Is it just me, or are Pampers getting progressively crappier?

[Rachels]

The latest two batches we've bought are just icky-- papery and scratchy. The design has clearly changed a little. I thought the switch to the awful bright purple around the edges was bad enough, but these are just gross. Abigail is about to potty train, but I'm starting all over with the next one soon. What gives, I wonder?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
New baby coming in October!
(Holy smokes, it's a boy!!!)


"When you know better, you do better."
Maya Angelou
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

[aliceinwonderland]

Hmm. We cloth diaper part time, but use Pampers for daycare. As far as disposables go, i L O V E Pampers, not the baby dry, but the other kind (whatever it is that comes after swaddlers, you know, that line)...Noticed the slightly diferent design, but no problems here.

[lilycat88]

We've been Cruisers users and the batch we are using now is crap. I didn't notice the paper difference but the fasteners absolutely will not consistently stay put. Two times I've had to run over to DD when one side of the diaper came undone and was hanging out the bottom of her shorts. Lovely.

Jamelin
Mom to Susanna born 6/29/2004

[daisymommy]

I have noticed that over the years disposable diapers have "improved" so much that I hate them! LOL! Which is why we switched to cloth when Joshua was one year old. One thing I can tell you is I have tried every brand out there (including store brands), and we always come back to Pampers Cruisers...no matter how much certain things bug me. But I need a disposable diaper for long outings and nighttime. Good luck finding something that works for you. But I would also pop your head in over at the Baby Butts forum and maybe consider cloth if you don't find something you like ;)

[muskiesusan]

I agree, Rachel. The past couple of bags I have gotten have been the new design and I really don't like them as well (I also hate the purple). Unfortunately, the are the only ones that don't leak for us.

My sister just dropped off a bag of CDs for me to try as a hint. I might have to give them a try.


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[ctmom]

I totally agree that the Pampers Cruisers (purple package) "new and imporved" suck so I called and told them so...they sent me 3 coupons, 2 for a free mega pack and 1 for $5 off, they said they found out after some went out to stores that they don't stay secure but they have fixed the problem...we shall see!

[stcelia]

I have nothing real to add, I just think you are so punny :) I bet you didn't even mean to be.

crappy diappers - haha

[hez]

For everyone who's unhappy, call the 1-800 # or send an email via the website, or do both. And be really specific on what you don't like (whether it's the softness or the fastening or whatever).

They really do pay attention to consumer comments-- and to give it even more oomph, make sure you've got the bag (with the printed code-date) and that'll give 'em even more data to work with on your comments.

You all have the power (seriously!)-- you just need to use it!

[mcdonald29]

The designs on the front of the diaper in our most recent packages of Cruisers are suddenly brighter (boxes purchased from Amazon). Has anyone else noticed that change?

About a year ago the interior of Costco Cruisers had some sort of weird, huge mesh. There was an insert in the box that said they were trying new designs, etc. All the Cruisers users in our baby group hated them -worse absorbancy, more diaper rash. Thankfully I haven't seen those since!

At least with the unique purple designs you can tell who else wears Cruisers, if you ever need a spare :)

[lilycat88]

I got a package of the weird mesh a few months ago at Target or Meijer. Wonder what crevice they dug that package out of!

Thankfully, none since.


Jamelin
Mom to Susanna born 6/29/2004

[daniele_ut]

We used Swaddlers for the first month or two and had no problems and then switched to White Cloud. He NEVER had a rash at all until DH used the sample size 3 Cruisers that were by the changing table (with the new purple stuff). He got a raging rash after 2 of these. I felt SO badly for him! We won't be using those again!

[lizajane]

i believe i see a potential convert in our midst... COME TO THE DARK SIDE, SISTER!!! you will LOVE LOVE LOVE cloth!!!

and if we can't lure you into our club, then try target dipes. i have to use sposies for preschool and church (lucky me, schuyler is potty trained, but for dylan) and i was pleasantly surprised. i tried 'em after cruisers leaked poop EVERY SINGLE TIME dylan pooped while we were out of town at a wedding. and i mean serious leaks... all over OUR clothes...

[caridura]

We just switched to Cruisers from Swaddlers. I didn't know the purple sides were a new thing. I do hate that though because sometimes I think she is poopy and she's not...it's just the darn purple sides!!

