With so many brands of disposable diapers to choose from, and all at a variety of price, how do you choose? For some it’s simply what fit’s their baby best, for some it’s what people have given you as gifts and for most it’s the price.


For us, we have chosen Pampers as our Diaper of choice. Not that I didn’t try Huggies, or Teddy’s choice, because we did, but the way that my son fit the diapers just seemed to bring huge poo disasters. I mean, you know you’re going to have some blowouts, so let’s not be unreasonable here. My little one (not so little–18lbs at 4 months) has always been on the chunkier healthier side of the spectrum. We always went back to the Pampers Swaddlers, as they seem to fit him the best with minimal leakage. Now not all diapers just because they have a "brand" name stamped on them are in the same category for me in terms of effectiveness. While I love the swaddlers (I’m still squeezing him into size 2-3–not an easy task to find those in stores), I’m not crazy about the cruisers (that’s what starts at size 3). He’s been in size three diapers since he was just over three months old, and is not cruising. He’s kind of like the Goodyear blimp. But I digress.
The program
When I was expecting, I had someone tell me about the Pampers website (she was big into coupons–Thanks Jenn!) and let me know she’d entered me into a draw to win diapers for a year, Yippie! So I decided to check out what else I might be missing out on, and discovered Gifts to Grow. It works for us mainly because we buy the swaddlers for the fit, not for the brand name and certainly not for the rewards. (something silly like 110 rewards get’s you a Starbucks gift card for 10$) Considering you get anywhere from 3-5 rewards per purchase, that’s a lot of diapers just for 10$ at Starbucks. But instead you can enter monthly draws for trips and other sweepstakes as well as (and this is probably the best reward to give) Donating your points for vaccines. Where one point = one vaccine!

So Where do you find the codes?
Now when you open a pack of Diapers (Click here to see what products qualify for points) it’s on the inside of the bag of diapers (it’s a sticker you peel off). If you buy a box, there are usually two codes, one on each bag within each box (again a sticker you peel off). The one thing that miffed me (and it’s my fault for not looking on the website sooner) was that every time I bought the refill packs for the sensitive wipes, there were no stickers to be found! So after going through two boxes (that’s 7 bags of wipes–each) I got peeved at Pampers for "forgetting" my sticker. I went on the website and do you know where they were???? (see below)

They were on the side of each freaking pack of wipe. So frantically searching through trash–maybe it’s a good point to tell you all, I had maybe been getting only 1.5 intervals of sleep for 2 and a half months, to find any left over, and to my surprise I found 2! So all excited, I went to the website, logged in and started entering my code.
Two things, the code is in black in and on plastic… it rubs off! and number two, you can’t read some of the numbers/letters because it’s been printed on plastic (almost as an afterthought)
Ok so I salvaged one code, and guess how many it was worth–0.5! Yes that’s right folks I went in search of .5 of a point through the trash. I went to my son’s room in search of the new ones freshly out of the box, and out of 7 codes I could read 3. So I got 1.5 codes out of 3.5 possible codes. At that point I got frustrated and switched to Kirkland brand wipes, they are cheaper and are thicker, and you also get double the wipes in most cases.
The Rewards
So here is a sample of the rewards you can save up for, but when I joined, two points got me a "spin" on a wheel to for different prizes, last month there was a trip for 4 to somewhere exotic that cost you 4 points to enter. So I’ll say it again, the best thing about these rewards is the fact that you can donate your point to Unicef for vaccinations around the world.
The Bottom Line
If you are going to be buying Pampers anyway’s, then this is an added bonus. So if you have some pampers stuff laying around, check it out for stickers, and if nothing tickles your fancy in the rewards category then by all means donate away!
But I would not purchase pampers just to get these rewards. If you find that another brand of diaper works just as well for your child then by all means, continue to use them. The extra price for the brand name and the rewards that go along with it; frankly, is just not worth it. The program was originally scheduled to end by March of 2008, but has been extended until March 2009.
Oh and for all of you cloth diapering momma’s out there, you are amazing, thank you for saving our planet one baby at a time! We’re not there yet, but we may just get there soon!
erin, that’s hilarious!
i did the same thing when i found out about the program (it was probably you who posted it on bbc)!
i only found one bag in the trash though 🙁
i think i only have just over twenty points now, we’re not going through diaperes like crazy for some reason, maybe a bag a week?
i completely agree, pampers is the only way to go, i have tried the other brands and i don’t like any of them, plus pampers are so soft! i was at my girlfriend’s place the other day and she watched me change maya and she thought i was using cloth because they feel and look so soft!
hey, you should get paid for this post!