My Story
Once again, we touch on the topic of pampers vs huggies diapers. Before you read my review, please hear my story. My daughter is currently 18 months old, and I am currently using Huggies little movers combined with pampers swaddlers. As you might already know, I used to be a big pampers swaddlers fan. I thoroughly explained the reason in my other article, Huggies VS Pampers Reviews – For Year 2016, I am still a pampers swaddlers fan, but unfortunately I can no longer rely on on them to solve all my problems.
If I had a choice, I would be a pampers swaddler user forever. Reality is just too cruel to me, because I reached a changing point in my daughter’s development. She is now walking so the pampers swaddlers tend to sag. It is the sad truth. I tried solving the sagging problem by making my daughter wear only onesies (baby overalls with buttons near the diaper area) to try to secure the diapers and prevent them from sagging. Unfortunately, clothing is very flexible material, so instead of holding the diaper up, they “stretched” and sagged down along with her swaddlers.
The problem with diaper sagging is a bigger than you think, because it influences the absorption ability of the diaper. Normally the pee pee hot spot is located right next to the source of the pee. However, now that the diaper has sagged, the hot spot (which is almost the strongest absorption point of the diaper) has also sank. This is why that even my daughter was suffering from leak problems while using pampers swaddlers.
My wife and I originally decided to try “pampers cruisers” since they are technically the diapers that fights sagging by contouring to the baby’s waist and thigh locations. That was a horrible decision, because my daughter started developing this giant rash in her private area. We tried all the creams, but they had minimum effects on it. Surprisingly, even aquaphor did little to relieve it.
Later on, we switched to huggies little movers. Unfortunately, they weren’t that much better. The rash that developed from the cruisers before disappeared, but occasionally, my daughter’s private area will turn firey red. We could avoid the redness developing if we change her diapers often enough. However, it is not easy to change her diapers, since she is a super wiggly, and fussy whenever we try.
In the end, we combined pampers swaddlers along with huggies little movers. The idea is to let her use little movers during the day when she is running around, and to use swaddlers at when it is her nap time. The swaddlers makes the redness completely disappears, and the little movers prevents the sagging.
Which Contains Blowouts Better?
In terms of blowouts, there is really no winner between Huggies and Pampers. In my opinion, they both do a fairly good job. My daughter has been through several “close calls” where the poop almost made its way out of the back of the diaper. Of course, you almost can not tell when you look at diaper on the outside. You will notice it the moment you unwrap the diaper.
My wife and I have each taken turns changing my daughter’s poopy diapers whenever we smell it in the air. There were many times where Lilyanna’s poop almost reached the waistline on her back. It was literally one inch below the top of the waistband. Fortunately, these close calls were way more common than actual blowouts so plenty of times, pooped were contained in the diapers rather than leaking out.
This close call situation happened pretty often whether we used Huggies or Pampers with our daughter. It can’t be helped after all, because disposable diapers are not entirely flexible like cloth. They are partially inflexible plastic. Fortunately, there never enough blowouts that got serious enough to force us to rely on cloth diapers.
Another common area where blowouts can happen is down one of the thighs. That didn’t happen too many times whether we used pampers or huggies. Occasionally, it can happen if we didn’t wrap the diaper correctly by pulling out the “frills” at the thigh gusset area.
There’s no perfect diaper in this world. Every single type of diaper will have a chance of a blowout leak. It is a matter of luck, and prevention combined. Things you can prevent are factors like:
- Diaper fit (if the size is too big or too small, the poop will leak out)
- Correct diaper wrap (if its not wrapped correctly, there will be gaps)
- The types of food the baby ate (fruits, and watery foods tends to cause diarrhea)
- The types of foods the breastfeeding mother ate (passes on to the baby)
- Oversupply of breastmilk (yes, that is actually possible and it causes bleeding too)
- Infection (your baby might be sick)
- Allergies (to the food that your baby is eating or breastfeeding mother is eating)
Luck is one thing, but prevention usually helps a lot. My daughter hasn’t had a blowout for a very long time (almost a year). The last time we had a blowout was when I wrapped the diaper wrong. I forgot to pull out the frills where the diaper wraps around the thighs. This created a big enough gap for the poop to flow out one of her legs. As you imagined, I had to wash those poopy clothes by hand (oh, poor me).