Other than that, I am happy with them though. Not as soft as Swaddlers, but they work just as well. No leaks here.

[Rachels]

WHY do you love them? (Cringe. Worried that I'm going to be converted.)

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
New baby coming in October!
(Holy smokes, it's a boy!!!)


"When you know better, you do better."
Maya Angelou
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

[TraciG]

that's so weird I also noticed about the fasteners coming undone, it's like they're not sticky enough, also at the park a couple of weeks ago Sydney's entire diaper was undone in her shorts !

[nov04]

Pampers (not cruisers, can't remember the type) 3 gave dd a huge rash, her second in her whole life. We'll stick to our cheapy no perfume/lotion ones on the rare occasions we use disposables.

[buddyleebaby]

I have no first hand experience with cruisers, but I have heard many are not thrilled with the new design.
As for your new little joy, swaddlers are still great. DD has never had a leak or diaper rash while using them. We had to switch to luvs for a couple of weeks (gift) and she had SO many leaks, I am so glad we're done with those awful things and back to my beloved swaddlers!

On a side note, for you CDing mamas, what do you do when you go on vacation? Do you use disposibles or just carry home the dirty dipes?
Thanks.

[lizajane]

vacation to my parents' house, inlaws' house or my parents vacation home on the outer banks, i carry cloth with me and wash before i leave. vacation to hotels, i use sposies. things like rushing out of town to see my DH's grandpa in hospice care before he died, we used sposies. too important to be worrying about dipes, ya know.

[lizajane]

rubbing hands together like the cartoon villan before he ties the maiden to the tracks...

i LOVE cloth because:

i know that i am not filling the landfill with non-biodegradable plastic containers of human waste.
i know i am not putting chemicals on my babies' sensitive genitals.
i know that i am saving a LOT of money, which allows me to stay at home longer with my children.

those are my first reasons for using cloth- enviroment, money and better for baby.

other reasons- i like the way if feels. the diapers are soft and plush and feel like underwear or clothes instead of like paper and plastic. imagine wearing plastic underwear!! imagine wearing underwear made from a stiff paper bag! i like cute ones, yes. but i have mostly low budget stuff. i do have some fun bright colors and i like matching them to outfits or letting my baby wear just a super cute bright red pocket diaper. a sposie looks like a baby who didn't bother getting dressed, but a baby blue fuzzibunz diaper looks like an outfit! i have a few printed fitteds that make me smile, one with firetrucks and firedogs and the other with hawaiian flowers. kinda like when you put on your fav shirt, even if no one but the grocery store clerk is going to see you. it is just fun to see yourself in the mirror. well, it is just fun to see that print when you change the diaper. and frankly, i like folding diaper laundry. you don't have to. you can just dump it into the washer and then into the dryer and then into a basket to keep by the changing table. but i like to fold it and stack it and put it in little baskets on the changing table. probably not entertaining to fill baskets with sposies, i would imagine.

i love being different. i love when people ask me about them and i can feel proud and special and unique. i can say that i am making a difference to the environment and to my children and to the WAHMs from whom i buy things. (and i make things, so also i make a difference to me because people buy my inserts!)

anyway. i love it. cloth makes me happy. i am totally sincere. i NEVER thing, "oh, i will just throw a sposie on because it is easy." using a sposie makes me sad. i do it as little as possible.

stepping down away from podium now.

and i SWEAR i mean NO offense to sposie users!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i just love MY choice. i do NOT feel any ill-will to those who make a different choice!!!!

[barbarhow]

I am still using pampers for J-I guess the new ones haven't been shipped to maine yet-LOL. Switched to target brand for anna as they are 1/3 the price.

[Rachels]

Damn, you're good.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
New baby coming in October!
(Holy smokes, it's a boy!!!)


"When you know better, you do better."
Maya Angelou
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

[KrisM]

We're currently using Target dipes, too, since the washing machine is out in the garage waiting on our move. I really like those better than anything I've tried.

But, for other reasons to like cloth, I don't like that DS makes noise when he walks in sposies. He crunches :).

Cloth wipes are so nice, too. I only need 1 for most times. I find I need 3 or 4 disposible wipes to do the job - much more smearing involved.

