With economic times being tough, I had been thinking about putting together a post on what baby/kid items are needed and which we can do without, but it was such a huge task, that I never got around to writing it. So I’ve decided to make it a series and go one item at a time.
As a new parent, I thought a fancy diaper pail was necessary and after weighing the pros and cons of the pails available, I chose the Diaper Champ, because I could use ordinary garbage bags instead of having to buy special bags, like for systems like the Diaper Genie.
It was great. We loved it. My husband didn’t want one originally, but became a believer.
Our son was born at the end of July, by winter, the smell was starting to get noticeable, even without diapers in the Champ. I’d wash it with bleach, I put baking soda and dryer sheets in the pail. The pail had to move to our patio. Luckily, the door to the patio was next to the changing table.
But then spring came and we had to give up the pail completely. We couldn’t sit outside on the patio without being overwhelmed by the smell. I can only speak for the Champ, but I’ve seen similar complaints in the reviews of other systems. It sounds like many need to be replaced every year.
Why add to your costs and add additional waste in landfills?
Our new solution is that wet diapers go in the kitchen trash, and poop diapers get taken out to the curbside trash immediately. The only time we wait is if the weather is horrendous, and then we put the diaper in a small plastic bag and set it aside to bring to the curbside trash as soon as possible.
Now, of course, this is not the best solution for everyone. I imagine if you live on the 5th floor of a building with no elevator, getting to the building’s trash room won’t be as easy as my walk to the street.
How do you deal with diaper disposal?
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I’ve really only heard one side of the story on this one…that diaper genies, or fancy diaper pails, are the way to go. I didn’t know that you might have to change it out every year! Luckily, we got ours second hand for 5 Euro, and so far, so good. We do have one of the genies that you twist the bag so that in the end, you’re left with a diaper “pearl” necklace. Right now, though, we are just using normal trash bags in it since Amelia is breast fed and breast fed poopy diapers aren’t bad in comparison. If I were to do it all over again, I don’t think I would really need one of these fancy things though, since we use it like a normal trash can anyways…but we got it second hand from a friend for a good price, probably cheaper than we could buy a good normal trashcan for.
However, I must say, that being a new mom, you are inundated with products that you MUST have or else your baby will die (que scary music). It is hard sometimes to sift through all the junk, but I also believe that this whole “Baby Industrial Complex”, having to have everything and anything for baby, no matter the price, is not as bad here in Germany as it is in the US. But, that is a topic for a different time…
I agree, I think the advertising to new moms and pressure to have STUFF is much less here. Most of the German parents I know just use those little garbage pails with lids, that many people have under the sink for organic waste, for diaper pails and take the trash out every day.
Luckily, I did a lot of babysitting before I was a mother so learned of the smell and inefficency of those fancy diaper pails BEFORE I registered for my first child. It also helps that we have city trash pick up 2 times a week so nothing stays around too long.
Other useless space fillers – babywipes warmers!
and in our case the…. crib, baby slept with us.
We had just a regular lidded pail and while Max was breastfeeding exclusively this was fine. We’d take it out every other day or so. Now, with the introduction of solids, it’s a different story. We do what you do. Tinkles go into the kitchen and poops go out on our next trip outside.
Our useless item was the bassinet. Max slept in it once when the midwife insisted on training me to train him to sleep at 4 weeks. I’d put him in it if I had to do something quickly, like use the bathroom. Other than that he slept with us and then he grew too big for it to be useful at all. The cats really enjoyed it, though.
Well, personally, I liked our diaper genie and never had a problem with smell. Throwing a single diaper in our city trash would not work, because there is a city ordinance that diapers need to be in a plastic bag, so the Genie didn’t add additional trash. I simply tossed the “tube” in our outdoor bin. Once we started using cloth, I started using a lined diaper bag, which contained any and all odors as long as I cinched it shut. If I were starting again, I’d use cloth from the beginning.
@naomi & jen: Same with us. Oliver slept in our bed too. We took the side off the crib and use it as a toddler bed now, he takes his naps in it, but still sleeps with us most nights.
