New Diaper Duds and Disasters

Ah the anticipation of a new hitherto untried diaper arriving at your doorstep. Will it perform exactly as described? Will it fit me just right? Will it magically transport me back to when I was two? You rip the package open and pull the new diaper out and...

If you've worn and purchased more than one type of diaper for any length of time, you know what I'm talking about. And, if you're like me and you've worn dozens of types of disposable and reuseable diapers over the years, you probably have stumbled on to more than a few duds and disasters. These are diapers or waterproof pants that don't fit you well, leak like a sieve and maybe even hurt you when wearing them. Here's a brief list of some of mine from the mildly annoying to the "Oh hell no."

Rearz Safari (Med) - Thick and thirsty they were matey, arggh. Way too big on me. I didn't care for the plastic either. It reminded me of a shower curtain. Okay, that was probably a surprise for some people. Not a deal breaker, but I wasn't impressed.

Snap-Ez All-in-One (Med) - Too wide in the legs and small on the waist. This reuseable diaper did not fit my body type. Relegated to the rarely worn pile and eventually discarded.

Suprima Plastic Pants (Med)- OMG. If they had been a little tighter they would have cut my legs off! A lot of plastic pants can have a tendency to leave marks, these were leaving wounds.

Tranquility ATNs (Med) - Purchased a case years ago from Magic Medical. Opened them up, looked at them and immediately sent them back. Yes, they took the whole case back and gave me a refund. I can't remember now what I disliked about them, but it must have been pretty bad.

Angel Fluff Gauze Diaper - Ordered a medium or so I thought. They were extremely thin and covered me like a blanket. Also relegated to the rarely worn pile and eventually used as a rag. They didn't last long as a rag.

DPF Cloud Pants - This was nearly 30 years ago and some of the stuff DPF sold via their mailed catalogue (yes mailed) was actually pretty good. These pants looked like grandma Huggins was learning how to sew. Leg openings were too wide, plastic was brittle and stitching was coming lose everywhere. I think I tossed them in the garbage after trying them on for the first time.

Come on ADISCers, what have been your new diaper duds and disasters!

My biggest disappointment would be the atn’s followed up by the original super dry kids, then the attends 10 w/ waist band.

I feel I just have sizing issues. Mediums fit me the best but tend to not FULLY fit me all the way and if I tightly seal myself in I feel it cuts into me a bit much and if not then I leak. The next step up a Large is FAR to big for me to fit in snugly but great as a kind of cover above other diapers.

Then again I only tried the ABU-Preschool as a Large so whether this defines the others is beyond me, but so far Mediums are my size.

Rearz Princess has been the best by far, but I would assume has the same backing as safari, not a smooth plastic, but while not perfect makes it feel more durable and I prefer that.

I haven't had too many issues with diapers and I think it is simply sizing for me that has been an issue.

I have had more problem with the tape on Bambino brands though. ABU I am still up in the air about as I have tried one type as Medium Two tape and the other as large four tape...I did like the two tape but the complaints i have i feel are more on taping myself up in.

Hope this opinion can help.

Tena Slip Maxi. I used these from when they first launched in Australia (no idea if they were elsewhere b4 they brought them here), they were made in Europe (Denmark from memory) in 2 huge bags per carton and were not only amazing but got better and better over the years until finally they swapped them with ones made in Asia which were complete trash, covered in melted patches, wouldn’t contain moisture, tiny tapes, padding that often was well below the taping panel.

Abena M4. I swapped to these once Tena went to trash and grudgingly used them always hoping for less war paint and an upgrade to a taping panel, nope no upgrade they went cloth like backed which just leaked right through and to add insult to injury they had sticky tapes which wouldn’t hold more than a few seconds. Damn joke sent me back to Tena Slip and whatever else I could scrounge that would accept a booster.

