It was one of those days. Down to the last diaper, I headed to the store with my ever cute and adorable two year old to pick up diapers and get groceries. Of course, when we got to the store my two year old turned into a little monster and refused to ride in or on any of the shopping carts. So much for the grocery shopping, this would be a diaper-only shopping trip. And then, the icing on the cake. They were out of our favorite brand of diapers, Pampers Cruisers, in the size we needed. To add insult to injury, they also didn't have Pampers Easy Ups in the 2T size. I scanned the shelf and found these Huggies Convertibles Diaper-Pants in a size 5 and thought they would serve in a pinch. While we hadn't had the best of luck with Huggies diapers in the past, these seemed like the best option for me at the time and were a new product that I'd been curious to try out.

What the heck is a Convertible Diaper-Pant?
Huggies Convertibles Diaper-Pants are a hybrid between training pants (Like Huggies Pull-Ups or Pampers Easy Ups) and disposable diapers. Basically, they look like disposable training pants, but they also have velcro closure tabs on the sides like diapers do.

The pattern on Huggies Convertibles Diaper-Pants is a light blue and light grey plaid with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger on both the front and back. All the diaper-pants in the package have the same design, which is gender neutral but a little bit boyish.

At this time they are available only in a size 5, which is for children over 27 pounds. I purchased the Jumbo package which contains 26 diaper-pants and set me back $9.99, which calculates to about 38 cents a diaper.

So,with Huggies Convertibles Diaper-Pants you have the following options.

-You can pull it on and take it off just as you would training pants. Huggies is marketing this for the "active child", because sometimes its quicker/easier to put on a pull-up than a do a full-blown "regular" diaper change.

-You can use the velcro tabs to loosen or tighten up the training pants for a secure fit. With the tabs unfastened the training pants are nice and loose and easy to pull on, then fasten the tabs securing the fit.

-If its too much of a hassle to take on/off shoes and pants you can pull open the sides and put this on just like a diaper, using the velcro closures to close the diaper. There are double sets of purple arrows on the side which show you where to pull to convert it from a training pants into a diaper.

-If there's a yucky mess and pulling it down to take it off is going to make more of a mess you can convert it quickly into a diaper and then remove it as you would a diaper. (Normal training pants you would need to tear the sides open which takes just a bit more effort, but the same amount of time).

Our Experience

When I first pulled one of these diaper-pants out of the packaging I was thoroughly confused by the double fastening system. The first thing I noticed was that they are hard to put on like a pull-up. Then (duh!), I realized that if you unfasten the velcro tabs in the front it makes the pull-up bigger and so much easier to put on then your standard training pants. Once pulled up, then the tabs can be adjusted so that they fit trimly. The double fastening system does add a bit of bulk to the front/sides of the diaper-pant that some children may find bothersome.

Additionaly, one "problem" we've experienced is that sometimes when you try to pull the diaper on as a training pant the sides will break open, self converting itself into a diaper. This is not a big deal as its still workable as a diaper but it rather defeats the training pants functionality. I suspect Huggies will have to revisit the way these convertible tabs have been designed.

My son is pretty much a perfect size 5 in Pampers Cruisers and most diapers, he weighs approximately 34 pounds. Huggies Convertibles diaper-pants in size 5 fit him very snugly. I have to say that I feel these run small as far as diapers and training pants go. They are definitely smaller than the 2T Pampers Easy Ups. I'm honestly surprised that Huggies is not offering these in larger sizes, especially as they appeal to the potty training age group most of whom take a size 5 or larger.

One thing that these Convertible Diaper-Pants lack is the disappearing design/pattern that both Huggies Pull-Ups and Pampers Easy-Ups have which fades away when the training pant is wet. Though, with these you definitely know when your child is wet, as like all Huggies I find the urine smell is noticable. We've not experienced leaks while using these, and the side and top gathers are not too tight that they leave any elastic marks. However, I have noticed the gel-like residue from the inside of the diaper does remain on my son's tender skin at changing time (it is easily cleaned away by a wipe and hasn't caused a rash, yet).

Overall
I like the added convenience of being able to choose whether to use these like a diaper or a training pants, but I'm not sure this convenience justifies spending extra. I'll probably only buy these if I have a coupon. While Huggies hasn't totally sold me on their new fancy hybrid design, I do recommend you try them out if you have an active toddler or potty-trainer, as they might just be for you!

Recommended: Yes