What Diaper should I Start out with?

[NickofNewjersey]

This summer, I'm planning on going down to the shore with family. At the shore, allot of the stores are in biking distance. (I have a bike there). Any way I'm already getting excited because the summer's coming up fast. So I took a look at the 'Diaper reviews' Wiki. The Abena X-plus looks amazing, and I've heard some good news about it in a thread. yesterday, my mom was going to the pharmacy and I decided to tag along. I slowly strolled past the diaper isle, until I got up the courage to walk through. All I was Depends, Attends, Assurance, and some smaller brand. I Wondering how likely it is to find Abena X-Plus in stores? If I go to a store on vacation, and I don't have a good selection, What should I get? I heard allot of bad things about Depends, except for maximum protection. So my real question here is what brand SHOULDN'T I get.

 

[hen]

don't get depends, very uncomfortable, only ones in a store that are plastic, buy walgreens brand with two tabs on each side

 

[Ace]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is nearly impossible to find Abena X-plus on the shelf in your local pharmacy. The only type of store that might have them would be a medical supply store, which most larger towns have one - you can do a quick search on yellowpages to see. Otherwise, attends are generally the best you can get in a store, and even then they are hard to find. Other than that, the best that you are likely to find are the Depend Maximum Protection - these are the plastic backed ones with the tapes, however even these seem to be becoming harder to find as stores are taking up more shelf space with the new Depend's gender-specific pullups, which I can't really comment on as I have yet to try them. I can say that the previous generation pullup from depend was disappointing.

However, you may want to find out if you have a Wal-mart nearby, as you can order Molicares through their website, and pick it up at the store, or so I hear.

 

[hen]

the plastic backed depends are crap, they hold a small amount of wetting and they start to smell and the clumps that are supposed to hold the urine fall out because the stitching is done so bad, making them leak, i may try the bigger size if that makes a difference

 

[Trevor]

the plastic backed depends are crap, they hold a small amount of wetting and they start to smell and the clumps that are supposed to hold the urine fall out because the stitching is done so bad, making them leak, i may try the bigger size if that makes a difference

Can't say that's been my experience. They are definitely not a heavy-duty diaper as most AB/DLs would reckon, but I've found them to do the job adequately in the look and feel department, also being cheap, and up until the release of the male/female pull-up variety, pretty easy to find. If I'm only inclined to wear for a short time, they're the one I'd use.

To the original question, Abena X-Plus are quite thick, but I don't care for the clumping and their taping system annoys the heck out of me (tapes tend to pop off, and I just find the little landing strip design inelegent). Secure X-Plus are not as thick but seem to be pretty much on par for absorbancy (probably a little less), clump less, and have an excellent taping system that allows for adjustment. Alas, these are all products you'll have to find online.

 

[Darkfinn]

Your best bet will be to travel around to the pharmacies you can reach and see what they stock. It really depends on what kind of town you are in... you might have a good selection... you might not.

 

[bobbyjeff]

If all you have is chain stores, you are most likely only going to find the inexpensive mass produced brands. Depends will work, but for the price you should try some of the local store brands, ie, Wal-greens/Assurance/Rite-aid etc. They will hold just as much as a Depends for half the price. If you can find Tena, their "Super" and "Ultra" line of fitted briefs aren't terrible.

Dark's suggestion is about the best. It takes a little confidence, but once you've done it a time or two its no biggy. You might be surprised by the local pharmacies and medical supply places. I'm kind of a diaper hobbiest and I like to find off label stuff and other new things I've never seen before if just to see how they turn out.

 

[soren456]

I agree that you are unlikely to find really good diapers at an American drugstore.

Except: I've noticed that pharmacies associated with hospitals or large medical clinics sometimes have better-quality diapers for sale. Check those out if they exist where you're going.

 

[Envy]

If your planning on going biking in them you don't want X-Plus anyways. Too thick, it would probably get uncomfortable.

 

[Anon E. Mouse]

I like the Walgreens brand. CVS, Walgreens. Just get the generic ones they have. They're actually pretty good. But with the generic brand make sure you find the ones that say adjustable. So much better fit when you can do it yourself.

 

[NickofNewjersey]

Dark's suggestion is about the best. It takes a little confidence, but once you've done it a time or two its no biggy. You might be surprised by the local pharmacies and medical supply places. I'm kind of a diaper hobbiest and I like to find off label stuff and other new things I've never seen before if just to see how they turn out.