Rearz lol Squirtz. I was so excited to have another single tape per side diaper, I know they were expensive but was really keen to get them into the mix, sure I thought the graphics aren’t perfect and the plastic hard but they look better on than off... I get this maybe isn’t their fault but within a few minutes of wearing I got extremely itchy (down there) and my asthma kicked in. I lasted a couple of hours before I took it off and had the worst rash imaginable, each time I managed to finally get rid of the rash I would give them another shot but same result until finally the last one I tried I only lasted a couple of minutes.

Bambino UltraStretch, when I received these and the Magnificos I was blown away at how impressive they were but by morning had big rash marks where it was most against my skin. It took me ages on here but I finally found someone to take them.

For me it'd be the Bambino Magnifico Pull-ups. They're basically a large long booster with leak guards and shell art stuck inside a hair net with leg holes. Fit is terrible, as is look and feel.

Wow Argent my story is similar and as an Aussie we must have had same imports etc. the Tena slip maxis were fantastic in every way but the new ones aren’t much better than abena and similar story the old plastic version was ok but the new cloth like are absolute rubbish.
Depends have had a mix over the years and a generally crap but I itch like crazy with all depend briefs except pull-ups but they are a waste of time as well.
AMD are reasonably soft but fit is bad for me the large sag and leak and the mediums I can’t do up. And they weep through not as bad as abena but close enough.
The one odd standout for me was the wellness superio, I loved these they worked great comfy reliable etc but can’t get them anymore.
I totally love ABU peakabu and ultra simples they are the most incredible diaper I have ever worn and hope they never change just wish they were more affordable.
Bambino magnificos are lovely but I’ve only tried large and they were too big and would leak, I would like to try mediums but am put off by the Velcro tapes I just found they didn’t work great and I tore a number way too easy.
I have just ordered tykable overnights due to arrive tommorow so keen to see how they go.


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Spaz said:

Tranquility ATNs (Med) - Purchased a case years ago from Magic Medical. Opened them up, looked at them and immediately sent them back. Yes, they took the whole case back and gave me a refund. I can't remember now what I disliked about them, but it must have been pretty bad.

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I used to consider these a premium diaper. Around 2000, Tranquility ATN and Molicare were among the best, and I bought them regularly.

Now, though... I recently got back into diapers after some years away (it's complicated), and have been enjoying today's premium brands like ABU and Crinklz. I ordered some Tranquility ATN for old times' sake, to see if they were as good as I remembered, and for possible use outside the house. Well, they're not -- these are very much outdated now. I saturated one yesterday while in my recliner, and when I stood up the wee ran down my pajama legs. The padding was unpleasantly bunched, too.

Tranqs served me well at the turn of the century, but by today's standards, they're little better than drugstore brands.

I've been back into diapers for the past two years so I can't comment on quality changes over the years.

I like the North Shore tabbed diapers so I ordered a case of the pull ons. Mistake, they are as absorbent as normal underwear. Sugaring it might be a bit problem, I tried again with underwear over it. Still bad.

Sam's Club sells a tabbed diaper and last year the design was changed to give a better fit. I'm probably the only one who liked the flexible tab design. It took a few tries to get it right. Light to medium absorbency.

Tranquility ATN are great and if you search around you can get them cheap.

Abena M-4 is my overnight diaper and holds a lot. I really filled it this morning.

I use the Tena women's pull ons and they are fine for moderate use.

ComfiDry 24-7 is a great overnight diaper.

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Auto correct has a mind of its own. "Figuring that it might be a fit problem".

Seasonedcitizen said:

Tranquility ATN are great and if you search around you can get them cheap.

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I disagree with that and agree with others that have posted here mentioning their disappointment with ATN's. People talked them up so much (and some still do) that I expected something else. I was exceptionally disappointed with them when I ordered some for the first time. They are utter garbage. The plastic is exceptionally thin and cheap, the pad is exceptionally small compared to the available area, and I hated the asymmetrical distribution of padding. There's a reason they can be found for so cheap. I think Depend plastic backed are a better product...by miles.

