I will not be paying $6 more per pack for designer diapers. Sorry, no way.

Seriously? They poop in them.

I don't care what diapers look like as long as they perform. My daughter (2) loves the characters...she is thrilled to be putting on Dora Pull-Ups. Since I don't buy character clothing, it is fun for her to have her character diapers (underpants when she finally potty-trains) and PJs.
Sometimes it's about the kids and not what adults find aesthetically pleasing, in my humble opinion.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, these are kind of horrifying. Honestly, to make something so expensive that will just get filled with pee and poop and then tossed into a landfill? I can't think of anything more wasteful and thoughtless. If you want cute diapers use cloth. They're better for your wallet, better for baby and better for the environment.

I completely agree with jennib- these are completely ridiculous. If companies want to reinvent disposable diapers, they should figure out a way to make them biodegradable.

The higher price is the suggested retail price, but P&G and Target are smarter than that. I suspect they will be permanently “on sale”, making their selling price equivalent to Pampers traditional offerings and enticing to style-concious parents. Enviormentally-concious parents will continue to look elsewhere, whether they be motivated by toxin concerns or waste. My daughter is no longer in diapers, but when she was, I found that gDiapers and Seventh Generation satisfied my needs for style, convenience, and a smaller environmental impact.

You beat me to it, jennib! This is ridiculous, and terrifying.

Oh YAY! More disposable diapers that cause rashes, that lead to lawsuits, and on top of it all wreck havoc on the environment. But at least their pretty! Because obviously thats all parents care about. Sacrifice your child's comfort and future environment for a pretty bum.

As a mom-to-be, I'm constantly bombarded with all these "must-buys" and "designer" baby things. Designer baby diapers? Really?

What happened to keeping it simple and only buying things that are necessary?

It isn't my thing, but if it is just for a cute outfit here and there, it isn't a big deal to me.

My daughter has worn nothing but Pampers since she was born, and she's never had a diaper rash, eodwife. I attribute that to the fact that she's not sitting in a wet diaper, as Pampers are ridiculously absorbent. (Also to liberal use of Desitin and the fact that we do our best to change dirty diapers ASAP.) That said, I'm not going to pay more money for designer diapers. Even if Target discounts the diapers, I buy mine in bulk at BJ's where they are cheaper than Target and BJ's also usually has significant coupons available (anywhere from $3-$6.) Plus I usually have a manufacturer's coupon from Pampers.

I wish Pampers didn't have characters on them, my daughter isn't familiar with the characters even now that she's a toddler, and infants have no idea what they are. They're only there for the parents, as far as I can tell. And considering I bet most parents would rather have nothing or perhaps a pretty abstract pattern (like the Rowley stuff) I don't get why the characters are on the smaller sizes at all.

Pencils, you are using Desitin as a preventative measure? I wonder if you'd have trouble with rashes without it. My babe is in cloth and has never had a rash, nor did my first child when I was cloth diapering her. We've also never used Desitin or any other barrier cream to prevent it. See what I mean?

Sorry - just want to dispel the myth that the "super absorbency" of disposable diapers will prevent rashes, because that is utter baloney.

Although my daughter uses cloth diapers, I don't want to derail this into a cloth vs. disposible post because I think we have all made up our minds on that subject. That said--this idea is silly. I mean, I guess if you have so much money you don't know what else to do with it, go ahead and pay more for your baby to poop in a pretty pattern. If your babe is in a fancy dress or something and you want a cute look, I would buy a cute diaper cover that you can toss over the diaper and use again and agian. This just seems like pointless extravagance.

Possibly another marketing ploy to keep consumers distracted from stories about Pamper's super-absorbent diapers causing horrible rashes/chemical burns?

My baby also wears pampers, and she has never had a rash. I think these diapers are really cute! It would be ridiculous to spend so much more though...that $6 can really add up! Besides, I just have my baby wear cute ruffly panties when I want her bum to look cute :)

These are obviously for grandparents and baby showers.

I think they are better than branded characters. Why people allow their infants to advertise for free is beyond me. We use cloth now but that is one of the many reasons why I chose 7th Gen Disposables when we need them.

And yes, I do think they swiped the idea from the cloth diapering communities. You know what is cute? Ruffles. Not disgusting plastic petrochemical toxic "ruffle" printing and the irresponsible parents who dispose of human waste improperly.

Of course, with all of the TERRIBLE anti-pampers sentiment out there, it makes sense that they would try and generate some not so hositle press.

@ nellymom: with all due respect to another cloth diapering mama, your statement about not wanting to discuss the benefits of cloth over disposable diapers here because, as you say, "...I think we have all made up our minds on that subject." is kind of silly. In order to slow the rapid destruction of our planet, we're in for a whole lot of changing minds! I think a post about a company's attempts at prettifying a wasteful product that is harmful to our environment (and possibly to our children) is a pretty good forum for this sort of discussion.

