This review has been a long time in the making! As you can imagine, it takes quite a while to test your way through four cases of Bambino Diapers, even if you’re a heavy user.

But it’s finally time to explore a comparison of the popular Bambino Diapers, I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for: each of premium diaper manufacturer Bambino’s signature offerings, stacked up against one another. We’ll start with the Classico as our base point, and compare the other models from there!

 1. The Bambino Diapers Classico

This is where it all started: Bambino’s first model of ultra-absorbent, adult-baby-themed diapers.

The signature feature — the gimmick, if you will — is a three-dimensional double drum core of padding. In layman’s terms, that means that there are two long tubes of absorbent wood fiber (called “fluff pulp”) surrounded by super-absorbent polymer (“slush powder”) running lengthwise down the diaper. Those give the diaper the ability to soak up a lot of heavy wetting at its core first, prolonging the time before the leg gathers are in danger of leaking.

Overall, the Classico is a really good diaper. It outperforms generic and store-brand diapers, as well as the heaviest diapers from big names like Depends and Attends.

That said, it’s not a perfect diaper. If you try it out having heard a lot of Bambino-hype (and there’s a lot of Bambino-hype), you may be disappointed. The absorbency is still comparable to the heavy offerings from other premium brands like Abena, and the tapes aren’t perfectly placed — if you seal both of them to the “landing strip” on the upper diaper, you don’t get much of a seal down by the legs, where the leaks are most likely to occur.

It’s also tough to re-do the tapes once they’re placed, even if you do get them on the landing strip. Half the time they won’t come back up without tearing, and the rest of the time the adhesive is too weak for a solid seal on the second use.

But with all that said, the Bambino Classico is still a good diaper. If you’re coming from basic store-bought diapers to premium diapers for the first time, you’ll certainly be impressed.

2. The Bambino Diapers Bianco

This section is the easiest one to write: the Bianco is the same diaper as the Classico, but without the baby-themed print.

In terms of performance, they’re identical. The difference is visual, so let that guide you.

If you’re into baby-themed play of any sort, the Classico is the obvious choice. If you prefer your diapers plain, go with the Bianco. Keep in mind, though — just because it’s white does not mean that the Bianco is subtle! It’s a big, thick diaper with a very crinkly landing strip on the front. It’s not going to tuck in easily under a pair of jeans and immediately vanish from notice.

For my part, I wish they’d left the landing strip off (since the tapes don’t reseal all that well anyway) and produced a slightly more flexible, less noisy diaper. But that’s not what the Bianco is, so keep the bulk and the noise in mind when you consider buying it.

3. The Bambino Diapers Teddy

I’m a fan of the Teddy, which uses a softer front panel to cut down on some of the noise and stiffness that plagues the Classico and Bianco diapers.

(In theory there’s also some added padding for extra absorbency, but it doesn’t seem to make much of a practical difference in terms of how long the Teddy can go between changes. Most of the added padding was toward the rear of the diaper, where it’s of limited use for wetness control.)

Unfortunately, Bambino isn’t making this one in a blank style yet, so if you don’t like the teddy bear print you’re out of luck. As long as you’re comfortable with that aspect, though, this is at least a small upgrade on the basic Bianco and Classico models, and they’re currently priced the same.

4. The Bambino Diapers Bellissimo

Was there ever excitement when these came out! That was a couple years ago now, but they are still, without a doubt, some of the most impressive adult diapers on the market, and a marked improvement on the generation of diapers that came before them.

The double core is much thicker than in the Classico etc. lines, and the added bulk is definitely noticeable. You’ll feel it between your legs even dry, and when the diaper starts to absorb it will get very large and heavy. There’s nothing subtle about the Bellissimo.

In the “pros” column, it’s about as absorbent as disposables get, at least right now. For heavy wetting, you’re not going to do better than a Bellissimo. It’s a champ, plain and simple.

In the “cons,” it unfortunately still suffers from the same weakness as the other Bambinos: the tapes aren’t the best, they don’t refasten all that well even when you get them squarely in the landing zone, and it’s tough to get a tight seal around your legs unless you stray outside the landing zone. It’s also, like the Teddy, only available in a babyish design right now, which can be off-putting for adult users who don’t have AB/Little interests.

Summary

Overall, none of these are bad diapers. They’re all high performers on absorbency, and if you’re willing to tolerate baby prints you have a good range of products to choose from.

The Teddy is probably your best bet for comfort, and the Bellissimo for bulk and absorbency. If you don’t place a high priority on either of those, the Classico or Bianco will serve you just fine, but at that point they’re a little tougher to recommend — you could get similar performance out of other brands’ top offerings, which usually cost less and don’t have the stiff front panel. For top performance, I recommend sticking to the Bellissimo and the Teddy.

Bambino has announced more changes coming soon, including a softer, stronger inner lining. We’ll report back once we get a chance to try those — but for now, this has been the Bambino Classico/Bianco/Teddy/Bellissimo side-by-side-by-side-by-side comparison! Hope you enjoyed…