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Demovictory9

(32,324 posts)
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 09:58 PM Apr 2020

hand-washing disposable diapers, rushing to potty train, using newspaper as prices jacked up


‘What if I run out?’ Cost of diapers and rush to potty train strain low-income parents


------

It was also the first time in weeks that she’d scraped together enough quarters for laundry, and her children were quickly running out of clean clothes. Recently, she’d picked the princess decal off 4-year-old Beatríz’s outgrown shorts and inked a spider over them for her 3-year-old, Máximo to entice him to wear his sister’s hand-me-down. The success was short-lived. Since she’d run out of diapers, nothing stayed dry very long.

“They just opened a store right here — they ran out of diapers like this,” Juárez said with a snap, nodding to a market across from the laundry center. “I went down here to MacArthur Park, they didn’t have any. I went to Costco, they didn’t have any. I went to Target, sold out. I’m here with the kids, going store to store, and they didn’t have any supplies.”


In desperation, she began hand-washing dirty disposable diapers and hanging them to dry in the shower. At that point, she felt she had no choice.

“On that day, I started potty training him,” she said.

Toilet training is difficult under the best of circumstances. But the pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on poor parents like Juárez, who pay about as much to diaper a child as an average L.A. family spends on their electric bill — about $80 a month. Here, as elsewhere, poverty extracts a premium, limiting where families can get supplies and their ability to buy in bulk, experts said. With store shelves stripped and more than half of Angelenos out of work, families like hers are scrambling to cut that cost.

----

“The smaller markets on the corner, they’re jacking the price of the Pampers up so you can only afford the six-pack instead of the 12-pack,” said Alan-Michael Graves, national program director for the Good+Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing diapers in Los Angeles and New York. “If you add cost plus availability, it makes it very challenging for parents to provide these diapers to their kids.”

-------------

A recent drive-through distribution event started at 7:30 a.m., half an hour ahead of schedule, because the line of cars was already looped around the block. By 10 a.m., most sizes had run out.

“They’re like gold to the families we serve,” said Norah Weinstein of Baby2Baby, a local diaper bank that has partnered with the L.A. Unified School District to provide supplies to families in need. “Parents in our program are emptying out diapers, hanging them to dry and putting them back on their babies. They’re using newspaper as a substitute for diapers, they’re not eating so they can provide diapers and food for their children.”