I admit it, I buy Pampers - I understand the environmental impact and feel some level of guilt but as a working mom the time factor wins out over cloth and the cost wins out over Seventh Generation. If I was willing to spend more I wouldn't go with Pampers witha pretty pattern, I'd go for Seventh Generation - now if they want to offer these at the same price and the character decorated ones I will happily accept.

It is a common misconception that laundering cloth diapers is a huge undertaking. I spend a total of probably 30 hands-on minutes per week washing & drying diapers (that includes hanging them on the line out back). Heck, I think I'm probably saving time considering there are no last-minute runs to the store to pick up disposables! Seriously - these are the easiest loads of laundry EVER. No sorting, no pre-treating, no folding, no ironing.

If you REALLY can't be bothered with a couple of extra loads of laundry every week, or if you do not have access to washing facilities (been there), see if you can find a service in your area! They'll do all the work for you and you won't be guilt-stricken every time you contribute another bin of plastic and human excrement into a landfill!

"If you REALLY can't be bothered with..."

Sigh. It IS a time-consuming undertaking, compared to disposables. And the attitude makes me sad.

Also, I have yet to find a daycare that will take CD's. ALSO, most daycares changes kids on a two hour schedule, which mean CD's are going to be a problem for your kid's butt, even if the daycare would use them, which they won't.

It sucks, but it's the truth.

And the designer diapers are ridiculous. If there was $ burn, it would be on 7th gen or other less environmentally horrifying diaper, not ruffles. Obviously.

Why does it seem that everytime I read comments on thie and other baby sites it is always "I'm right because I do this and your wrong because you don't".

There is no such thing as a perfect parent. Whether you use cloth or disposables it is your choice and you should not be judged for it. If you breast or formula feed it is your choice and you should not be judged. If you cosleep or not, it is what works best for you. Every family, child and parent is different and what works for you may not work for someone else.

NessaB, I'm with you. I'm a cloth diaper user and I admit that I love it, but people, you're not going to win anyone over to trying out cloth with such judgmental words. I understand that cloth is not for everyone. And although I cloth diaper full time, there are many families that use half and half -- some of each, that is.

As for these particular fancy disposable diapers, I have no use for them but I am not filled with disgust simply because they exist. Good grief. Someone might find them fun now and then, just as there are many other products featured on this site that are (a) a little pricey, and (b) not a "necessity" by any definition.

Personally, I think the cloth users of the world (such as myself) should take heart in the fact that this is a sign that a few more people are trying out cloth -- drawn to it for the cuteness factor, if not for environmental reasons -- thus Pampers didn't want to miss out on that market.

I detest putting my son in something with licensed characters on it. I know I'm overreacting, but I just can't stand that marketing to children starts as soon as they're born.
We've been using cloth diapers and have been really happy with those. No rashes, no licensened characters, no laundry issues. Yes, it's more work. Yes, you'll have to look for a day care that will use them (which, BTW, is a growing number and there's now a directory online that lists daycares that are happy to change cloth diapers). To me? It's totally worth it.

ok, hang on a minute. I AM NOT HERE TO JUDGE YOUR PARENTING ABILITIES. I DO, however, feel that it is my responsibility as someone who gives a rip about good old mother earth to advocate for environmentally friendly practices and to discourage those that are harmful to our planet. Whether or not you use disposable diapers is up to you, but if you do so KNOWING the impact your WASTE has on our planet, be prepared to get called out on it from time to time.

I don't think anyone accused you of judging anyone's parenting abilities.

I implied that you were being judgemental regarding CDing vs. disposables, which you are; proudly.

I'm sure you being kind of a jerk on the internet is really helping Mother Earth- way to go, champ!

Regular pampers and 7th gen diapers are very close in price, if you go for the Subscribe and Save discount on amazon.

baumgak and NessaB have friendly attitudes that I gravitate toward. I CD, but not full-time; I want to, but every brand I've tried hasn't worked (leaked). So I'm mostly doing disposables, and if the cloth ones don't get better, it looks like that's what I'll be doing.

It also bugs me that my infant is being used as advertising, but it doesn't bug me enough to rant at strangers online. Really, the most important thing to me is that they work--whatever the diaper.

But yes, parenting...the biggest lesson I am learning is that everyone gets to parent how they choose. And that I cannot judge or criticize them. We're all different, our children are different, our abilities and priorities are on a vast spectrum. Parenting is hard enough without us casting stones.

