(Dissertation ahead.)
For those who've missed my previous PSAs: Pampers reduced the sizes of all of their diapers this last year. The only P&G diaper that seems to have escaped is Luvs 6,
which is now larger than all Pampers baby diapers. There never was a Pampers size 6 or 7 diaper that was physically larger than contemporary Luvs diapers, and even when Cruisers 7 first came out, they were no larger than Baby Dry 6 or Luvs 6. People always grab onto the larger size numbers (7!!), but...
tape measures are better. (Unfortunately, a forum software update shortly after that post invalidated all the image links. D'oh!)
I picked up some
Parent's Choice 7 diapers today--the latest diapers with the red/green Christmas print on them. The measurements are:
- Length when stretched completely flat: 22.25 inches
- Tape-to-tape with tapes unfolded but elastic wings not stretched at all: 16.25 inches
- Crotch width when stretched completely flat: 9 inches
- Taping panel width: 7 inches
I then reached for a fresh
Luvs 6 diaper, purchased from the very same Walmart. The measurements were as they have been for years:
- Length when stretched completely flat: 22.25 inches (identical)
- Tape-to-tape with tapes unfolded but elastic wings not stretched at all: 15.25 inches (one inch shorter)
- Crotch width when stretched completely flat: 9 inches (identical)
- Taping panel width: 7 inches (identical)
You'll notice that the only place where the Parent's Choice diaper was larger was in the unstretched tape-to-tape measurement. Although that
sounds important, a better question is: Which can be stretched furthest?
Unfortunately, I'm not (yet) the best to judge this. As an "old hand" when it comes to stretching P&G diapers, I can stretch the back of the Luvs 6 diaper out to 38 inches tape-to-tape. If you don't believe me,
here's Cruisers 7 that I stretched out to a full meter--over 39 inches.
I spent some time playing with a Parent's Choice size 7 diaper just now, and...I did my best, but I couldn't get the tape-to-tape measurement past 32 inches without the tapes tearing away from the elastic, and I was being very careful.
So, although I may revise this later, here are a couple more measurements:
- Cottontail's best tape-to-tape, maximum stretch Parent's Choice 7 measurement: 32 inches
- Cottontail's best tape-to-tape, maximum stretch Luvs 6 measurement: 38 inches (6 inches longer)
Now, the Parent's Choice elastic is constructed a bit like Huggies elastic, despite that the diapers are otherwise much closer in construction to Pampers/Luvs. Given this, it's
probably possible to hyper-extend the tapes using a flat iron, which is a trick I've used on Huggies before. But that's a lot of trouble.
In the end, while I'm sure this wrecks Christmas for a few of you, I'm forced to conclude that
Parent's Choice 7 is probably not, in any way relevant to ABDL use, larger than Luvs 6.
---
Buuuuutttt...
All that said, I have to mention something about these Parent's Choice diapers that I really like: The elastic on the wings is not only much sturdier than on Pampers (the cloth-like exterior doesn't easily peel off), it's also very compatible with the Velcro on the tabs. Why does this matter? Well, it means that you can tear the wings off of one of these diapers and...voila! Diaper extenders! Super handy. For that reason, I'll still declare these to be among the more ABDL-friendly baby diapers, as even the larger-waisted among us can put them on without much effort (rise issues aside). Not sure yet if I'll be buying more when my box runs out, but so far, I'm definitely enjoying them!
1.785693 thumbs up!
Toodles!
~Cottontail