In my journey as a (not-so-new) mother, among a zillion other issues, one major one has been the health of my child.

If you are a regular on my blog, you’ll be well aware Pari is a spirited child who loves filling every moment of her life with fun, mischief, singing, dancing and if nothing else works doing interior decoration of our house.

Among all these, her driving force is the mischief that she has up her sleeve all day. Our home with a garden that’s watered twice a day (most of the year) stays many degrees cooler than outdoors almost all year round.

This fact accounts for a comfortable or more aptly a ‘pleasant’ temperature for our family, but poses great issues for Pari. She loves the floor more than the fancy furniture in her room. None of the colourful rugs, baby mats, bed-sheets or bed-covers succeeded in keeping her off the floor for longer than a couple of minutes. The floor is her playground, dining table and many times the bed too, much to my dislike.

With ingrained stubbornness and charged with her playful spirit she catches cold way too often. Its only after you become a parent you realize the futility of the rulebooks in life.

You can learn all parenting dos and don’ts by heart but your child will play the ultimate teacher, bending them all, every day. Cute booties, adorable shoes, pretty socks lure her but she likes them sitting in her closet or adorning the floor. Not her little feet.

The perennially running nose irks me beyond description. The idea of repeating medicines had been giving me endless worry. At this point in time, the thought of leaving my child in a wet nappy was beyond imagination. It was also because my paediatrician had hinted it to me, that it could be her diaper and not the floor behind her catching cold often.

This was the time when Pari had learnt to crawl. There was another angle to this common cold scenario. While I had been using diapers for Pari from the start, there were many issues with them as well. If you are a parent or have a baby in the family, you’d be well aware of the diaper issues new parents face.

There is no denying that the cost of diapers can be quite a bother, especially for a single parent (like yours truly). However, the undeniable fact is, the health of my precious baby certainly outweighs it. Honestly speaking, this wisdom didn’t dawn on me overnight, I went through a phase of dilemma and hiccups that I wish to save every parent from going through. Hence this post.

While the pressure to pick a budget-friendly diaper pressed upon my mind, I had no clue as to which brand to choose given a wide array of products and brands available.

The real issue was, whomever I sought to for advice, have had children who were never left in wet cloth diapers ( I faced quite a resistance on choosing to use diapers over cloth nappies) longer than a minute. Ideally, it would imply that a family member (most likely the mother) was always near the baby, even while the baby slept, checking on the cloth nappy every five minutes to ensure if it needed a change.

To me, the idea itself is exhausting, leaving alone the possibility to actually practice it.

Another issue in the way of diaper selection was, the sizes mentioned on the packs come with an age/ baby-weight range, but many brands failed to fit my baby snugly.

The result, despite wearing a diaper there would be leakage and wetness, completely defying the very purpose of the diaper.

When I finally, after much hit and trial found a well-fitting diaper (s) they failed the ‘night test’. Yes, a diaper is best tested at night, keeping the baby dry, sleeping a comfortable, sound sleep to wake up cheerful in the morning.

In the diaper I’d been using, around midnight Pari would wake up, get cranky and refuse to sleep despite my attempts at feeding her, singing lullabies to her or playing with her favourite toys.

All this while, the diaper’s outer surface and Pari’s clothes would remain dry but she still wouldn’t sleep. Sleeping with a cranky baby in your arms is out of the question. Besides, irregular night sleep would make me cranky like my child. While I’d have to go through the grind of the day with a heavy head, my baby would cry for not feeling well-rested to pull on her pranks or dancing happily the way she loved.

It took me a little while to realize what was going on. It took me a diaper rash on my baby’s bum to help me find out what the issue was. Her diaper was not staying dry on the inside, keeping her delicate skin in constant contact with moisture. This resulted in a cranky baby with a running nose who refused to sleep and worst still developed a diaper rash.

Panic struck, I finally switched to Pampers.

It ticked on the pricey diaper box but the minute I held the first diaper in my hand, I knew this was it. It’s tough yet soft outer cover with attractive cartoon was loved by Pari too. Then came the time for the ‘night test’. I prayed hard for an uneventful night staying sleep-deprived for almost a week now. My prayers were answered. We both slept through the night peacefully.

However, this wasn’t the end of my diaper woes.

The little bundle of energy I gave birth too, found the idea of playing with the tapes of the diaper too enticing to resist. The minute I’d make her wear a fresh diaper the next minute Pari would unfasten the tapes and the diaper is gone. The drill often repeated even at night if Pari happened to wake up.

The good news was, I wasn’t the first mother in the world to come across these problems.

The active baby pant-style diapers were the ultimate resolution for a baby like Pari.

Ever since Pari wore the first pant style diaper, there has been no looking back. She’s been carrying on with life her way.

I enjoy happily chasing her around, content that she’ll stay happily dry, pumping life in every moment just the way she likes. Smiling all the way.

The best way to buy the best diaper for your baby while not burning a hole in your pocket in to buy the bulk pack. Even today, when Pari is potty-trained, I keep one pack at home for an emergency situation, because I trust these to never let me down.

* The opinions expressed in this article are my own and in no way influenced for promotion purposes.

This TVC perfectly captures the routine my baby has had. Go have a look: