We’ve used Pampers nappies since day 1 with Oliver… we used Pampers Micro fit nappies initially (Oliver was 5lbs 9 at birth) and then New Baby nappies.
More recently, we switched to Pampers Active Fit during the day and Pampers Baby Dry at night times.
We’ve had no problems. So far (touch wood!) Oliver hasn’t had any nappy rash, not even through his first 3 rounds of vaccinations. So we don’t really have a reason to switch nappies.
That said, we’ve heard of a lot of good stuff about the Aldi Mamia brand so we thought we would give it a go.
Pampers vs Mamia Price
We buy nappies alongside our food shop from Asda.
- Packs of 76 Pampers Active Fit size 3 retail for £14 at Asda (18.4p each). But for as long as I can remember they’ve been on 2 packs for £20. That equates to 13.2p per nappy
- Packs of 90 Pampers Baby Dry Size 3 retail for £14 each at Asda (15.6p each) and again are on 2 for £20. That equates to 11.1p per nappy.
- Packs of 68 Pampers New Baby nappies retail for £11 at Asda (16.2p). Again, it’s 2 for £20 coming to 14.7p per nappy.
So, sticking with the Pampers, the best I can buy them for from Asda at the moment is 11.1p per nappy.
Mamia Ultra Dry Medi nappies (size 3) sell for £4.39 for a pack of 56. That’s 7.8p per nappy.
In other words, Mamia nappies would save us at least 27.9%. Over the course of a year, that would really add up.
If you use 8 nappies a day, you would save £96.36 per year. That’s almost £100 you can spend elsewhere.
On that basis, we went out and bought a pack of Mamia nappies to try.
Note: Do bear in mind, particularly if (like me) you do your shopping online or you don’t have an Aldi in your town, Aldi doesn’t do online shopping. So you could potentially eat into your savings if you have to go out of your way to visit Aldi to make the purchase.
I’m a bit of a baby brand snob…
I’m a first time Mum and I’m a bit of a baby brand snob. Maybe ‘snob,’ is the wrong word. I guess I am just acutely aware of the fact that the quality of a nappy can make the difference between my son being happy and comfortable and being uncomfortable and potentially at risk of nappy rash or redness.
Similarly, I use Aveeno bath products because their reputation precedes them and want a product I know lots of other people have used on their babies and review highly. That’s important to me.
I’m incredibly frugal in a lot of other ways. I tend not to waste a lot of money when it comes to buying health and skincare products for myself and my husband. But for our son, we are led by brands for health and skincare.
So, I took off my brand hat and ditched the Pampers for 3 days. Here’s how that went.
The Nappies Themselves
I weighed up the Mamia nappy against both a Pampers New Baby and a Pampers Active Fit. In terms of how they feel, they are both very similar, though the Mamia nappy feels just a tough flimsier (so little, though, that if I didn’t know one was a cheaper one, I probably wouldn’t notice too much).
In terms of how they look, I actually prefer the more fun design of the Mamia Nappy and even though my son is only 4 months old, it certainly caught his eye beside his changing mat!
I hadn’t really ever noticed the back of the Pampers before…. but I have to say the little giraffe in the pocket is very cute!
I do, on the whole though, prefer the design of the Mamia nappy if that’s a point of consideration.
They’re similar in how they fasten up and both perform equally well in terms of being able to unfasten and refasten them again without any loss of stickiness on the tabs.
One thing I would say about the Pampers Active Fit (which also applies to the Pampers Baby Dry) is that I think they fit a little better. They’re more snug without being too tight. I noticed that the active fit has a lot more stretch in bit that goes around the legs than the Mamia one does and while both fitted the little one just fine, I do think the Pampers was slightly more snug. In addition, the Pampers one goes slightly further up at the back (something you can see from the picture above, to be honest) and having experienced several poo-up-the-back situations before, this is something I do appreciate!
That said, we didn’t have any leakage issues with either.
Performance When Wet
For a 90 minute wear, we didn’t see any difference between the Pampers and Mamia in terms of how wet or full the nappy was or, indeed, how damp our son’s skin was.
For short wear/daytime wear, then, we’d be happy to use the Mamia nappies.
However, when we used one overnight, we did get leaks. We specifically started buying Pampers Baby Dry for overnight use simply because, unless he poos overnight (rare) we don’t disturb him to change his nappy at night. So he will have the same nappy on for 11 – 12 hours at night.
In the morning, his skin was very wet wearing the Mamia and his bodysuit was wet around the bottom too. We don’t get that issue with Pampers.
However, for day time use, we noticed no difference between the Mamia and the Pampers Active Fit. And with a difference of 30% in price, which is a huge, we would definitely buy Mamia nappies again in future (but sticking with the Pampers Baby Dry at night time.
That said, I’d have to be buying in huge bulk to make the saving work if you consider the fact that I would need to go out of my way to drive to Aldi in order to make the purchase. So in reality, we’ll probably use a combination of Pampers Active Fit and Mamia during the day, just depending on whether we happen to be near our nearest Aldi.
They are great nappies though and while they are not better than the Pampers Active Fit, they represent equal performance and therefore much better value for money if you happen to shop at Aldi already anyway.
Buying Online
As mentioned, I tend to buy nappies along with my weekly food shop delivered to my door! But you can get them online and Amazon is usually a good place to start:
Note: I bought all nappies myself and have been in no way paid for or asked for a review. An impartial review – whoop!