If the price were created equal, I'd buy the cuted-up diapers, if for no other reason than that I'd rather look at them than Elmo. It doesn't bother me that Pampers is introducing this change, and I can't see what harm it's going to cause.

tmoore, read baumgak and NessaB. I cloth diapering, breastfeeding, vegetarian mother in a low-sugar, no-tv household and I get sick of the constant judgmental sanctimony that these discussions always devolve into. Recently a friend asked me about cloth diaper and I gave her a long tutorial on the pros AND cons and she left with a desire to think about it more and maybe try it half and half. I think that my gentle, non-judgmental approach worked better than smugly preaching to her. Period. I think comments like yours have less to do with sincerity about beliefs and more to do with wanting to feel or appear superior to others.

Wow....I just have to say it again and again...wow wow wow wow wow...

I love this site and all the great things I see and read on it, but I realize that everytime I go to read comments, I tend to think, "Oh here we go.." because I know it's just going to turn into a VS. thing.

Not everyone thinks the same, not everyone has the same priorities. Why does there need to be comments about "oh you're ruining the earth because you use disposables, your priorities are wrong because you put a cartoon character on your kids diaper or shirt, or how dare you subject your kids and family to the radiation that comes off the non organic lightbulb lighting up your commercial product infested home."

Why can't we all just say, "Wow, what an amazing world we live in full of diverse people who share different thoughts, priorities and ideas."

Some people do have the time and capabilities to make everything at home, use cloth diapers, and not dare to subject their children to anything mainstream. Just like some people are on the go but try their best to give their family quality time together, put their babies in sesame street pampers, but make up for it by recycling as much as they can, and also happen to let their kids get sucked up into the world of Disney.

We're all adults. Can't we just chill out with all the "I'm better at life than you so do things my way" talk?

Do an Etsy search for "diaper cover" or "diaper cover ruffle" and there are a TON of cute diaper covers that are reusable and are the same price as the upcharge on 2-3 packs of these - about $10-18 each. And much cuter!

So cute! I can't wait to spend the $ that is burning a hole in my pocket on these - in madras!!!

ridiculous- the diapers and all these comments.

These are totally ridiculous- but that Huggies denim ad is really funny.

http://thesweetest3.com/

Stupid in so many ways. Will pass =}

I used disposable diapers on my son- he never got a rash, or a chemical burn, or anything like that. He was clean and dry. I also fed him formula AND used a crib bumper! OH MY --THE HORROR.

That said, I wouldn't spend the extra money on these diapers because they would be covered up all the time- I didn't let him just wander about in a diaper. ICK.

We have used both cloth and disposables and our kid has gotten rashes with both. Cloth is clearly better for the environment, but hard when you're a working parent. Clearly what we need is more paid parental leave if we want more cloth diapering. Also, subsidizing cloth diapers, like they do in some countries would help too - it doesn't save all that much money when you have to pay for a service.

But back to the post's topic, cute but a waste of money!

I am REALLY sorry that my comments were read as judgmental, harsh, rude...I can absolutely see how that might be the case, and how that may have caused some of you to become extremely defensive. I apologize sincerely. I will state once again that I am not judging anyone's parenting! What I am opposed to, and perhaps vehemently so, is the choice to use disposable diapers for convenience sake. Disposable diapers are a fairly recent invention. Why can't we live without them now? They are wasteful, and there is nothing pretty about that and no sweet way to point that out. And it SHOULD be pointed out. Again and again and again. You don't like it? Don't participate in an online discussion on the matter.

Gee, I thought the discussion was about designer diapers (which happen to be disposable). It's interesting that the comments here haven't really focused on the fact that designers like Cynthia Rowley are now getting into the act. Doesn't this say something interesting about the baby industry? Could we focus on that, please?

Yes, the discussion began was (and is) about designer disposable diapers. I commented on my opposition to the product described in the post (as did others), this whole thing went nuts, and in the end I was accused of being insincere, sanctimonious, judgmental and, oh yeah, a "jerk". Sorry, guys. I'm not any of those things.

Moving on (and waving a big ol' white flag), in response to imperfectmom's request that we shift focus:

Does this say something interesting about the baby goods industry? Well, I don't think that this sort of frivolity is anything new when it comes to baby products, and Cynthia is certainly not the first designer to hop on that gravy train. Really, I find her designs highly preferable to the character-themed merchandise that we're so used to seeing. It is the product that lies beneath her designs that I find distasteful. The patterns are sweet.

WonderMom, i like you.

Why can't we all just say, "Wow, what an amazing world we live in full of diverse people who share different thoughts, priorities and ideas."

took the words right out of my mouth.

Silly. lol! People can't see what his diapers look like most of the time anyways. They get covered up with clothing. ;)