Pampers Dry Max Problems - I Switched & Why

Oh, Pampers, be careful how big of a hole you dig yourself into. I don't know if you have been following the whole mess, but their have been customer complaints and the company has denied it could be their diapers. They have gone as far as to bash cloth diapering. Now Canada is looking into the complaints. I hope the CPSC follows suit.

Now, I have been a Pampers customer since my son was born. I guess you could say that I have had a foot on either side of the diapering fence. I did buy cloth diapers, but it took a long time for my son to grow into them... and after buying almost $200 in covers, prefolds and AIOs before he was born, I wasn't about to spend more money. Add to this my son's long and lean body type and Pampers were the diapers that worked for us.

Now as he grew, he grew into those cloth diapers and they became all I trusted for overnight. But, with clinic visits once a month for my son and time spent at relatives (I didn't have a wet bag), I leaned towards disposables. Yes, a little bit of lazy kinda set in. So, Pampers... you were my go to! You were there for me when my son was very sick and for months was a runny mess.

Then my daughter was born. I know that everyone told me siblings could not be more different, but she proved it in ways I never could have imagined. She was a chunky little girl who didn't fit well in those Pampers... and she was big enough to fit into my cloth stash right away. I think I am also a more confident cloth diapering Mama now, and can work those pre-fold like nobodies business! So, my daughter has with been mainly cloth diapered. We still have disposables for visiting family. She has never had diaper rash, and other than a normal newborn blow-out or two, she has been well contained in her very modern Fuzzi Bunz, bumGenius & Thirsties Duo Diapers. Since this has worked well for her, we added to the stash. My son was still using both Pampers & cloth.

Then it happened. First we had yeast. His bum had angry red bumps getting bigger by the day! I never had that problem before. Then he developed a sore around his privates... then right on the tip! I was mortified. The skin being very thin and soft just seemed to be sloughing off! My son even woke up at night and from his naps complaining that it hurt. About this time I started hearing reports that Pampers Dry Max was giving kids sores. Seems that amazingly absorbent gel worked a little too well.

So I told my DH that we were switching. I had just tried those Dry Max diapers before these problems struck. We began cloth diapering him exclusively and kept him as dry as we could. I leaned towards prefolds to help keep down my laundry pile. I could change the prefold every hour or two and reuse the cover longer. We even set an alarm to change him every three hours at night. Lastly we used a tiny amount of diaper rash cream, Burts Bees has a great one, just on the persistent sore. This wetness barrier did the trick. Everything on his bum, including all his self-inflicted scratches from being so uncomfortable, cleared up. I can't say for sure that it was the Dry Max, but no one will convince me otherwise. I never had this problem till they switched formula and I bought a new bag of diapers. My son was so miserable, I never want to go through that again!

So this story has had a happy ending. This was finally the kick in the pants to get me to switch permanently. I am still always looking for the newest and best cloth diaper out there and will try to document my discoveries here with you, dear readers. I still have two in diapers but still so much to learn. I am excited to announce that EcoMom will be sponsoring a review here in the near future. I am dying to try this new fitted diaper out. I also want to share some of my favorites along with tips and tricks I have found through trial... though, mainly error.

Yes, I am a cloth diapering Mama... and proud of it! I have officially made the switch and there is no looking back.