Motherhood brings along with it, a set of difficult choices to be made! Choosing the best diaper brand is one of them. Anyone who has children will know how important it is to choose the right diaper. Over 10 years and with 3 babies, I have experienced a good chunk of the Indian diaper market. I haven’t figured it all out, mind you, but I do have a good idea of which diaper to use. It is not an easy task to name one brand as the best diaper brand in India because our parenting needs are different just like our children. However, I attempt to give you a general idea of which diaper brands will give you the best bang for your buck as well as keep your baby happy.
Disclaimer:
Before I proceed with the reviews and comparisons, let me quickly point out some criteria and conditions that affected the outcome:
1. Pant Style Diapers Only: 10 years back, when my first baby was born, there were no pant style diapers for newborns. Thankfully, that is not the case right now. I walked out of the hospital with free samples from FirstCry.com containing adorable pant style diapers for the newborn baby. I haven’t switched to the tape closure diapers since then. All diaper brands reviewed here are only pull-up pant style. I find them best for all babies, including newborns but that could be my personal point of view.
2. Cloth Diapering: I am a cloth-diapering mom and use disposable diapers only for the night, for going out and on days when I am feeling too lazy.
Also Read: The Best Baby Body Wash in India
3. Age: Although I speak from personal experience over 10 years, all the products currently tested for this article were for a 1 year old baby.
4. All Babies are Different: and I am the living proof of this! During every pregnancy I think I have a lot of experience and feel well-prepared. And every time the baby proved me wrong! The point here is, what works best for me might not be the same for your baby. For e.g. my favorite diaper might cause irritation to your baby’s skin. Please use my tests as a guide and take your own decisions based upon what works best for your baby.
A Review of the Major (Pant Style) Diaper Brands in India
All major brands continue to launch new lines of diapers. Each has a different feature to boast of and it can get confusing what to opt for. I use a mix of diapers for different times of the day depending upon the needs as you will see in the ‘Final Verdict’ section below. These are the brands I reviewed and compared for this article:
- Pampers Baby Dry – Very good and popular brand with good absorption capacity. However, as your baby grows older you will find that they are unable to cope up. Good for a few hours though.
- Pampers Premium Care – So far the best when it comes to staying dry for the longest period of time. They are priced at double which is a major flaw, but not really. More about the price in the ‘Winner – Long Lasting Dryness’ section below. Read more about Pampers Premium vs Baby Dry.
- Huggies Ultra Soft – A new entrant, this one comes in pink and blue colors for girls and boys. Very high on cuteness quotient, their performance is okay. Sometimes they work longer than pampers baby dry but they are truly soft for baby skin. One problem that exists in many Huggies diapers is that they tend to bunch up.
- Huggies Wonder-Pants – The best diaper to avoid/cure diaper rash. If you see mild signs of diaper rash, quicky move from cloth and other disposable diapers and put your baby on these. They work miraculously to cure diaper rash and are the only Huggies diapers that do not bunch up. My baby grew up solely on these for almost 8 months after which I started looking for longer lasting diapers.
- Mamy Poko Pants – The first diaper brand to bring pant style diapers in India, they are no longer a cheap alternative. Their fit and comfort is now easily surpassed by other brands.
- Libero – Also fairly new to the Indian market, Libero works surprisingly well. I am impressed by their softness, absorbency and the dance edition is super cute! They cannot rival the absorbency of Pampers Premium Care but they can easily give Baby Dry and Huggies a stuff competition. Read my comparison of Libero vs Pampers Baby Dry
WINNER – SOFTNESS – Huggies Ultra Soft
Cute as cute can be, Huggies Ultra Soft come in pastel pink and blue colors are are super soft for baby skin! True to it’s name, not only is the inner surface of the diaper feather soft, but the band that fits across the belly is also very soft. The closest any other diaper comes to Huggies Ultra Soft when it comes to softness, is Pampers Premium Care. For newborns and babies with sensitive skin, this is the softest diaper available in India today.
Edit: Since I am only reviewing pant style diapers in this post, I will continue to mention Huggies Ultra Soft. But if you are okay with using non-pant style diapers, my definite vote is going to Bambo Nature Diapers. I recently reviewed these diapers and was amazed at how thin and soft the diapers are. And they stay dry for hours together! These ‘Made in Denmark’ diapers are now available in India and are the most eco-friendly diapers ever. They are the first non-pant style diapers I have truly loved!
Winner – Long Lasting Dryness/Absorbency – Pampers Premium
A very clear winner with a big lead is Pampers Premium Care. For my current needs, this is the best diaper in India. No, it does not last the night but if you can change your baby’s diaper before YOU go to sleep and then quickly change it when YOU wake up, you can peacefully pass the night without needing to change diapers. Yes, it is extremely pricey – more then double the price of other diapers. But really, they last so long that you only need one when you would be using two of any other brand in the same duration. So, in the end you will pay the same amount. So, don’t let the price put you off. If you need it for nights or travel or longer distances out of home, this is the best diaper there is.
P.S. While I was busy photographing and reviewing, the kids figured it out – the giraffe design on Pampers Premium Care diapers was inspired by their coin box 🙂
WINNER – OVERALL – Libero
If you only need diapers for a few hours when going out or for other reasons – I found Libero to be an extremely good choice. This diaper has everything you need from a good diaper. It lasts 2 to three hours without any signs of wetness, does not bunch up and is very soft. The dance edition is super cute with ‘ROCK’ and ‘DISCO’ graphics on the back and Ed Hardy style cool graphics on the front.
WINNER – DIAPER RASH – Huggies Wonder Pants
I tried everything I could possibly do, to test these diapers for writing this article. Poured water into them, poured salt water, tried a different diaper on my baby every time – but one thing that I could not do was test them for diaper rash right away. But I have been using these diapers throughout the first year of my baby and have dealt with a severe case of diaper rash. It was only after Huggies Wonder-pants worked wonders for diaper rash did I notice that the package actually mentions that it is clinically proven to cure Diaper Rash! This diaper works like magic to keep your baby dry and cure diaper rash. It is one of my tested methods to soothe diaper rash in babies.
The Verdict – Pampers Premium
Since your needs may be different than mine, I have listed the best diapers according to different situations above. For my current needs (mainly a good, dry, long lasting diaper) Pampers Premium Care is the best diaper brand in India. I use it overnight. For short durations during the day, I alternate between Huggies Wonder-pants, Libero and Pampers Baby-dry. Sometimes, I buy other brands for day time use just because they are on sale or a new line has been introduced.
Shop Online in India
I shop for all diapers almost exclusively from Amazon.in. They have amazing deals and discounts and very good subscription offers too. Here are the direct links for all diapers mentioned above:
A lovely post and a very well written one. As you rightly said diaper is one of the important thing for baby and to decide on that one particular brand is the toughest of all. They say what goes on the skin goes inside
the skin and lot of parents ignore it. They decide to go with what is available in the market. We have recently launched bambo nature eco friendly diapers in india. These diapers are manufactured in Denmark and are the best green diapers currently there. Just want to see if you be interested in reviewing them and give you feedback.
Very detailed and informative review
I have been using pampers premium range on my baby since her day 1. Its been a year and I never had a diaper rash complaint. It is undoubtedly the best brand in India. Great post!
I so agree Sweety!
selecting diaper is the toughest choice.. elders always advice to avoid using diaper as not good for baby skin. but without diaper it difficult for us to make baby hay this post is really helpful
Very useful post
Hi, I have a question. I live in Canada but I will be coming next year with my new born to Bombay. I am trying to research if there is a cloth diapering laundry service. would anyone know, or what is the best and least yucky way to clean cloth diapers?
