Review: Abena Abri-Flex Premium M3

For my first diaper review, I’d like to review the Abena Abri-Flex Premium M3. I just purchased my first pack of this diaper last week, and I have only used about half the pack, but I feel ready to do a review. . . .

Have you ever tried one of the Depend pull-ups? The ones sold at nearly every drugstore in America? Well, the Abri-Flex is like a premium version of the Depend. Yes, it’s also a pull-up. The non-pad portion of the diaper is made from the same weird, frilly type of material the Depend is made of. On the Depend, though, that material leaks: when I wore one and peed in or near the non-pad area of the diaper, the pee shot right through. This cover material is thicker in the Abena, though. So, although I’ve mostly only gotten pee on the pad so far, I’ve never had the material let pee through.

Another advantage the Abena has over the Depend is that the Abena has leak guards. The guards are pretty high, and do a good job of preventing leakage. This morning, I woke up in an Abri-Flex and had to pee. To test the diaper’s leak protection, I relaxed and peed while laying on my side. I usually don’t pee while laying on my side, since this causes leaks with almost every diaper I’ve tried, but I was curious. I ended up peeing a ton. Yet, when I got up a minute later to take my dogs out, I found absolutely no leakage. Wow!

I know I’ve compared the Abri-Flex to the Depend so far in this review, but I don’t really see it through that lens most of the time. I mean, I haven’t used a Depend for maybe three years, so why would I? How I do see it is like a Goodnite for adults. I like Goodnites; they’re the best pull-up I’ve used as an adult. I buy them when I can’t get diapers delivered. But I’ve always wished they made them in a larger size. The Abri-Flex grants my wish (though I do have to have them delivered).

Moving on, one downside I noticed to this diaper is its thick pad. I don’t like Abena’s thick padding very much in general. It gives me too much bulk in my crotch. Maybe an M2 or an M1 would have a thin enough pad for me, but I’m not going to try them anytime soon; they’re more expensive than the M3 (for whatever weird reason). Plus, getting one of those would sacrifice absorption, which I don’t want to do.

I’ve been wearing the Abri-Flex as my nighttime diaper. It works well for that because by the time I decide to go to bed, my afternoon diaper is so wet that I shouldn’t stay in it, but I’m too lazy to tape up a fresh diaper. With the Abri-Flex, I can put on a new diaper without having to tape it on. I don’t even have to stand up to put it on!

When I tried my first Abri-Flex, I noticed something strange: It had this plastic tag thing on the back. It looked like one of the sticky strips I sometimes use to mark pages in a book. I didn’t like it, and it looked like it could be removed, so I tried to remove it. I ended up ripping the diaper, so don’t try to remove it! But there’s another reason you shouldn’t remove it: it’s genius!

A story to explain why: Last night, I took my afternoon diaper off and threw it away, then lay half-naked in bed for a bit. Sometimes you just need to air out your skin. By the time I was ready for a fresh diaper, I had turned out all the lights in my room. I grabbed an Abri-Flex from my bedside table and my thumb came in contact with the plastic tag. With that touch, I realized I wouldn’t have to turn a light on to put my diaper on. The tag told me which side of the diaper was the back. It was great! And, if you were wondering, I can’t feel the tag at all when I’m wearing the diaper, so it doesn’t pose any problems.

Finally, this may seem strange to mention, but I ran in my diaper this morning after I wet it. Just briefly, but it was enough to tell me that it’s good to run in. Most diapers I’ve tried are super awkward to run in when wet. If I want to go for a diapered run and I have the Abri-Flex on hand, I’ll probably choose it over any other diaper.

So, that was my review. Have you tried the Abena Abri-Flex M3 pull-up? If so, what did you think? If not, will my review lead you to try them or avoid them? Please leave me a comment below! I look forward to them all!