaper work! My this I mean does it fit and absorbs fast enough and has a large enough volume for me.

Once this is satisfied, the next two things I look for are thickness and plastic. I do like a diaper that is thick when dry. If it gets thick when wet, that is ok but I prefer a diaper to start out thick.

Finally I do like a diaper with a girly baby design.

There are few diapers that meet all of these criteria but that is the fun of trying new and different diapers - finding just the one that best fits me.

My favorite type of diaper is nice and thick for two reasons. The absorbency and also the fell of the thickness itself. I like plastic pack because of the smooth feel and the crinkly noise. Tabs are necessary in the diaper changing possess.

Sometimes i do feel like wearing a pull up style. Usually the tena mens underwear these aren't thick or plastic backed or tabs but i do enjoy were them for a different experience.

I look for, thickness, absorbancy, cute prints and how loud the diaper crinkles. I have yet to find a diaper that has everything that I look for in a diaper, Abena M4 has been the closest but it does no have any cute prints.

For me I would say what I look for in a diaper is being able to hide them under clothes, being able to absorb two or more nearly full wettings, and being reasonably priced.

What I want and need in a diaper is lots of absorbancy, lots of thickness/poofyness and they need to be very comfortable. I use Abena M4s and alone they are great but I started buying the Abena abri-let maxis and they add sooo much more absorbancy and thickness and are very soft.
I wear 24/7 and at first I thought the boosters were so bulky people might notice, but a month and a half passed and I stopped caring about other people noticing.

from my vision, my diaper needs to give the feeling of the past. although I was most in cloth diapers. It must give me the feeling to be little again and see the adult diapers not really as a alternitive. Here the pull-ups or diapers youth

I agree on absorbancy... If the diaper isn't used up, I feel disappointed. I want my enjoyments worth and moneys worth. I have to say that when diapers are too tight in the legs, I can't even sleep or sit in them... I like leak guards best because it makes me feel babyish.

My diapers have to perform well in terms of fit - they have to "feel right" once they're on - and absorbency, and hold up without sagging/tapes coming off/padding clumping or other not-so-funny things.

So far I have found Abena M4s to be the ones that do the job best for me, they feel like they were tailored on me, tapes are great, endlessly refastenable, and they can be discrete enough to be worn under a suit, or become poofy and heavy-duty with the addition of an AbriLet. And I love their blue stripes look! There are some other brands that I do like, such as Dry 24/7 (super thirsty and comfy, great-looking and nicely crinkly), or Tena (perfect for discrete, short-term wear), but one way or the other they all have a few downsides.

Jonnythepony said:

What I want and need in a diaper is lots of absorbancy, lots of thickness/poofyness and they need to be very comfortable. I use Abena M4s and alone they are great but I started buying the Abena abri-let maxis and they add sooo much more absorbancy and thickness and are very soft.
I wear 24/7 and at first I thought the boosters were so bulky people might notice, but a month and a half passed and I stopped caring about other people noticing.

Click to expand...

I couldn't have said it better The added absorbency of an Abri-Let in a M4 is well worth the added poof especially when one is out and about without a chance to change for a while. That's by far my favorite combo. Discreteness-wise, it's all a matter of choosing the right clothes: with a comfy fitting pair of jeans you can easily get away with a boosted Dry 24/7s without anybody having a clue!