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-25/coronavirus-diapers-scarce-parents
66 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
hand-washing disposable diapers, rushing to potty train, using newspaper as prices jacked up (Original Post) Demovictory9 Apr 2020 OP
Makes a person want to reconsider cloth diapers. PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2020 #1
can you still buy those? parent would need the cloth diaper, plastic pants and diaper pins Demovictory9 Apr 2020 #2
You absolutely can still buy them. Crunchy Frog Apr 2020 #3
i wonder why the families in the article dont buy a pack Demovictory9 Apr 2020 #15
Yep. You can still buy them. PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2020 #6
good to know Demovictory9 Apr 2020 #14
Yes Tree-Hugger Apr 2020 #7
My recollection from the days before disposables, when everyone used cloth diapers, marybourg Apr 2020 #10
You are correct. EllieBC Apr 2020 #19
I'd say that washing and drying cloth diapers at home, even without a washing machine, Crunchy Frog Apr 2020 #21
Yikes shanti Apr 2020 #61
Well, if there were no signs saying not to, marybourg Apr 2020 #63
There are vendors that cater to people that want such diapers. nt Blue_true Apr 2020 #58
I am old... but I do not understand why disposables. KentuckyWoman Apr 2020 #4
Yep, and a lot of people also think they have to buy drinking water in plastic bottles. Steelrolled Apr 2020 #9
Disposable society. Such nonsense. Ms. Toad Apr 2020 #5
Same Tree-Hugger Apr 2020 #8
Some people are so tone deaf. EllieBC Apr 2020 #11
So what did people do before disposables came out? cwydro Apr 2020 #12
She probably wasn't working 2 jobs. EllieBC Apr 2020 #13
Very few people are working two jobs right now. cwydro Apr 2020 #17
When did everyone on the left become so damn insensitive? EllieBC Apr 2020 #18
Washable, reusable diapers, it's an idea when no disposables are available. JustABozoOnThisBus Apr 2020 #23
The only thing most posters here are focused on is the virus. Ace Rothstein Apr 2020 #26
Goodness gracious me. cwydro Apr 2020 #29
Disposable diapers are not cheap. Mossfern Apr 2020 #47
Yes I have. EllieBC Apr 2020 #51
Apparently your PITA Mossfern Apr 2020 #66
I still say that using modern day cloth diapers and hand washing them at home Crunchy Frog Apr 2020 #22
She's talking about hand washing the disposables so she can use again.... KentuckyWoman Apr 2020 #24
nappy service, no clue what the cost is in LA, but it runs around only 10/week in London per child Celerity Apr 2020 #38
If she's washing and hanging disposable diapers forthemiddle Apr 2020 #40
So get some cloth diapers Raine Apr 2020 #16
Easier said than done spinbaby Apr 2020 #20
Add in the social distancing mandated for the laundrymat, too. Lars39 Apr 2020 #28
This message was self-deleted by its author pinkstarburst Apr 2020 #30
+1 demmiblue Apr 2020 #32
How? By suggesting viable if imperfect alternatives to using newspapers as diapers? Crunchy Frog Apr 2020 #60
I know, right? Nature Man Apr 2020 #25
Careful now. You'll be accused of being cold hearted. cwydro Apr 2020 #31
This thread is amazing. WhiskeyGrinder Apr 2020 #27
Yep. Not unusual, though. n/t demmiblue Apr 2020 #33
No kidding. crickets Apr 2020 #34
There's plenty you can do. cwydro Apr 2020 #36
You're right. Thanks for the kick in the rear. crickets Apr 2020 #41
My county was in need of people making wellness calls to seniors. cwydro Apr 2020 #42
Haven't done the housecleaning yet, either. crickets Apr 2020 #57
A great reminder of the joys of not having children HarlanPepper Apr 2020 #35
Whoa, talk about tone deaf. cwydro Apr 2020 #37
While my sympathies and best wishes do go out to those described in the OP, I must say Dial H For Hero Apr 2020 #45
I have no children either. cwydro Apr 2020 #48
Is it even possible to wash a disposable diaper? Rae Apr 2020 #39
It is possible to use fabric diapers. They are washable. marble falls Apr 2020 #43
I know, I used to use them Rae Apr 2020 #46
welcome to DU gopiscrap Apr 2020 #50
Thank you!! Rae Apr 2020 #54
You're welcome gopiscrap Apr 2020 #59
No way. cwydro Apr 2020 #52
I've seen enough babies at swimming pools Rae Apr 2020 #53
once I accidentally put a disposable in a washing machine fishwax Apr 2020 #55
Oh my gosh!! Rae Apr 2020 #56
I'm pretty sure that it's not. All this talk about diapers is dredging up memories from Crunchy Frog Apr 2020 #62
We also used cloth diapers, phylny Apr 2020 #44
My kids are so old that I only had cloth diapers for them when they were babies. Disposable CTyankee Apr 2020 #49
I used cloth for my oldest LeftInTX Apr 2020 #64
You could purchase blue pads and tape LeftInTX Apr 2020 #65

Demovictory9

(32,324 posts)
2. can you still buy those? parent would need the cloth diaper, plastic pants and diaper pins
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 10:03 PM
Apr 2020

and watch a youtube tutorial probably

and the pail to store them in. washing in shared laundry facilities might make the washers and dryers stinky.

Crunchy Frog

(26,548 posts)
3. You absolutely can still buy them.
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 10:17 PM
Apr 2020

They were super trendy when my twins were babies 11 years ago, and there were all kinds of fancy and conveniently designed ones available.

I'd be surprised if much has changed since then.

Looking at Google, it looks like they're still just as trendy with a huge variety available.

That's what I'd be looking at if I had a baby right now.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
6. Yep. You can still buy them.
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 11:14 PM
Apr 2020

I did cloth diapers when disposables has already almost completely taken over. People thought I was weird.

I actually went on a cross-country driving trip with my cloth diapers. It wasn't that hard.

Tree-Hugger

(3,364 posts)
7. Yes
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 11:17 PM
Apr 2020

They have been gaining in popularity for many years now. I clothed diapered both of my kids. There are so many different options for cloth diapers nowadays. There are large companies that make them as well as crafty moms. It's a big business. No more pins (though some do opt for them) and a lot of styles are "all in one." They go on and fasten just like a disposable.

marybourg

(12,540 posts)
10. My recollection from the days before disposables, when everyone used cloth diapers,
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 11:48 PM
Apr 2020

is that you were not allowed to use public or in building laundry facilities. You used diaper service or washed them by hand if you didn’t have your own washing machine. Just my recollection. From where I lived. Nobody wanted to wash their clothes in a washer that had just washed poopy diapers.