I'm hanging onto my two Snap-EZ medium AIOs for dear life. They do okay without a liner, but I usually use a baby prefold to give them more absorbency.

My epic disasters include almost every store brand I've ever tried, UrInControl's AIO Maxi Briefs (bought two - a $100 mistake!) and AFDC's prefolds.

Back in the early 1990s, I bought prefolds from Edley in the Northeast. How I wish I could find those nowadays! There wasn't anything particularly elegant about the Edley diapers, but the worked well. I had several pair of 'rubber duckies' via DPF that I wore with them. Every other cloth alternative I've tried is deficient in one way or another.

Bambinos was the one i had most issues with splitting , and ocasionaly M4 would split on the bum From top to bottom , plastic would rip
Not bad when dry but when out and wet ... Got me annoyed : had few cases with the double tapes m4 stuck to the back wing , making them rip if they were tried to taken off the plastic shell , Got a refund but i figured out a heat gun would fix my issue so i dint waste them , other the outer shell ink that rubed off and few brands that have crappy lower tapes i cant remember otehr issues

I haven't had too many bad experiences overall. I think the more difficult things are clothes. Way back with DPF, I ordered a sleeper that wasn't cheap and I was very disappointed when I got it that it was too big and the material didn't feel right. It was exactly what I ordered but I didn't know much back then and the pics on the site weren't very clear. I got desperate enough some time later to try them again with their different style and was much more satisfied. The first onesie I ordered from them also fell short, although again, it was exactly what I ordered. The print was cute but the lap neck never really wanted to sit flat and it was really big at the neck. It was also on the small side but barely manageable. I learned from the failure and went forward.

For diapers, I think the only thing that really bit me was when Bambino started offering Total Dry Plus diapers. I had really liked the diaper they offered in that slot back when they were Secure Plus. They were essentially a Cadillac version of a Depends/ATN level diaper. There was a big introductory sale, so I took a flyer and ordered a case. I know some people like these but they were not at all like the ones I remembered and I suddenly had a lot of diapers (72) that didn't meet my criteria for a fun product. I knew I should get a sample first but the sale would have been over by the time I knew for sure. Live and learn.

My biggest dud was Abena M4s. Tapes pulled off, leaked all over the place, weeped through the backing. What a waste of money that was.

I don’t remember what brand it was (Certianty maybe) but fit was horrible and it didn’t hold much. That was probably my worst experience ever. My personal favaorite though: Abena Abri-form M4.

Abena swapping X-Plus for the vastly inferior M-4 with no warning was bad but Tena changing their decent plastic backed slip to a cloth-like version that fell to pieces over night was the worst.

A few wasted dollars here.

1. Bambino Teddy(the very first iteration). The tapes were not sticky and the landing zone was barely attached to the diaper. Only solution was duct tape.
2. Tena Slip Maxi-- I bought a sample pack and they fit great. I bought a case and the tapes were too close together. It made it impossible to get a good fit.
3. Original Snuggies--- some of the tapes came apart(you couldn't open some of the tapes) but worse, there was one bag that had tiny pinprick holes all over the diapers. They leaked badly.
4. Plastic pants from "BabyPants.com". The elastic wasn't stitched to the vinyl in certain places. Asked for a refund, and new pants were sent. Same problem. Asked again and I got an angry email saying that it was my fault.


Lesson learned... don't preorder diapers.

My ultimate dud that had my hopes up was Wellness Supreme. This was back when they first came out and were touted as a NASA diaper, not just "inspired by" as they are now too. They were supposed to be super absorbent and able to last the longest while absorbing the most of any other diaper. Wow was that an oversell. Half the time they leaked with just one flooding. The other half they clumped up, sagged, and generally felt wetter than they should have. I haven't come close to being that frustrated and disappointed with any other diaper since. Not even the truly crappy ones, which I expect to be crappy.