In other words, no matter what diaper you use, even cloth diapers, if you don’t do the right prevention, blowouts will be your problem no matter what whether it is Huggies or Pampers.
Which Has Better Fit?
When it comes to fit, you will have to experiment on your own to find out which diaper works for you. When it comes to fitting, it is all about proportions between your baby’s butt size and thigh size. Generally speaking, Pampers are more for babies with bigger butts, and Huggies are meant for babies with thicker thighs.
When my daughter grew bigger, her thighs got a lot thicker too. Her legs are so tough, then when she kicks me (by accident of course), it hurts a lot. However, whether it was pampers or huggies, both diapers fit her just fine. You can tell that a diaper fits well if there are barely ever any leaks. Fitting is important because it seals the “mess” into the diaper.
Maybe back then, Pampers and Huggies contour to different baby shapes, but I believe that is slowly changing. Pampers and Huggies are slowly changing their diaper designs (sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way) to fit all babies better. In terms of fit, I would say that both diapers are on equal ground.
Which Diaper Is Softer?
Things might have been different back then, but nowadays, both Huggies and Pampers are pretty soft on the inside. The outside is still hard plastic, which makes sense unless you want your baby’s pee to penetrate the exterior. Personally, I feel that Pampers swaddlers is the softest to the touch. It is no wonder my daughter almost never develop diaper rashes while using it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Huggies diapers are soft too, but they are not as soft. If I have to describe it, pampers swaddlers is like soft cotton balls, and Huggies is like a soft mattress. You know what is ironic? Huggies has more “cotton content” compared to Pampers. I don’t really understand how that works either. Maybe it is the method used to manufacture the cotton is the secret as to why Pampers can be softer than Huggies with less cotton.This is analogical to car tires. It is not solid rubber. It has air in it which makes it run smoothly.
Which Diaper Has Better Locks?
When I talk about locks, I am talking those sticky tabs that keeps the diaper wrapped on your baby. Back then, there were variety of sticky tabs that differentiate Pampers and Huggies. However, nowadays, they both use velcro. So technically, they are both on equal ground most of the times when it comes to locks.
However, the interesting thing is the Huggies little movers. Instead of one pair of velcro tabs, they have two pairs of velcro tabs. These are very interesting. It is pretty helpful because you get two times the grip along the length. If I have to describe how these tabs work, I would say that the normal velcro tabs are little hands that wraps the diaper tightly. The extra grips are like sticky armpits that assists the hands with wrapping.
these two grip strips don’t touch each other
While Huggies little movers double velcro lock might seem cool, you can love it or hate it. You will love it if you sort of “get” the technique to wrapping the diaper. It really does become a lot more secure. However, you will hate it if you are clumsy and have trouble wrapping diapers. The extra velcro might get in the way sometimes when you are are wrapping, and you get the wrapping angles wrong. Nevertheless, if you are good at wrapping, and you practiced a lot, then this could become your favorite feature.
Which is Better For Rashes?
Pampers, specifically the swaddlers are the best when it comes to avoiding rashes. Of course, diaper rashes don’t depend entirely on the diaper itself. However, if you use pampers swaddlers, you can avoid diaper rashes 99% of the time.
If you want to avoid diaper rashes, the following should also be done right:
- Don’t wait too long to change a diaper. (You would be able to tell that you waited too long if the diaper is heavy like a brick)
- You must change your baby’s diaper after she has pooped immediately.
- Try to limit the amount of citrus fruits and vegetables to your baby (like oranges, tomatoes for example)
- Check with your doctor to see if your baby has any food allergies. Avoid foods that your baby is allergic to.
Which Diaper is Better For Overnight?
Both Pampers and Huggies are pretty good when it comes to keeping your baby dry overnight. The swaddlers does a slightly better job. When I wake up in the morning, my daughter is completely dry in the swaddlers. As for the Huggies, I see a little moisture left on my daughter’s skin. It is not a lot of wetness, but it is still not as dry as the swaddlers.
This normally doesn’t matter if my daughter didn’t eat anything acidic like spaghetti sauce. However, if she did, the unabsorbed pee will give her a rash.
