Seriously, I was almost in tears at Costco last week (a little PPD?). How dare Costco stop selling Pampers before my kids were all out of diapers. I had three choices, go somewhere else (with 3 kids in tow, not likely), buy Huggies (the worst diapers on the planet, definitely not) or try the Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I bought the Kirkland diapers.

The Basics
Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers are disposable diapers available only at Costco Wholesale Club by the case. These diapers have a soft paper cover, three rows of elastic around the leg openings and stretchy waist band at both the front and back of the diaper. The diapers attach with two Velcro like stretchy fasteners to the front of the diaper.

Kirkland manufactures these diapers in the three most popular diaper sizes, each with one single character on the front of the diaper:

Size 3 - 16-28 lbs, featuring a cheetah, 184 diapers per case
Size 4 - 22-37 lbs, featuring a zebra, 160 diapers per case
Size 5 over 27 lbs, featuring an elephant, 140 diapers per case

Our Experience
Buttercup fits comfortably into Pampers size 4, so that is what I bought. At 28 lbs she is right in the middle of the size 4 weight range and she is of average height.

Size
In a side by side comparison the Kirkland diapers are just a bit smaller than the Pampers Baby Dry and a hair larger than Pampers Cruisers. The Kirkland diapers a little thicker than either of the Pampers’ styles, but once the diaper is on my daughter I can’t really tell the difference and they fit her well.

Shape
Kirkland diapers are made in the popular tapered shape meaning they are narrower between the legs than they are at the waist. I personally have never noticed a difference in the fit whether a diaper was just a rectangle or the narrower design.

Leak Protection
No complaints here. The diapers go overnight (12-14 hours) without leaking. We haven’t had any daytime leaks either. The Kirkland brand touts their full stretchy waist band as providing superior leak protection, however once kids are eating solids I find that diapers leak around the legs not up the front or back. At the ripe old age of 2 Buttercup is long past the age of runny baby poop leaks so these diapers hold whatever she gives them.

The Cover
The Kirkland diapers have the softest “cloth-like” paper covers I have ever felt. Not that it really makes much of a difference since they are generally covered by clothes, but the difference was quite noticeable when I took the first one out of the package.

That brings us to the one generic animal per diaper issue. Buttercup is quite used to having her pick of Sesame Street characters however a recent interest in zebras has made these Kirkland diapers quite popular. Personally I don’t care what is on the diaper but I think I like this one character per size concept. The Little Guy is quickly outgrowing his nickname and size two diapers. I think it will be nice to be able to tell at a quick glance the size 3 from the size 4 diapers. When both were in Pampers I often grabbed the wrong diaper since both were decorated with Sesame Street characters.

Price
Not factoring in the Costco membership price the Kirkland brand diapers are a little less expensive. Long ago, when I could buy Pampers Baby Dry at Costco each size 4 diaper was $.21. The last box of Pampers Cruisers were $.26 each. The size 4 Kirkland diapers work out to about $.18 each. It isn’t a huge savings, however since I don’t have to buy Huggies the savings is HUGE.

Final Thoughts
Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers are my first foray into the vast world of store brand diapers. I am very pleased with their performance and I will continue to buy them. I was a little nervous about investing so much money into such a large quantity of diapers but their performance has been excellent. I just wish they were available in sizes other than 3, 4 and 5.


Recommended: Yes