product review: seventh generation diapers

recently i had the opportunity to try out seventh generation diapers and wanted to share my findings with the mom & pop group here:

the diapers seem to get some pretty poor reviews on the 'net, so i was a bit hesitant to try them at all, since i am terrified of a diaper misfire and lord knows that i am not a fan of laundry. diapers, in my opinion, have one purpose- to keep the contents off of the clothing. from the reviews, the redesign seemed unable to accomplish that one task. but, i also use a lot of other seventh generation products, so i had a little bit of brand-faith and a serious urge to experiment.

my biggest concern is the cost per diaper. seventh generation is $10.99 for a 30 pack of size 4 diapers. pampers cruisers are also 10.99 for a 30 pack of size 4 diapers. the breakdown is 37 cents per diaper. however, pampers is $1.00 off every other week at some store or another, and i almost always have a coupon for $1-2.00 off per pack, which brings the cost down to (average) $8.99 per pack or 29 cents per diaper. seventh generation allows you to print two $2.00 off coupons from their website. this is fine if you only require two packs of diaper every six months, otherwise, being a frugal shopper can get you some serious savings. of course the ultimate savings is to buy pampers by the case, bring the cost closer to 20 per diaper.

second, pampers are available everywhere at every hour of the night. i could probably ring up shanghai and ask if they had pampers and they probably do. i'm not interested in the logistics of this, i'm just saying. the closest store where i can purchase my 30 pack of seventh generation diapers is babies r us, which is nearly 20 miles from my house. they do not carry the larger packs, so i am unable to lower the cost on the seventh generation diapers.

so who cares about the price in shanghai, how do they work? well, i thought they were quite awesome, actually. i can't say that they were any better than pampers, but they were as absorbent. before you go out and make a purchase though, consider these factors: 1) i have a boy. i'm fairly certain that kylinn would not have had such a pleasurable experience with them, due to the fit. and 2) we only used them for daytime. i exclusively use huggies overnites for bedtime as they are incredibly effective and i refuse to change bed linens in the wee hours. i prefer my beauty sleep, and if you've ever noticed how beautiful i am, it's because i sleep a lot at night. i have huggies overnites to thank for that. (side note: huggies overnites are 43 cents per diaper, but worth every single penny)

so did they ever leak? yes, but only today and on my 28th diaper. we left the house at 9:45, tegan went to a traumatizing 18 month checkup, then i drove home, put him down for a two-hour nap (he passed out in the car) only to wake up with a minor wet spot on his pant leg. it had been just over five hours, though, with lots of liquids. we don't ordinarily go that long, but it does happen on occasion. i was impressed.

what is my favorite part? aside from the limited use of potentially toxic chemicals, i love the light tan color. it's so weird to look at. think of unbleached flour- same color. ironically, it's also tegan's least favorite part. hands down. since his is currently elmo-obsessed, and his pampers feature a different elmo on every diaper, he pulls the little brown diapers off, throws them down, hits his stomach and yells "ELMO!!! EL-MO!!! ELM-O!!!" every single time.

will i buy them again? certainly, as long as i have a coupon and am already at a store that carries them, otherwise, my pampers are equally effective and can be a heck of a lot cheaper, and less money spent on diapers means more money to do fun family things together. and that's what is most important to me.