Diaper Variety
In terms of variety, pampers and huggies are pretty much on equal ground also. They both have diapers for different stages, different needs, and different situations to support your baby’s needs and development. Both companies pretty much covered every stage of development. However, be warned, because not all their products are good. Throughout the article, I have been comparing pampers and huggies, but I was referring to their good diapers. If you really want to try their diapers, whether it is huggies or pampers, don’t for their crappy ones. I will give you all the details here.
Pampers Swaddlers vs Huggies Little Snugglers
Usually, pampers swaddlers it the first diaper your newborn will ever wear in most hospitals. It is soft, absorbent, and extremely reliable so no wonder most hospitals use it. Personally, I used it on my daughter from birth till now. It has never failed on me in terms of absorption, leak prevention, and rash protection.
As for Huggies little snugglers, I have never truly tried the little snugglers. In fact, I use the “huggies little snugglers plus” with my daughter. The “plus” version of huggies are only available at costco. The little snugglers plus were actually just as absorbent as the swaddlers. They were also very soft. The inner material was designed to look a bit like a mini mattress which was interesting. I guess it is done that way to prevent most of the wetness of the diaper from touching the baby’s skin. However, I like the the liner “net” of the swaddlers better in comparison, because it really feels like the the liner can isolate my daughter’s skin from the wet absorbent core itself.
I only used one box of huggies little snugglers plus, and then I continued my diaper journey with pampers swaddlers. The main reason is because I believe the “liner” design in the swaddlers truly prevents the pee from touching my daughter’s skin so that was very helpful. Another reason is because swaddlers can be ordered on Amazon with subscribe and save options. I like how they automatically deliver diapers to my door without me worrying about it every month.
Huggies Little Movers Plus vs Pampers Cruisers
When your baby becomes a toddler, one of the first things you will definitely have to worry about is sagging diapers. The main reason why it happens at toddler stage is because your little toddler is standing on her two feet most of the times. Diapers sag because as it collects pee, it gets heavier, and it sinks down between her legs.
This is a major problem because the absorbent material is located further away from the private area, where the pee is the strongest, and the wrap around the thighs becomes a wider gap so pee can leak from that gap before it gets to be absorbed by the diaper.
Huggies little movers plus and pampers cruisers are both designed to combat this problem by spreading the flow of pee differently in the diaper. They also make the waist band, thigh gussets a little stretchier to allow the baby to move around freely.
If you have to choose between the two, choose Huggles little movers plus. They are definitely designed better than the pampers cruisers. They also have double velcro to secure the diaper better. I have used both but, the cruisers created a major rash on my daughter’s private area. As for the little movers, I only see a little red in the private area.
To be honest, neither of them could prevent my daughter from developing redness at her private area, but at least the little movers plus didn’t make my daughter get a rash.
One thing you have to keep in mind is that neither cruisers or little movers are good sleep diapers. When your baby is sleeping, the pee in her diapers are in contact with her skin way too long. This is why I combine pampers swaddlers with huggies little movers plus. Use pampers swaddlers when your baby is sleeping, and use the little movers plus when she is moving around and playing. The reason I do that is because pampers swaddlers does a wonderful job of isolating pee from your baby’s skin so she doesn’t develop any redness. Don’t bother with the pampers cruisers,they are a waste of money
For Huggies little movers, they also have a variation, which is the huggies little movers slip on. These are basically little movers “prewrapped” so that you can help your baby wear it while standing up (kind of like an underwear). However, don’t confuse these with Huggies training pants. Huggies training pants are designed to be easily “ripped off” in emergencies, but little movers slip on doesn’t have that feature.
Pampers Splashers vs. Huggies Little Swimmers
These are diapers that are meant to be used only in water scenarios. You definitely should not use these outside of the pool or beach time.. The reason I say that is because they are less absorbent compared to regular diapers.
You might be wondering then what’s the whole point of these diapers then? Well, the idea is that they are designed to be less absorbent with fluid so that they don’t get swollen in the pool or beach scenario (you are surrounded by water after all). The reason this is important is because their main purpose is to block poop from flowing out of the diapers.
My daughter has tried these, and no accidents has happened so far. Pampers splashers and Huggies little swimmers seems to be on equal ground so take your pick and choose anyone you like.