Hi Smita, please refer to my post on cloth diapers for the way I clean my cloth diapers the easiest way. A diaper spray or health faucet is your best bet.
Hi there,
The post is useful one , to distinguish between which diaper to use for baby.
But cloth diapers are even more useful. They are eco-friendly and reusable. Diaper rashes chances are less with them and they look amazing on baby bums. I have used this, Superbottoms.com cloth diaper for my little one, and just loved it.
Huggies are best
And no indian rash creams r useful
I used 1 from germany..
Dear Hiral,
Please try Bambo Nature Eco Friendly Diaper. You will simply love it. Please mail us on customercare@nazer-enterprise.in with your address and baby weight. We would be more than happy to send some samples.
Cloth diapers are quite better than disposables.
I used many brands and i prefer Comfort cloth diaper for my lil one’s care. They sell at amazing prices. Need just to message at their facebook page. They give superb absorbancy and perfect fit for my tiny baby. OMG. They have cute little new born size too..
For traveling i prefer Libero. Soft and good material.
Yeah.. very good option in disposable category.
I’ve been using pampers active on my 6mo dd. Totally love it. But I’m so going to try pant style diapers the next buy onwards. Looking forward to using pampers premium care.
Try Admire Kids Diaper once and see the difference
Unfortunately Pampers did not work on the kids. And surprisingly Mamy poko pants worked. I also used cloth diapers on Anjie. They were good. I wasn’t a pro… so I used a combination of mamy poko and cloth diapers.
Oh…Pampers premium too? I don’t care about Pampers baby dry, but premium is my favourite.
When my children were young we had buggies as the only brand. Now with so much to choose from – children are lucky. Good review…though I would say -go for cloth diapers
I am a cloth diapering mom Menaka :). I use disposables for going out and for the night.
A very informative and detailed post. Quite helpful for new moms. I’d like to add that however eco friendly and cute cloth diapers maybe but I wasn’t really happy with the performance of CDs. My baby developed rashes and always remained wet and uncomfortable in those. Hence, I had to switch back to disposable diapers. And as far as disposables are concerned I would also agree that Pampers premium is the best diaper option available in the Indian market.
It’s a very detailed review and comparison. I am sure many will be benefited from this I personally use pampers premium care and had never faced any issue. Just loved the way you write.
Very detailed post Lata. I too use Pampers premium at nights and cloth diapers are my savior during day time.
http://mommystimeline.com/summer-safety-tips-guide-to-protect-kids
totallu agree.. diaper is soo important and choosing the write diaper determines the happiness of our kids to some extent
I’ve been using pampers the entire journey and it’s one of the best so far!
That’s a detailed review. I have also used all the above diapers and Libero has my vote. I feel sad that it has stopped it’s Operation in India 🙁
Very useful. I used many polo bo problem as such till my baby is 14 month and now nothing seems to be working. Every night wet linen even though I m changing him just before sleep. And he is up early. Any suggestions?Pampers n many polo of his size is leaking.
Hi Kaberi, I believe you have tried the Pampers regular one. Did you try the Pampers Premium?
Hai,
Can u suggest wheather pampers baby dry can be used for overnight use.
My LO sleeps almost 10-12 hours waking in between for feedings.
Now I am using mamy poko pants,but I prefer a tab one.
Please give me a suggestion
Hi! No, I honestly do not think Pampers Baby Dry will help. Pampers premium might be more useful. Why not try a small size package (with 2 diapers) and test it first?
Hi
I will try out the premium one
Can you suggest wheather tab one or pant is preferable at night.
If it’s tab one which one is the best
I bought a smaller packet and it was totally worthy. After that I ordered for larger packet from Amazon and was a different one, it was said as the newer version. but it totally sucks.
It was not at all worth the money and leaked even before 6 hours at night.
There was not much absorbency and still they leaked.
So checkout when you’re trying out pampers premium pants
Very good informative article. Thanks for information
Thanks for sharing such kind of informative articles.