@maria: I think the Genie might be better than the Champ at containing odors, since each diaper gets sealed up separately. But there were some reviewers at Amazon that complained about odors from it as well. Might depend on how often you empty the trash or other differences.
We use the little diaper sausage maker (I forget the brand off the top of my head), and it works well so far. I ended up sticking it under the changing table, which is behind a closed door. The smell hasn’t been an issue unless we were sharing her room (while visitors were here), and our air matress was next to the bin – a little too close for comfort!
With the cloth, we have left the diaper pale on the balcony, and the poop gets scooped off before they go in there. The smell from the cloth is stronger than from the sausage maker.
Our useless baby investments were pacifiers (she refused). We were thinking of buying a heat lamp but never got around to it. Since we have gone 13 months without it, I’d say it would have been a wasted investment.
Oh, I have to say that the heat lamp totally rocks! We put Amelia down on the changing table, turn it on, and she is pretty calm while we are changing her. I don’t know of a time (yet) that she has cried while changing her diaper. I’m sure if we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t miss it either (or if we lived in Texas, where I’m originally from, we wouldn’t need it), but I got it on Amazon for about 20 Euro cheaper in the store, which is another reason we got it.
So far, for us, the bad investment is pants. I don’t like putting her in pants because it is annoying to always take them off and put them back on for changing…I absolutely LOVE the the footed onesies (or whatever their called). Those things rock. Those and gowns. Great investments.
We use cloth nappies (diapers), so we use a standard bucket for them. If there is poo, it gets dumped in the toilet straight away, and I wash ever other day.
No more landfill!
I registered for a diaper genie. It worked o.k. for the first couple weeks. I didn’t like having to buy the expensive lining though. When my son’s diapers started to get more messy, I rather used a regular trash bag and brought it out to the dumpster right away. It’s hard to squeeze a full poopy diaper into the pail without getting the hands dirty.
Hubby insisted on getting a regular little trash can with a lid that can be opened by foot. That is working great for us now!
The diaper genie moved to grandma, since she is only using it occasionally.
We never got a fancy diaper pail – rather just use a trashcan. Wet and breastfed poopy diapers are fine in there, but my two year old’s poopy diapers go in a little plastic bag and straight outside! We live in an urban setting in a one level home, so it works just fine for us! The poopy diapers usually go on to the porch and go into the trash can outside when I take out the recycling each day. I had a hard time with the cost of a fancy diaper pail and after two years and two kids, our little plan works great!
I have been using just little bags and taking the smellies out, but when we moved into the 3rd floor appartment, I took the plunge and got the Tommee Tippee Sangenic. It wasn’t too expensive, but granted you have to get the bags that costs a bit…
No smells! Great!
We did choose to put a seperate plastic bag in the bin to keep the sausage together so we don’t have to keep pulling it back out once the bin is full.
We will be using some of our cloth diapers for number two, but this bin is one of my favourite things in the nursery.
We used the Champ until introducing solid food. Now, pee diapers go in kitchen trash. Poo diapers go in the plastic bag the newspaper comes in (daily paper) and goes outside or in kitchen trash. To cut down on the smell, we also dump the contents into the toilet when practical. This is key!!
When the Champ started to smell, we realized that it was probably an uphill battle to keep the smell down on — essentially — a bucket full of pee and poop. After a while, even the pee diapers have a rank aroma.
I have never really had any of those fancy diaper pails. We cloth diaper and I just use a little plain white garbage can with a lid. I got it at Walmart when my son was born for like $5. The lid has the lever so it pops open and the pail has two inner handles for what I assume is to keep the garbage bag in place. I just fill it with diapers, no liner. I wash my dipes every 2-3 days and then just wash out the pail with hot water and some dish soap. It takes only minutes, smells fresh, and I never have to hurry out in the pouring rain, or worse yet, -50F weather (we live in Alaksa) to throw out a dipe and still have a stinky pail
My mom just put them in the bathroom trash, then take it out when it was full. I’m thinking of just putting a small trash can with a lid next to my changing table; then, after I take out the trash, just spray it with Lysol before putting in a new bag. I do this with the kitchen trash can, and it really helps the odor; so I hope it helps with the baby’s.