Pampers Easy Ups vs Huggies Pull Ups
Theoretically, these potty training pants (diapers in my opinion) are meant to be used for potty training your toddler. They are designed like underwears. Instead of having two sticky flaps like regular diapers, they have a fully elastic 360 degrees waistband. The idea behind this is that your child will have the ability to pull down this “underwear” herself if she actually needs to go to the bathroom. However, if she doesn’t make it to the toilet or potty chair in time, at least this “underwear” will absorb the mess.
The main difference between the pampers easy ups and the huggies pull ups is the ability to change them. For the Huggies pull ups (there’s a boy and girl version), there’s a velcro opening on the side in which you can “open” to change when your toddler’s has pooped or peed in it. The easy ups don’t have this function. You literally have to tear them apart to change it.
If you send your toddler to daycare, and you are potty training her, you will probably have to purchase the Huggies pull ups, because it is more convenient to change with the side openings. However, if you are potty training your toddler at home, the pampers easy ups is actually slightly better. The reason is because the Pampers version are softer and more comfortable. The velcro opening in the Huggies pull ups are actually very stiff and uncomfortable to wear. They actually poke your toddler. So if you use Huggies pull ups, you are literally sacrificing comfort for convenience.
Diapers That You Should Not Bother Trying – Because They Are A Waste Of Money
Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive
These diapers are supposedly for sensitive skin, but it still causes rashes. This seems to be heavily perfumed. The fragrance is a big reason why babies get more diaper rashes using this. Just get the the regular pampers swaddlers.
Pampers Swaddlers overnight
these are the “updated” version of the Pampers Extra Protection Nighttime diapers. Theoretically they are supposed to be more absorbent compared to regular pampers swaddlers, but they are very leaky. Don’t bother with them. The old extra protection night time diapers are gone. You might still find the old version (which actually works well) at Babies R’ Us if you are lucky.
Huggies Overnites
Unfortunately, they have also changed their design like the pampers overnights so they aren’t that good. Don’t bother with these either.
Pampers Baby Dry–
This supposedly has extra absorb channels and 3 layers compared to the 2 layer swaddlers. However,they aren’t as good as the swaddlers so don’t bother. Even though they are called baby dry, they don’t keep your baby dry at all.
Conclusion
If your baby is still a crawling baby or a baby that lies flat, pampers swaddlers is your answer to all your problems. As your baby grows into a walker, you might have to combine both swaddlers and huggies little movers. The swaddlers is for your baby’s sleep, and the huggies is for when your baby moves around. At least, that’s what I find to be working right now. I hope this article has been helpful. If you have any questions, please leave it in the comment section below.
It becomes a daunting task to choose nappies especially when you are a first mum. As a mum of a pre term baby, I found pampers to be more manageable than huggies. Straight from birth. It is more absorbent and soft.
However, as you rightly mentioned here, if they are growing into toddlers then the pampers are more suitable by night and huggies by day. Great stuff when you get someone doing all the comparisons for you.
I am glad that it was helpful. Huggies and Pampers might seem similar in many aspects, but not all their products are just as awesome. You are just like me, using pampers from beginning to end.
This has been a very thorough article on diapers. My sister just had a baby and a good friend of mine is expecting. I honestly thought that it would not matter what brand of diapers I bought them but I was wrong. I have no children of my own yet so the negative affects of choosing a diaper never occured to be. Thankfully I read this before making my bulk purchases. Based on your comparisons, I think I will stick with Pampers diapers. I also wondered if any company adding the word “sensitive” in their products was actually better or just a gimmick to try and sell more diapers. Based on your research, I don’t think I will let those brands distract me. Although my sisters baby girl has a ways to go before she starts crawling, this has been insightful. My friend on the other hand is having a boy. Does this make a huge difference based on your comparisons?
I am glad this is helpful to you. Yes, don’t trust those so called “senstive” ones. It is not simply a label stamped on top. It is a totally different diaper. To make it worst, it functions worst than the regular ones. Regarding your friend. No it doesn’t really matter whether it is baby boy or girl even though some people mentioned that huggies work better with boys. I don’t really see the reason behind that, but keep that in mind just in case. Just remind her friend to point his son’s “wee wee” down whenever he change his diapers, or his son will have leaks no matter what diaper he uses lol.
I was interested to learn that the Huggies have 2 velcro tabs at this size since my 2 year old is very interested in taking off his clothes and his diaper to run around naked. I wonder if the double tabs would slow him down??
