Best Cloth, Disposable and Green Diapers for Sensitive Skin

Many babies have sensitive skin. However, when your baby has extra sensitive skin, just any diaper will not work. As a mother and former nanny, I learned this through trial and error. All of my children somehow ended up with overly sensitive skin, due to eczema and allergies. I have also had children in my care with sensitive skin. I tried many different diaper brands over the years, both disposable and cloth. As we quickly found out, "sensitive to baby's skin", stated in some way or another on many diaper labels, does not always ring true.

Pampers Baby Dry Disposable Diapers
Pampers has been a trusted brand for years and for good reason. In my opinion, these are by far the best diapers, as far as quality goes. So, what about sensitive skin? I have found that babies with sensitive skin require a diaper with good absorbency. Pampers Baby Dry has that and more. I have found that a Pampers Baby Dry diaper pulls all of the moisture back into the diaper and away from baby's sensitive skin, which is unlike all other brands of disposable diapers I've tried. Other brands are a little absorbent, but in my experience Pampers actually keeps all the wetness away from baby's skin, as long as baby is changed frequently.

Kushies Pre-folded Cloth Diapers
Easier for the cloth diaper novice or the busy household manager, pre-folded cloth diapers with velcro fasteners, rather than traditional cloth diapers and pins, are actually becoming somewhat of a trend among both new and seasoned parents. I found Kushies to be the best brand of pre-fold cloth diapers, in terms of using them for babies with sensitive skin. They were easy to use and were very absorbent, keeping the moisture away from baby's delicate skin. Kushies are 100% cotton.

Huggies Supreme Disposable Diapers
Huggies Supreme is my least favorite among disposable diapers for sensitive skin. The leg openings were far too wide, causing leaks, which then would give the babies a rash along the leg lining. This would occur, even though frequent changing was practiced. The elastic lining in the legs may also have had something to do with the rashes, in at least one of the children they were used on.

Seventh Generation Disposable Diapers
Seventh Generation brand diapers are the green version of disposable diapers. They are non-toxic, chlorine-free, fragrance-free, and dye-free, which makes them safer for the environment than other diaper brands. I found the Seventh Generation Diapers to be great diapers and even very absorbent. I never witnessed any skin irritations on any of the babies who used this diaper brand. In fact, they performed pretty similar to the Pampers Baby Dry Diapers. The only complaint I, and other parents, ever had about this brand is the cost. They are not very cost-effective, but if you can afford them, these may be the best choice because of the environmental factor and the fact that they do not seem to irritate sensitive skin.

Target Brand Disposable Diapers
Target Brand disposable diapers are actually good diapers for a store brand. I generally do not prefer store brands for diapers, as the tabs usually fall off or the diapers do not fit baby correctly. However, this is not the case with Target Brand diapers. In addition, Target Brand diapers are very absorbent, not as good as Pampers Baby Dry, but I have not yet found another that holds up to Pampers Baby Dry, so that is standard. Target Brand diapers did not seem to irritate any of the babies with sensitive skin. They perform very close to Seventh Generation in terms of being gentle on sensitive skin, absorbency, as well as quality.

Gerber Plain Cloth Diapers
Plain cloth diapers made by Gerber are the worst of all the cloth diapers I've tried. The 100% cotton factor is good, but that's about it. They are very thin. In order to get enough absorbency, baby has to wear three to four of them or have a cloth padding inserted or a rubber diaper cover placed over them after fastening. This can get bulky and sweaty, causing too much moisture, which irritates a baby with sensitive skin pretty easily.

Sources:
http://www.pampers.com
http://www.kushies.com
http://www.huggies.com
http://www.seventhgeneration.com
http://www.target.com