I will be the first to admit it: I am a brand snob. Or as my college marketing professor would say, I am “brand loyal” (which just sounds nicer anyway). Now, I am not exactly sure why I am, because I certainly wasn’t raised that way. In fact, quite the opposite. My parents were always buying generic and it proved to be just as good as the more expensive alternative. However as an adult, I have found the adverse to be true. I am perfectly willing to pay a little more for a superior product. The few times I have tried to save a couple bucks buying the store brand has actually backfired because I end up going back and buying my tried-and-true name brand in addition because the generic didn’t live up to my expectations.

Now I could probably make a million excuses as to why name brands are better; for example additional capital, extensive marketing resources, and superior research and development teams. But this is my soap box and I don’t need to justify my opinions. The bottom line is I trust my name brands and they have yet to let me down.

Case in point: diapers. Now I have been a loyal Pampers user since the hospital send us home with Ana and a lovely pack of Pampers Swaddlers. We were given a couple packages of Huggies as gifts but every time we put one on Ana’s little heiny they would leak. So I tucked them in the back of the closet “for emergencies only” and high-tailed it to the store to buy some more Pampers. Recently the time came when Ana became too big for the Swaddlers and I thought if ever I was going to make the switch to a different brand, now was the time.

I asked fellow mothers for their opinions and the consensus was the vast majority used Huggies. Some even used Kirkland (Costco’s generic) stating that they were the same, if not better. I even heard a rumor that they are made by the same company. So I did some cost comparisons and discovered that the cheapest (name brand) diapers were in fact the Huggies at Costco. In fact, when Costco is offering a coupon, they are actually cheaper than the Kirland brand. So I headed off to Costco, with my coupon in hand, and bought me a package of Huggies. And I have to admit, I felt a little guilty doing so. Pampers had always treated me right and I felt like I was betraying an old friend as I hauled the box to my car. I justified it to myself by thinking of the money we would save over the years. Sure it’s only a penny or two a diaper, but until Ana is potty-trained, that is A LOT of diapers.

Then it happened. The diaper leaked. I can only assume this is karma’s funny way of telling me I should have just left a good thing alone. Naturally, the diaper would leak when we were out of town, leaving me with a limited supply of clothes and no washing machine at my disposal. Oh and did I mention that the diaper leaked ON ME? Yeah. I was nursing Ana when suddenly we were both very warm. And very wet. The diaper leaked through her outfit, through her swaddle blanket, and soaked my clean jeans. Just lovely.

Now it’s only been one leak so far. The first of many, if history repeats itself. However, I am not totally unreasonable-I am willing to give Huggies another shot. (Mostly because I still have the better part of a case sitting in Ana’s closet.) But the next time the diaper leaks you better believe I will be taking advantage of the Costco return policy and taking back the rest of the diapers.

I know I did the research, both opinions and financial, and all signs pointed to Huggies, but I think it all comes down to the magic rule of parenting: YOU do what works best for YOUR family. My sister had a theory that certain diapers just work better on certain babies. Two of her children were Huggies babies and the third was Pampers. Go figure. So maybe Ana was just meant to be a Pampers kid. And at this point I am more than willing to spend a couple extra cents per diaper on my favorite brand. If nothing else, the peace of mind alone is worth it to me.