I agree with all areas of your assessments. I loved Pampers Swaddlers (NOT the sensitive) – they are the only ones we tried that did NOT cause skin issues with my sensitive son. It is a serious bummer that they are saggy once toddlerhood sets in, but it is just too scary to risk skin issues by shopping around when potty training is just around the corner.
I also shared your experience shopping for nighttime diapers! I had to send back the Pampers Overnites because the scent is completely overwhelming. What we do is use the next size up of the Swaddlers for the night. So my son is a 4 during the day and a 5 at night. This has completely eliminated night leaks.
What I need advice on is getting my toddler to cooperate with changes!! Thanks for your blog!
I have a feeling that there’s no child in this world that likes to have their diapers changed. My daughter squirms around like some kind of over-worm whenever I try to change her diaper. Fortunately, there are methods available to fix that. What I tend to do is I give her her-favorite snacks (healthy ones) to chew on while I change her diapers. The distraction would buy me enough time to quickly change her out. Another method I use is to show her something on youtube (baby bus panda songs) while I change her diapers. Once she is done, I turn off the youtube (to limit her computer time) and play ball with her. Let’s see if these methods will help you.
Hiya and thanks for another great article! This one really peaked my interest because i am having the “Sagginess” problem with my daughter. Sometimes the nappy is still dry and it’s already sagging, making it look like I’m neglecting her! I will definitely give the Huggies a go and see if they are any better in this respect. Thanks for the information.
The sagging is definitely a really big issue. I still use the pampers swaddlers when my baby is asleep. However, the Huggies little movers are better for a moving child. It is not perfect, because it still gives my daughter redness in her private area, but it is the best I can find so far. Good luck to you.
Oh the joys of having a little one! Mine are out of the diaper-phase at this time, but I sure do remember those days! And to think… some people still use cloth diapers. I just could NOT imagine!
We were big Pampers users here! Of course, we suffered from the occasional blow-out, but I think that those are inevitable sometimes.
Great article for those newbies out there!
Yes. People are under the impression that cloth diapers are better for the environment and the baby so they revolutionized cloth diapers to suit parents nowadays. However, they are not envionrmentally friendly. They also don’t absorb pee very well. Poop is the only that that can absorb well which is why blowouts can be mostly prevented.
Hey, that was a great read.
You provided a great review on comparing and contrasting whether Pampers is better vs Huggies diapers.
You provided some great insight and fact about the problem with diaper sagging among both diapers as well as determining which pamper of the two contains blowouts better, which ultimately was neither one.
You would think, considering the two brands long time experience in the business, they would have come up with solutions by now for these issues with their diapers.
As with any products, we know they are not a 100% perfect but we expect them to be near perfection or at least have very minimum product issues.
Especially when the brand has been in its respective market industry for 20 plus years or more delivering the same product.
These two brands have been around for quite some time and you would think that over the decades of being in the business, they would be producing much better products for their consumers.
You did a great job at providing information on preventative measures parents can take to help avoid some these issues as much as possible.
Its great you provide the information about which diaper is more protective against diaper rashes and for overnight use while your baby is sleeping to diaper variety.
I am sure parents can appreciate and find this information truly helpful. Thorough review. Great job.
Thank you for sharing.
All the best,
Deborah
I am glad it was helpful. It can’t be helped that neither of them can completely stop blowouts. There are many factors that influences it. Not to mention they are both partially plastic, so inflexibility plays a role in leakage afterall.
This diaper review is spot on!
For most of my son’s diaper wearing time, we were between Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers. I order on Amazon’s Subscribe and Save. Every now and again, Huggies would be a little less expensive or offer a coupon and I would switch, however, Pampers was just a better fit with my son and we had less accidents.
As you said, you have to see what fits your child best, make sure you are correctly putting the diaper on, and be sure to change it often.
You like the Pampers cruisers? They cause a major diaper rash with my daughter. The swaddlers are still awesome for me. Huggies isn’t that bad nowadays. I use both. I am glad that these two diapers help you also.
I find it so hard as they grow older to decide which diaper to use. Each stage of their lives calls for different diapers! I just wish that I can “swaddle” my children forever. However, pampers swaddlers is simply not able to handle moving babies. They are still great for a good nap, or a full night’s sleep.