Hmmmmmmm...... OMG, There's a Medical supply store on the highway near my school! I totaly forgot! Well actually I did check that place out once, but it was a while ago. At the time I was going through the whole 'binge purge' thing so I was getting really nervous when I saw the huge packages of diapers on the shelves, plus I was with my mom. If only I had looked to see if they had Abena X-plus! (If I even knew they existed (or even if I had known I was a DL)) :wallbash:

Anyway.... I think it would be cool to call them up some time and ask!
Now, this store is NOT in biking distance. But my bus route goes right past the store so maybe I can get the number down!

 

[MilesBabyhound]

Very lucky you guys are able to get Attends, around here its just Depend and Tena, plus store brands. I recommend using either a plastic backed Attend to be honest...a little better than Depend Maximum..with isn't too bad either. Also, I hear Wallgreens makes some good cheap fitted briefs too

EDIT: Check out the Medical supply place!!!!! They may have some high quality products there ^^

 

[NickofNewjersey]

Very lucky you guys are able to get Attends, around here its just Depend and Tena, plus store brands. I recommend using either a plastic backed Attend to be honest...a little better than Depend Maximum..with isn't too bad either. Also, I hear Wallgreens makes some good cheap fitted briefs too

EDIT: Check out the Medical supply place!!!!! They may have some high quality products there ^^

I saw attends in the pharmacy, just to be certain, on vacation should I get the depends, tena, or, attends?

 

[dprdinky]

The other option, Is iyou can go online at Walmart where you can order Molicares and have them delivered to the closest location where you live this summer.

 

[BadPenny]

If you don't want to order online, I would suggest finding a pharmacy that's off the beaten track- one that's not part of some chain like Wal Mart or other supermarket, or a chain pharmacy. The chains tend to carry only Depends (which suck) and their own house brand (which is rarely any better) and very little else. The sometimes carry Tena, which is a bit better, but most stores stock Tena brands with the cloth-like backing, and not the plastic-backed ones, which may or may not be important to you.

Pharmacies that are small independent stores are a bit of a crap shoot- you don't know what they're going to have, but I've found Attends at many of these out-of-the-way places. Other good places to shop are medical supply stores. Most of these places are like small warehouses that carry wheelchairs, and bathtubs and everything under the sun when it comes to supplies, and they have often a generous selection of diaper brands. They may even ship to your home, but you'll have to push them to be discreet. You're better off buying what you need and taking it with you, if that's a concern.

 

[Darkfinn]

If you want plastic backed diapers see if you can find "Attends with Waistband" or "Attends Retail Brief" otherwise the rest of the Attends and Tena products will be cloth backed. Both are still better than Depends, so it all... well... depends... on what you are after.

You can also check the attends website for stores in your area that carry their products.

In situations like this your best friend is the telephone. Look up medical supply shops in the phone book and call them to see what they carry.

 

[galf32]

I'd go with attends, i wear the Attends breathable diapers during the day time, and bambinos at night. Attends are very comfortable to wear.

 

[barkd74]

If you plan on purchasing locally in a touristy area your selection is going to be minimal at best. You will unlikely find any "premium" diapers on store shelves. I would plan on ordering what you want ahead of your trip and pack what you think you will wear. If you are able to find Depend Max you and increase it's absorbency by using a baby diaper or pull-up (Goodnites work well) as a stuffer.

If you are staying for a few days and want to purchase from a local pharmacy they can special order diapers for you. Most chain (including Walgreens) and independent pharmacies order products from Cardinal Health. Here is a link of what they can order for you: h++p://www.cardinal.com/us/en/distributedproducts/index.asp?cat=med_surg-orig&ID=Medical%20and%20Surgical%20Products;Urology;Incontinent%20Care;

Just beware that you might have to order whole cases and that might be hard to bike around with.

 

[wayward1]

Yeah if your choices are between the depends, tena, or attends. I would get the attends. they are the best out of the 3 in my opinion.

 

[barkd74]

One brand is not necessarily better than another. Tena, and Attends offer a huge range in their diapers wear as Depends only has 1. If you can I would check out their websites. Tena has free samples. Attends also has a store locator. I would still call first to check what they have in stock before going to the store though.

Tena come in Classic Plus, Super, Ultra, and Tena Flex, Stretch Ultra

Attends come in 8,9,10 extended wear, Breathable, 4 or 6 tape (lots of options here.) Personally I would stay away from the 8's... I think they are worse than Depends.