Crunchy Frog

(26,548 posts)
21. I'd say that washing and drying cloth diapers at home, even without a washing machine,
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 05:18 AM
Apr 2020

is probably a better option than washing and drying and reusing disposable diapers as the people in this article are doing. Even if it may not be ideal.

shanti

(21,670 posts)
61. Yikes
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 02:08 AM
Apr 2020

I did not know that in 1977, when I would take my son's Biz-soaked diapers downstairs to one of the apartment complex's laundry rooms, and to public laundromats. I didn't even occur to me. We were poor as church mice, there was no where else to wash them, and disposables were too expensive for everyday use.

marybourg

(12,540 posts)
63. Well, if there were no signs saying not to,
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 02:43 AM
Apr 2020

I guess you were justified in thinking it was OK. I think that was long after disposables became ubiquitous and few people were still laundering diapers, so the signs had disappeared.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
5. Disposable society. Such nonsense.
Sat Apr 25, 2020, 10:39 PM
Apr 2020

We used disposables when we were traveling long enough that it would be impractical to haul them home with us. Disposables are a nice wy to toss money into the landfill.

You can buy high quality diapers for $31 for a dozen, have them delivered within a week and use them from birth through potty training. A few covers (or even plastic pants) and your good to go.

EllieBC

(2,961 posts)
11. Some people are so tone deaf.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:01 AM
Apr 2020

If you are lower income you’re likely living in an apartment which means you don’t have your own washer and dryer. You likely have a shared laundry facility or have to go to a laundromat.most of those places do NOT allow you to wash cloth diapers. Also, to wash them properly you need hot water and 2 rinse cycles. Guess they should just make sure they have extra change for that too?

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
12. So what did people do before disposables came out?
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:15 AM
Apr 2020

Somehow my mother traveled overseas (by ship) with me as a babe in arms.

No disposables.

EllieBC

(2,961 posts)
13. She probably wasn't working 2 jobs.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:30 AM
Apr 2020

My mom used cloth diapers too. However we lived in the suburbs. I did too, for my oldest, because I have a washer and dryer. And I’m a SAHM so I had the time.

What I’m saying is what do you want people to do who can’t wash diapers in a laundromat? Or who don’t have that extra time?

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
17. Very few people are working two jobs right now.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:51 AM
Apr 2020

Lucky to have one job.

Anyway, my point is that at a point in history (not so long ago) there were no disposable diapers. People coped.

My grandmother had 7 children between 1925 and 1935...oh no, she didn’t have two jobs...she had 7 - as well as working a farm, feeding chickens, feeding children, tending cows. Oh and they didn’t have a washer or dryer, nor a laundromat nearby, nor running water, nor inside plumbing.

Wow.

EllieBC

(2,961 posts)
18. When did everyone on the left become so damn insensitive?
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 03:13 AM
Apr 2020

Do you have no empathy for people struggling to get by? Now you want them to buy cloth diapers and hand wash them? I guess they should just be happy because past generations did that. Past generations did lots of things. I guess we should just end all welfare too because they sure found a way to feed themselves. And education programs because they can just go get a job at the mill and be happy.

If you read the article it opens with a woman who scraped together cash to do laundry. Scraped together. So she should scrape together more to do diapers which require hot water wash and 2 rinses to maintain quality and to make sure they are properly cleaned?

Maybe AOC is right. Parts of the party are out of touch.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
23. Washable, reusable diapers, it's an idea when no disposables are available.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 05:45 AM
Apr 2020

It may work for some.

What is the "left-correct" solution for unavailable disposables? What would be an "in-touch" option?

Ace Rothstein

(3,109 posts)
26. The only thing most posters here are focused on is the virus.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 10:07 AM
Apr 2020

Nothing else matters right now. It is scarier to me than the virus.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
29. Goodness gracious me.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 10:55 AM
Apr 2020

Since you have not the faintest idea what anyone on this board may be doing to help those struggling during this crisis, you’d be better off keeping your accusations to yourself.

Where did I say I “wanted” them to buy cloth diapers? Perhaps you missed a point or tow that others have made here: it’s better than washing disposable diapers, which is what the article spoke of.

Dear oh dear, I do hope your day improves.

