Five Baby Diaper Brands to Watch

From a cotton topsheet to charcoal infused products, brands are working hard to stand out in the competitive baby diaper space, where several new brands seem to launch every year. Here are a handful of brands Nonwovens Industry will be keeping an eye on in 2024.
 

Kudos

Founded by MIT graduate and Procter & Gamble alum Amrita Saigal, Kudos baby diapers launched in 2021 with the aim to be the most skin-friendly, high-performance plant-based baby diaper on the market. Kudos diapers feature a 100% cotton topsheet, meaning that the baby’s bottom touches only cotton, not polypropylene, which is found in most other diapers.
 
During an appearance on the U.S. television show Shark Tank last year, Saigal secured $250,000 in funding in exchange for a 10% stake in the company from host Mark Cuban and guest host Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress and founder of lifestyle brand Goop. Because of the experience, Saigal said that Kudos saw a lot of inbound interest from the Shark Tank audience for applying its Kudos technology to products for adult incontinence.
 
Kudos’ DoubleDry technology for baby diapers features two layers of absorption and thousands of funnels built in to wick moisture away from baby’s bum and into the core of the diaper so that baby’s skin can stay dry. Looking ahead, the company will be turning its attention to training pants (applying its DoubleDry technology) and adult diapers in the future.
 

Dyper

Dyper continues to transform itself following the launch of its bamboo-based compostable baby diaper. In August, Dyper introduced Charcoal Enhanced Diapers, featuring a black topsheet infused with 3% charcoal from Bamboo, which is known for its filtering and odor-fighting properties. The inner core of the diaper, which was made in Japan, features plant-derived materials and is textured to wick liquid away from baby’s skin and lock it in the diaper’s core. The diaper closures have been redesigned to provide an effortless fit and easy re-adjustments, thanks to a large attachment area on the front of the diaper. Dyper also introduced a charcoal enhanced baby wipe that is made with 100% plant-based materials. They feature an embossed texture for more thorough cleaning and are available in a larger size for easier clean-up.
 
Dyper’s original bamboo-based baby diaper was also recently improved, and now features a thinner absorbent core and sizing optimized for comfort and fit - without sacrificing absorbency or performance. The new diaper remains a certified USDA BioPreferred 55% Product, DermaTest 5 star rated, Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex certified and made with wood pulp certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
 
In addition to these innovations, the company now also utilizes manufacturing in North America to ensure a reduced carbon footprint, improved shipping lead times and a more promising innovation pipeline.
 

Hello Bello

Founded in 2019 by celebrities Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, Hello Bello experienced significant growth during its first couple of years, which led them to open their own diaper manufacturing facility in Waco, TX, in 2021. But after the investment didn’t produce positive results quickly enough, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2023. In a statement, the company’s CEO Erica Buxton cited inflation and high shipping costs for the company’s struggles. In December, Hello Bello was acquired by Hildred Capital Management, a healthcare-focused private equity firm. With this partnership, Buxton said Hello Bello will be in a stronger financial position and she expects this partnership to increase their efficiency and manufacturing capacity for their customers and retail partners.
  

Freestyle

Launched last year, Freestyle baby diapers are engineered with a proprietary 100% tree-free BambooTek core, unlike most other diapers that feature tree-based fluff pulp. BambooTek technology is a 100% organic bamboo core free of harsh chemicals and bleaches. Freestyle also collaborates with artists to incorporate artistic designs onto all its diapers. According to the company’s founders, the bamboo-based core is a drier pulp. Freestyle had its baby diapers lab tested at SGS in preparation for conversations with some big box retailers and, according to the company, it outperformed in absorption capacity and moisture retention compared to some of the biggest brands in the natural diaper space.
 
Since its launch, Freestyle BambooTek Diapers have expanded into Whole Foods stores in the U.S. and online. The diaper brand was also selected as a Good Housekeeping 2023 Parenting Award recipient.
 

HealthyBaby

Founded in 2018, HealthyBaby was created by Shazi Visram, whose mission to improve health from preconception to pre-K by pioneering baby care products that meet the highest safety standards and most recently resulted in the first-ever Environmental Working Group (EWG)-verified diaper. The EWG verification ensures that the products met the strictest standard for health and transparency developed by a team of chemists and toxologists. HealthyBaby diapers are made with ~35% plant-based materials (the highest among any major brand, according to Visram) and the brand has diverted >1 million pounds of plastic from landfill since it launched in 2020. 
 
Most recently, HealthyBaby has incorporated organic cotton in its backsheet for an even softer sensory experience. It also moved from post-consumer recycled plastic sleeves to a paper sleeve to improve the carbon footprint of its products. For 2024, the brand has a pipeline of new innovation that supports its ethos that “the fewest, best things for baby should be high quality and health forward as they essentially touch our babies every day,” Visram says.