Why are baby diapers cheaper?

[Vandel Fisher]

I was just wondering why are baby diapers cheaper than adult diapers? This is true even taking the smaller size into account. So much so that many people use baby diapers as booster pads since they are cheaper than an equivalent adult product.
I used to assume it is because the baby diapers have a larger market so it is more competitive. This can be checked in Japan where adult diapers outsell baby diapers, but differences in how things work there might make it a bad comparison.
I heard from my wife that she knows of woman who use baby diapers for heavy periods because they are cheaper than equivalent feminine pads. I can't imagine that market is less competitive, so there must be another reason.

[Papa]

Vandel, The answer is simple. Babies do not have a lot of money but adults do. So we get overcharged. Papa

[Vandel Fisher]

I don't know any babies who buy their own diapers. I think in general adults tend to overpay for baby products. Just compare the price of baby food to adult food by weight.

[MSUSpartan]

I don't understand why the construction of adult diapers is so inferior to baby diapers. I tried to pull the tapes off of one of my sons diapers, and it was really difficult. They were thermally fused to the backing, and the backing contained latex so it was stretchable. Why can't they do that with adult diapers?

If I order mid quality baby diapers in bulk on amazon, it never exceeds 30 cents per diaper, but premium adult diapers are more like $1.50 per diaper, and the quality is lower.

Even if you account for the difference in quantity of material, it still doesn't even seem close.

[msshendo]

I complete agree with all of you on this. Inferiour quality, inferiour capacity, higher cost. It just doesn't seem fair. The technology is there. I think it has more to do with capitalism than we give credit for.

[Papa]

It also happens that most adult diapers are used in nursing homes and the sad thing is , if you have cared for older parents, aunts, uncles, etc. The quality is exceedingly poor and the price is high. Also...we that have to wear them do not go out and protest the high cost and poor quality that parents will do for their children. We are too embarrassed to scream out less we reveal that we wear diapers. So we keep quiet and hope the makers of our diapers will just improve them all on their own...not really going to happen. Another reason I prefer cloth diapers. They are just cotton cloth which you can not really improve on. If they are thin...double or triple up. As long as we keep our mouths shut not a lot will change. Papa

[msshendo]

So how do we change that?

[Patrick]

I guess, with capitalism, this situation will change only when large numbers of adults and the parents of older children and adolescents who use them begin to spend their money on better quality protection. The nursing home market is another area. Because nursing homes are required by laws and regulations to check on their incontinent residents frequently, they will likely always purchase the cheapest protection available.

[MSUSpartan]

So, I noticed something else about baby diapers. My son is near the end of potty training, and we've been using the remaining pullups for overnight, or trips to the next town over. Most of the pullups are wearing out before they get used. The one he was wearing today, the backing was separating, and I realized that the clothlike cover was just a tissue thin strip that was laminated on top of regular plastic backing.

No wonder the clothlike baby diapers work better. The clothlike portion is just for show. They're still plastic diapers underneath.

[msshendo]

Spartan, I think that is similar construction to the Seni Quatro. I believe from what I've read of them they have a plastic backing under the cloth like outer cover.