My friend is a foster parent, and they are on their way to pick up a brand new baby. This was an emergency situation, and they had really no notice. I want to take some necessities over tomorrow morning. We have only used cloth diapers, so I need help!! I don't have a ton of money to spend, but I'd like to get her plenty of diapers. Are there any inexpensive brands, that are also good quality? What about store brand diapers? What sizes would you recommend? This is an average sized baby. Not small, or large. I'm afraid to get too many newborn sizes, or not enough!! Any help would be so appreciated!
This is a long term placement. The baby is the half sister, of a child they are adopting through the foster system. The baby's father's mother said she didn't want to take the baby, at the very last moment. The mother of the baby has voluntarily severed her parental rights. (The state was going to, anyway.) They are going to begin working with the case worker, to start the adoption process. 3 of the children they have now are going to finalize the adoptions in the next few months. I am going to give her a gift card, but I'd like to give her some diapers for the immediate. She has 5 other foster (and adopt) children right now, all under the age of 5. She is not going to easily be able to make trips to the store right now!
She has all the other things like bottles and the like. They just didn't expect to have a newborn, so they have no little diapers.
If you're a costco member their store brand is decent. They offer a combo box of sizes 1 and 2. I haven't had to buy diapers in over 2 years, but last time I did I think the going rate was about $40 and there were about 200 diapers in the box.
I like Huggies diapers.
Pampers, I have found... tends to break at the tabs. When you are pulling/stretching the tabs to put it on, it breaks off.
I have never had that problem with Huggies.
Other than that, the Costco "Kirkland" diapers are also good.
I love pampers! and Pampers Cruisers when they get a little bigger.
i just ran out and had to by another brand for the first time in over a year, and WOW is there a difference!
...as far as the rashes, i have never had this, but have heard of it. i do however, suspect that maybe parents leave the diaper on too long? it is really absorbent and doesn't leak, so you dont know the diaper is wet unless u check. i imagine it can be easy to forget too long, then baby gets a bad diaper rash? especially in a day care situation.
Diapers are so different from baby to baby. I would try a mixture of diapers and maybe a pack or two of newborn through size 2. By then your friend should have a good idea of what diapers will work best for the new little one.
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I think Pampers makes a size 1-2 that is sort of in between. It depends on the size of the baby when he/she was born. My son was 9 pounds and went straight to size 1. My daughter was in the newborn size for a few weeks at least (she was 7 lbs). I buy the Target brand Sensitive wipes--good for the price.
Don't know what you decided on but Walmarts Parent Choice works well and is inexpensive. I also used the SAMS club brand Member's Mark. I signed up for coupons at Huggies and always went with those when I had a coupon that bought their price down. The Parent's Choice formula is also comparable to the name brands just in case she needs any.
I always buy Luvs. They're cheap but effective. I've never tried any of the store brand diapers. Newborn diapers are designed for babies up to 10 pounds (if I remember right). Most babies will grow out of that very quickly. (I say most because I know mine took a little longer.) Really, the only benefit to the newborn diapers over size 1 is that the newborns will typically have the umbilical cord cut-out. Handy, but not a necessity. HTH!
I always used Huggies, but I've heard that Target's up and up are good. Kroger brand is BAD!!! Huggies wipies are the best, thickest ones.
For diapers: Huggies Snug & Dry is my top choice for older babies (say 15 lbs+). Pampers Swaddlers are great for newborns, size N. The baby will outgrow the N size pretty quickly, so size 1-2 would be a good bet. I would NOT recommend Pampers' larger sizes, as they developed this "Baby Dri" technology that has given some children bloody rashes--which I didn't believe until it happened to my own baby! Luvs are good for a cheap diaper, and Target's Up & Up brand is also good, depending upon how forceful a pooper the kid is :)
Wipes: I know some like the thickness of Huggies' wipes, but I hate them--they are very inflexible & tear pretty easily. I much prefer the Pampers wipes, which are what I've used for all 3 of my babies. The Target Up & Up wipes are identical to the Pampers wipes, so I buy those too.
On size 1-2, I always used pampers swaddlers. Size 3 and up, I always used regular huggies. I did not like huggies supreme. I have heard good things about the target brand.
As you can see there is no one perfect diaper ... Pampers felt less rough and papery to me so that is what I went with. I had no issues with the tabs or any other part of them, to me they were the best. Again - there is no perfect diaper out there.
Luvs work very well and are comparable to pamper's swaddlers. I second the gift card but luvs are the way to go when considering money and value. Those diapers won't hurt the baby like some of the cheap ones do. Congrats to them and kudos for fostering!!! What a special gift they have given that little baby. I would get a variety of sizes.
In foster care situations babies can sometimes be placed with family rather quickly and the baby may not stay with your friend for very long so to buy a lot of diapers may not help her. so just buy a little, but if you buy something like bottles they can be reused possibly.
You could always give them cash. It's the "gift certificate" that can be spent anywhere on anything they could need on short notice! They may have a pile of diapers but no formula so the cash would cover anything that would pop up. I always bought diapers at Costco (their Kirkland brand) and they never leaked so I don't know what other brands would be good.
My little guy came out wearing size 1s so buy at least a couple of sizes, newborn and 1s. The name brand ones are the nicest for the newborns because they have umbilical cord cut outs and are extra soft, but, that being said, store brands are good. Its when they get bigger and go more that the name brand ones work better. I liked the Safeway, Target, and Fred Meyer ones. (Fred Meyer (Kroger) has a 2 kinds, go with the more expensive ones because the really cheap ones are really cheap.)
She'll need some bottles, but each baby is different too. Wipes will be good, I like the Target and Safeway ones. The Huggies are great because they are thick, but they don't pop up like the other ones.
Also, she'll need some night gowns, these are the best thing for newborns. The ones with the elastic bottoms that just slide up are the easiest to use. And sometimes you can find ones that snap into pants for carseats.
She'll also need a few blankets....
I'll try to think of other things. I would look for a good used second hand store if I were you for most things besides the diapers. Thanks to both of you for helping this new little baby who obviously needs love.
I wouldn't get too many newborn sizes, my son was in NB, 1s, and 2s, by the time he hit 3 months. He was than in 3s from 4-9 months. He was a BIG baby though. I'd get 2's for a gift if it's a normal sized baby. They'll grow into them quickly enough. We use Pampers mainly, but have also used Luvs and the Walgreen's brand diapers with no troubles. Huggies leaked on my big guy, they seemed smaller even though the weight suggestions were the same. As long as they don't open the package they can be returned or exchanged for the right size or brand, so don't stress too much!