[KrisM]

If we're going to a person's house, I'll do diaper laundry. This has been my ILs so far. If we're going for a short enough time that I can just bring all my diapers, we'll do cloth in a hotel. If we are going for a week in a hotel, I'll use sposies.

[SASM]

Rachel,

As you can guess, I am rarely on her and JUST SAW this post. HUGE congrats on our upcoming little guy!! Abigail must be so excited :)

Hugs,

[boys2enough]

Rachel,

First, congratulations! Wish you a healthy and comfortable pregnancy. :)

We have always used the Cruisers, not sure whether this is the one you are referring to. But I saw the title of your post and I had to vent too on Pampers:

One night G came to our bedroom with his wet diaper weighing oh about 10 lbs. I changed him in the dark in our bed (b/c he was 90% asleep when his head hit the pillow), and I picked up the wet diaper and was bringing it to the bathroom to throw it away. Suddenly THINGS were falling out of the diaper and onto the floor. (I could hear stuff hitting the carpeted floor). I freaked out, thinking, OMG, did I just changed a BM diaper without knowing it? But immediately puzzled (yet relieved) since there was no odor. I felt around on the floor (Yikes I know. I wasn't thinking) and felt some gooey stuff. Now I had to turn the lights on. The filling inside the diaper had fallen out all over the floor! Needless to say I had to drag the vaccum cleaner upstairs to clean this mess up in the middle of the night.

Yikes.

Cheers,
Lin

[JLiebCamm]

To answer your initial post, I think Pampers Swaddlers are still pretty soft, but the Cruisers are definitely crunchy. Less so than Pampers cheaper line, but still pretty stiff and ugly.

But as a recent convert, I can't recommend cloth diapering enough. It seems like a natural transition for you from what I know of your parenting style. I never used cloth with DS but after having two children I got sick of the gross amounts of diapers in my garbage each day. So with the support of the lovely ladies in the Butts section, I tried cloth. And I love it! It's cuter, softer, more economical, better for baby, and better for the environment. You don't have to do it full time either. I actually only intended to do it evenings and weekends but changed my mind quickly. I still take disposables if I'm going to be out and about, but other than that I'm a full time convert.

[daisymommy]

Along with Liza's wonderful explanation of why she loves cloth, let me add:

Cloth diapers rarely leak! (unlike disposables). I have NEVER in 2 years of using cloth diapers ever had a leak!

Joshua has NEVER had a rash while using cloth diapers. But 24 hours in disposables and he is already breaking out in a rash :( 1 day back in cloth and it's gone! Sure, that may mean he has sensitive skin, but doesn't it make you wonder what is in those diapers to cause a rash in the first place?

And repeating Liza:
Softness on your baby's sweet skin :)
Not clogging up the landfills
No nasty chemicals surrounding baby 24/7 for 3 years (yikes!)
Saves you over $1,000 per child!

Here's a link on the diaper boards. We had a discussion awhile back about why we all chose cloth: http://tinyurl.com/8qtud

I LOVE CLOTH!!!
(for Mama's personal needs too ;))

[mudder17]

Wow! ITA with everything Liza said. EVERYTHING. She just said it so much better than I ever could. :)

ETA: The only difference is that I've only used disposables for 2 days in the hospital (first two days of Kaya's life) and it was enough to convince DH and me that we made the right choice with going with cloth.

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[laretce6]

What Liza said :-)

And not totally on topic, but I don't know how you guys do it with disposeables. We're using sposies right now as we're having some plumbing work done and can't use the washer, DH about had a coronary when he saw how much they were (and this was a cheapie pack of wal-mart's white cloud dipes). I'd rather buy clothes for E if I'm going to drop $15 a week.