Mossfern

(2,375 posts)
47. Disposable diapers are not cheap.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:20 PM
Apr 2020

In the long run cloth diapers are more economical.
Hand washing them is not terrible, and if possible they can be hung on a line in the sun to dry.
I am not out of touch. Anything can be used as a diaper pail and I assume she has access to water to soak the soiled diapers in a soap or borax solution until she washes them. There were poor people back in the day too and they manged to use cloth diapers.

I'm lucky to have grown up middle class, but I still washed cloth diapers and did not find it a horrifying chore. Even if I had no access to a washing machine, I would have washed them and hung them. To assume that people have no empathy is downright insulting.
You can buy cloth diapers for $14 for a ten pack at Target. I didn't look up the price for nylon panties to go over them, but honestly I think that's way more thrifty than cloth.

Have you washed diapers?

EllieBC

(2,961 posts)
51. Yes I have.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 02:41 PM
Apr 2020

We used cloth with my first. It was a PITA. Hot water wash, 2 rinses. Like I said if you want to maintain quality and cleanliness you need to wash them properly. We had a washer and dryer so no need to use a laundromat that wouldn’t let you wash them anyway.

I guess you’re advocating that the poor should just live like “noble poor” and hand wash diapers instead of focusing on the fact that stores are over pricing them and not keeping them stocked?

Mossfern

(2,375 posts)
66. Apparently your PITA
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 08:23 AM
Apr 2020

was my pleasure. I'd say that in modern USA, those that chose to use cloth diapers do so not because of economic reasons, but for environmental and health reasons. Since when are "poor" people devoid of these values?

As someone who has worked with the poor professionally, I'm well aware of the issues they encounter in life. To assume that someone is too lazy to wash diapers because they have economic insecurities show bias on your part, not mine.

Crunchy Frog

(26,548 posts)
22. I still say that using modern day cloth diapers and hand washing them at home
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 05:25 AM
Apr 2020

is a better option than using disposable diapers and washing, drying and reusing them, also at home. There don't seem to be any perfect options in this situation, just better and worse ones.

KentuckyWoman

(6,666 posts)
24. She's talking about hand washing the disposables so she can use again....
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 09:48 AM
Apr 2020

because she can't find any new ones. If someone is going to resort to that measure, then cloth diapers would be an improvement.

spinbaby

(15,073 posts)
20. Easier said than done
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 03:32 AM
Apr 2020

Imagine you are a poor person with limited transportation living in one of those food-desert type places where supplies of any kind are hard to come by. You’re buying diapers a few at a time from the corner store because you can’t afford to buy them in large quantities. How are you going to buy a few dozen cloth diapers? Do you have a couple of hundred extra to spend on them? Where will you buy them? Amazon? Do you have Internet? A credit card to pay for the transaction? A place to wash the diapers when you get them?

Lars39

(26,093 posts)
28. Add in the social distancing mandated for the laundrymat, too.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 10:09 AM
Apr 2020

Only 10 people at a time in the one in the OP. And it took her quite a while to scrape up the money to go that one time.

Response to spinbaby (Reply #20)

Nature Man

(869 posts)
25. I know, right?
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 09:56 AM
Apr 2020

It's like people can't see their bootstraps for the lack of boots anymore! What are they thinking!

Other examples:

1. Don't have reliable transportation? BUY A NEW DAMN CAR!

2. No money? START A BUSINESS!

3. Hungry? STOP BEING LAZY!

/sarcasm

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
31. Careful now. You'll be accused of being cold hearted.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 11:23 AM
Apr 2020

I guess those flinging accusations around think it better for people to diaper their little ones in newspaper.

Go figure.

crickets

(25,896 posts)
34. No kidding.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 11:43 AM
Apr 2020

My heart goes out to any mother trying to deal with all of the exhausting and expensive issues involved with child raising. Put a pandemic and a diaper shortage on top of that, and I just feel so helpless not being able to do something to help all of the women trying their best to deal with a literal shitstorm.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
36. There's plenty you can do.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 11:55 AM
Apr 2020

Call your county/city/churches/homeless centers.

They all need volunteers and donations. If you don’t want to be out and about, you can make phone calls.

No need to feel helpless, there’s plenty to do to help - I assure you.

crickets

(25,896 posts)
41. You're right. Thanks for the kick in the rear.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 12:14 PM
Apr 2020

I am already donating to the food bank, but I will give them a call tomorrow about trying to do more. Thanks again, cwydro.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
42. My county was in need of people making wellness calls to seniors.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 12:43 PM
Apr 2020

Also delivering canned and frozen foods.