My friends have used little movers before. They are just alright I guess. I guess for now we really have no choice, because there aren’t too many capable diapers for action packed children. Pampers cruisers was a major disappointment. I like your choices. I will go for swaddlers at night and littler movers during the day too.
You want to follow my swaddlers/little movers combo? Alright, go for it. It is actually working very nicely. If you want to save money, you can also subscribe and save to both swaddlers and little movers separately, then ask them to deliver every two months. Get the largest and cheapest packs you can find. Just make sure you are purchasing directly from amazon so you don’t get some crappy third party imitations.
oh my gosh your little girl is adorable!
I actually haven’t tried Pampers swaddlers before. I might have to check that out for my little girl’s night time diapers.
I have been on the hunt for diapers that won’t leak and can contain everything overnight. This tired mama doesn’t wanna have to constantly be washing sheets and trying to sun her mattress!
Will be trying the swaddlers next! I hope they work for my girl like they do for yours!
You won’t be disappointed, because they are truly awesome diapers. My daughter’s rash and redness that she got from other diapers literally disappeared. It is truly the best sleeping diaper. Unfortunately, it is not also the best moving diaper.
Pampers has always being my go to diapers, though I had to use Huggies and one sensitive brand on one occasion when we got them as a gift. Those so called sensitive brands turned out to be a disappointment, they sagged, leaked at night and the worst was when my daughter developed some nasty rashes that refused to go even after using various ointments recommended by her doctor.
I have learnt to stick with pampers and they do a pretty good job of keeping her dry.
Just like you, I don’t trust those so called sensitive brands. They sound like some kind of gimmick, and they aren’t even good on sensitive skin. Pampers swaddlers forever for me. They keep your baby super dry. Try the huggies little movers too. They are great.
Hi… Its really a tough time in selecting the right diaper for your baby in terms of many reasons like hygiene, protection, comfortability, etc…. Pampers and huggies are both international brand and they both are equally competetive for parents(especially new parents). For my first baby i had tried mamy poko pants(extra absorption) and it really worked wonderful. But for my second baby i have to forcefully use pampers due to my husband’s transfer…. As that is the only international brand available here. Yes pampers also is satisfactory but my preference and advice for all new parent will be mamy poko pants..
Mamy poko pants is a very interesting diaper. It is mostly available in asian countries. Honestly, I do not know much about it. It is not for sale anywhere around where I live. I don’t know what pampers version you tried, but pampers swaddlers is definitely one of the best. I never have to worry about leaks or rashes. Mamy poko pants seems to be sort of a Huggies little movers or pampers cruisers kind of diapers. It is elastic and flexible for moving babies. Too bad your husband’s transfer no longer allow you to buy mamy poko, but try pampers swaddlers. I don’t think it is worse than mamy poko, except for the moving part. Swaddlers do sag, but absorbency is still top quality.
I just started using the Huggies Pull-Ups on my two-year-old daughter, as she is potty training. I love them, I feel like they work great, and I also bought the overnight ones, and they are very absorbent. I was not a fan of the pampers easy ups. I felt the ripping them off part and having to remove her clothes to replace the easy up was such an inconvenience and a hassle that I could easily avoid with the Huggies pull-ups. I suppose that the pampers easy ups would be more convenient for when she is much more adept to potty training but at this stage, they do not work well for us.
Yea, it is pretty inconvenient. This is especially true if you send her to some kind of daycare. They would probably require you to use the huggies pull-ups since the side velcro is easier to open.
I find Pampers to be the best overall, you say the baby dry aren’t good but personally I haven’t had any issues with them. I didn’t like the little movers kind all that much, but it all just depends on how the diaper fits your baby. Huggies are OK but I found the diapers absorbent material stuck to my daughter’s butt in these tiny little gel-like balls when she got wet. It was really gross! I haven’t noticed that issue with Pampers at all. Have you ever tried Target’s (Up and Up) brand diapers? I think they’re pretty good, but I still prefer pampers especially for overnight!
Diaper fit is definitely important, because it influences leakage and absorption. That is why I liked the huggies little movers. Maybe you left the huggies on your little one for too long so the sap (super absorbent polymer) beads came out? Pampers swaddlers is still the best for me. Well, I am glad that baby dry worked for you. As for target up and up. I have not tried it yet. I will use that as a part of my next review.