Caroline
Mama to Eleanor Katherine 8.2.04

[ribbit1019]

I have to fourth (fifth?) the "switch to cloth" recommendation. We love it. Even after all the research and buying of diapers that I did before I had DD, I was still scared of cloth full time when we came home from the hospital. But after a while it has just settled into a routine for us.
I hate buying packs of sposies (so expensive!) but when I do I usually go with Pampers. I use them so infrequently that it would be hard for me to add any discontent with them. I think it has been over a month and a half since I have had any sposies in the house. I like them even less when I think about plastic and paper rubbing on her inner thighs instead of soft fleece. Even the PUL is more comfy than sposies.
Switch! You won't regret it! :)

Christy
Maddy born 06/09/04
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Little Peanut due 03/02/06
http://bd.lilypie.com/K8fum4/.png

[NatalieM]

I am currently using Pampers on DD and I have been debating about switching to cloth as well. I just HATE it when I change her diaper and she has marks on her skin from the dipe (and it's not even on tight!) We buy the huge box of size 1-2 at Sam's, but I'm curious about cost of cloth. I've been poking around in the 'little butt' forum but I still have SO many questions.

Please excuse my highjacking but I figured since there were a lot of cloth diapering mamas getting excited about a possible convert, then I could ask away....

My EBF daughter has real runny bowel movements right now. What exactly do you do when you change cloth diapers? Take the dirty dipe and soak it before putting in the washing machine? I cringe at the thought of washing some of her nasty bowel movement dipes!!!

How many cloth dipes did you purchase to get you started and what was the initial cost? Any good web site recommendations?

I'm off to read through the diaper forum.... Thanks!!

[ribbit1019]

Natalie,
Butts is a great place for info and the mom's there are awesome! Going there is a great idea!
To answer your questions though, from my experience at least:

<My EBF daughter has real runny bowel movements right now. What exactly do you do when you change cloth diapers?>

I changed DD the exact same way as I would be changing a sposie with the exception of having a diaper wet bag instead of trash. Dirty diaper off, clean bottom, diaper in bag (poo and all) new dipe on secure, ta-da! Fuzzi bunz were the easiest option for us. So we have stuck with them.

<Take the dirty dipe and soak it before putting in the washing machine?>

You can soak them if you want too, but you don't have to (I never did) sunlight will get BF poo stains out if there are any. I never had any BF poo stains on my FB (amazing huh?)
I would throw the whole load in the wash (taking the inserts/stuffings out of the FB of course) on cold then a wash on hot. These days both washes are on hot. BF poo will break up in the wash and go down the drain with the water and detergent. If you really don't want to wash the poo you can get a shower that attaches to your toilet and spray it into the toilet and then flush. This may be essential once your DD starts solids.

<How many cloth dipes did you purchase to get you started and what was the initial cost?>

You can get sticker shock from the initial investment. My advice is to start slowly. For my first round of cloth I purchased Prefolds, covers and 18 Fuzzi Bunz the cost was $250 plus tax and shipping. I got a huge deal because at the time the WAHM I went with was giving super deal, Mother of Eden the company that makes FB has recently started putting pressure on her to no longer offer these deals. Each FB is around $14.95 though you can usually find a deal somewhere.
The number you buy depends on how often you want to do laundary. I did laundary every two days when DD was small, now I do laundary every 3-4 days because I am back at work.
Diaperdecisions.com is a good site to look around at and they have a lot of site links on their page to get you started. Also Butts! is a great place to find sites also.

GL!

Christy
Maddy born 06/09/04
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Little Peanut due 03/02/06
http://bd.lilypie.com/K8fum4/.png

[brittone2]

Amen!! Well said :)

[mamahill]

...and, with all the money you'll be saving, you'll be entitled to that stroller you want... jussayin ;)

[mudder17]

Just wanted to encourage you to come on over to Butts! We won't bite, but we might entice you in so you'll never escape. Bwahahahaha! ;)

Seriously, come on over and we'll do our best to answer your questions. The CD101 thread at the top has some links on the bottom for newborn stashes that might give you some ideas for runny poop, so that might be a starting point for you and then you can post more specific questions!

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[kijip]

We used cloth at first (diaper service), switched to disposbles and then switched back to cloth (wash at home). I second everything Liza said about cloth and add that we have used 3 disposibles this weekend, different kinds, and ALL of the them leaked like holy heck...My cloth is much safer in terms of leaks now it seems...

[kijip]

I use cloth on vacation. If visiting family we just wash at their home. If at a hotel for more than 1-2 nights we find a coin-op laundry machine. Many of the mid to low priced chains have coin-ops on site for business travellers.

If I used disposbles on vacation, I would be soaked and unable to have fun. Toby is leaking out of paper diapers right now.