Sometimes it’s as simple as just watching your neighbors (not to inform on their lack of social distancing lol), but to see if they need anything.

Believe me, I sunk into a kind of helplessness at first too. This whole mess is so disheartening, but it does help to reach out to others I think.

Now, if I could get a kick in the rear to clean my house...

 

Dial H For Hero

(2,971 posts)
45. While my sympathies and best wishes do go out to those described in the OP, I must say
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:05 PM
Apr 2020

that as someone who is and will remain childless that my part of my reaction to reading the story was relief at never having been in such a situation.

 

Rae

(84 posts)
39. Is it even possible to wash a disposable diaper?
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 12:08 PM
Apr 2020

They're filled with powdered gel to absorb the moisture. Wouldn't they just turn into big gelatinous blobs?

Regardless, this is incredibly sad. My niece has a newborn and finding diapers that are affordable is a real struggle right now.

 

Rae

(84 posts)
46. I know, I used to use them
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 01:07 PM
Apr 2020

I was just questioning whether or not the disposables could be washed like the article stated.

 

Rae

(84 posts)
54. Thank you!!
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 04:04 PM
Apr 2020

This site looks like a wonderful source of information for the liberal minded. And so active!

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
52. No way.
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 02:45 PM
Apr 2020

I think that had to be an exaggeration.

When put in a real deal of water, the do indeed turn into gelatinous blobs - as you said.

 

Rae

(84 posts)
53. I've seen enough babies at swimming pools
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 03:59 PM
Apr 2020

In regular diapers. What are their parents thinking??

fishwax

(29,146 posts)
55. once I accidentally put a disposable in a washing machine
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 04:17 PM
Apr 2020

what a mess, with thousands of tiny gelatinous beads turning into thousands of still-small-but-notably-bigger-and-now-loose-and-spread-out-in-the-washing-machine, water-soaked gelatinous pellets.

Crunchy Frog

(26,548 posts)
62. I'm pretty sure that it's not. All this talk about diapers is dredging up memories from
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 02:21 AM
Apr 2020

my early days of motherhood.

Yes, disposables are filled with tiny, clear, super-absorbent crystals. If you run a diaper under water, it will blow up like a water balloon, and it will take practically forever to dry.

How do I know this? I tried it once during my first weeks with my twins. Not to try to reuse the diaper, but to make a compress for myself. I was getting these extremely painful plugged ducts, and I thought it might help. Sorry for the TMI.

I'd forgotten about that until just now. No way you could use that on a baby after running it under water.

Sorry about your niece. Have you tried looking for cloth ones online? There are some really nice ones that are not real expensive. Maybe you could get her some, just to have as an emergency backup.

Welcome to DU BTW.

phylny

(8,353 posts)
44. We also used cloth diapers,
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 12:56 PM
Apr 2020

but I was a SAHM, we had a washer and dryer in our home, and I actually had a clothesline outside to dry them (and sunshine was a great final disinfectant). Also, the poop got dumped into the toilet where it belongs, not packaged in a disposable diaper to the landfill. We did use disposables for traveling and for overnight, when they got older.

One plus was that our daughters were all toilet trained by two years of age. They "felt" wet. No "big kid" pull-ups for us.

This won't help people now, but I intend to buy everything my daughters might need in terms of cloth diapers that they can have on hand just in case if they have children.

CTyankee

(63,771 posts)
49. My kids are so old that I only had cloth diapers for them when they were babies. Disposable
Sun Apr 26, 2020, 02:10 PM
Apr 2020

diapers were only on the horizon. I lived in NYC and I "washed" them first by flushing the toilet and holding the diaper on tight. Then into the diaper pail with its water with some sort of "solution" in it. Then off it went on pickup day and whisked back to us the next day or so all clean, dry and folded.

I was young and strong so it didn't bother me much.

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
64. I used cloth for my oldest
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 03:01 AM
Apr 2020

He always had a rash..and they never stayed up when he started walking. Also around this time, when he peed, he peed more at once and it came out the sides, so I would have to change his clothes.

Fortunately, there was a new generic brand at the store, so they weren't too expensive. They weren't the absorbent type, (basically they were like chux - dog training pads) but they were better than cloth. At least they stayed up and they didn't leak as badly as cloth!!!

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
65. You could purchase blue pads and tape
Mon Apr 27, 2020, 03:08 AM
Apr 2020

Not ideal, but that is what basically what our son's cheap disposable diapers were. (1987)

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