An 'invisible' need: Diapers top the holiday wish list for many L.A. parents

[Demovictory9]

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-24/diapers-top-holiday-wish-lists-for-l-a-parents-with-young-kids




“I just want my kids to be happy,” said Maria, a single mother of three boys, who asked that only her first name be published.

But providing for her baby has been challenging. She hasn’t been able to afford enough diapers. So she improvised, and learned to stretch her limited supply. She kept them on even when they filled up or left his bottom bare at home. Sometimes she wrapped him in cotton cleaning cloths to keep him dry, washing them by hand.

But earlier this year, Maria found out about a program through his older brother’s Los Angeles Unified School District campus that helped her. She found a way to receive free diapers, formula and other essential items directly from the school, goods provided by an L.A. nonprofit called Baby2Baby. She received coats, shoes, blankets and for Christmas, bags of presents, wrapped and ready.

____

And while low-income parents can use their monthly government assistance to pay for diapers, the $75 average monthly cost to diaper an infant can take an outsize portion of their benefit, sometimes up to 40%. Because low-income families tend to purchase diapers in smaller, more expensive quantities rather than in bulk, they often end up paying far more.

_____

Half of families in the United States report they cannot afford enough diapers to keep their children clean and dry — up from 1 in 3 in 2017, according to recent data from the National Diaper Bank Network. One in 4 families reported missing work or school in the past year because they did not have enough diapers to drop their child off at a childcare program, most of which require a daily supply provided by parents.

[snowybirdie]

1. Anyone ever heard

Of cloth diapers? About 50 years ago, corporate folks convinced people to switch to disposable diapers. Since then, we've had landfill problems and high expenses for parents. A dozen or so diapers last for years and have a one time cost. Yes they need to be washed, but the bit of extra work saves a lot of money. And they used to have services to do that for those who could afford it. Why can't this be brought back?

[irisblue]

4. But used cloth diapers still need to be stored until they can be laundered

If the parents have an apartment or house with a washer & dryer it is much easier then if the parent is living in a car/shelter/tent/couch surfing.

I do remember my mom dumping contents in the toilet, storing the smelly diapers till laundry day then drying them on a closeline.
It was a huge amount of work. If the parents are doing low paid jobs& a side hustle, those hours to do this work may not be there.
50 yrs ago, there were more 1 income families, so usually the female partner had an unpaid job as house manager.


EDITED TO ADD, After a brief Google search, I found this company-https://www.suddsandsunshine.com/plans-pricing. $50 wk-" Los Angeles and surrounding areas $50/wk.

[llmart]

6. I had cloth diapers for both of my children.

First child I worked full time and lived in a small four room apartment (1970's). I "stored" them in a diaper pail in bleach water until the supply got low. The apartment had a laundry room and I would tote them down there with my quarters and wash them to be reused again. By the second child I was able to afford diaper service and needed it because of a medical condition where the baby could not wear disposables even though they were available. After that they got used for dust rags.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I recall mom telling us she boiled our diapers. Not disposables. Cloth diapers.

So this is just a manufactured convenience of our society. Does it suit corporate more than it suits our kids. I know, it would be a pain. But it's not like there is no alternative.

[jimfields33]

3. Not to mention that they should buy bulk and not small amounts.

I think some financial counseling on the costs per unit may help as well. Yes cloth is another option.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. These kids need to pull themselves up by their diaper straps!

[Raine]

5. Target has cloth diapers 50 count for $28.99 other places might have them

for less. You pay for them once and that's it, use them again and again.

[dembotoz]

7. you assume folks have a washer/dryer......

i feel like i am seeing more folk who carry laundry baskets to their cars...
maybe i did not notice them before....
And i do not live in an inner city

[haele]

16. They're also assuming that poor families have the time and money to go to a laundermat 3x a weeek.

When many of not most poor families live in apartments or rentals where they don't have access to an on-site free dryer or the ability per the rental contract to hang clothes out to dry. In many rentals you can wash laundry if you're clever and lucky, but there's no way to dry clothes except by hanging over the bath or shower.
I've lived in too many apartments or rentals houses where the only place to wash and/or dry a large load of clothes was a common use laundermat or laundry area that was either at the complex or up to several blocks away; even when I was growing up.
And one thing I learned early about common or commercial laundry areas is that someone had to spend time sitting with the family laundry to ensure no one else stole or 'misplaced' your clothes before your family was ready to haul them back home.
There's a reason poor parents, especially single parents, would rather buy disposable Diapers than washing diapers over a stove or in a sink then drying on coat hangers on the curtain rod over the bath.
Which I remember my mom and dad for a at least a year doing almost daily when my brother was a baby while living in a cheap apartment in the San Fernando Valley because Mom wasn't ready to go back to work (we couldn't afford daycare for me and baby brother), and it was "more time efficient" not to take three-four hours every other day hauling me, my brother, snacks, and a load of toilet rinsed diapers along with what little family laundry had collected down to the coin-op - on the bus, when Dad was working - and we all wait until the clothes are done and we can all head back.
Even when you're just 5, it's somewhat memorable when it meant you couldn't have your friends over on a special day to play because it's also diaper wash day, or you remember how much you really, really wanted two pennies at the monthly family Laundromat trip when bed linens were being washed just to get a handful of peanuts or M&M's from the gumball machines.
Going through a period living-under-a-slumlord-PB&J/rice-n-beans-meal-once-a-day poor really, really sucks for a kid, and the memories really burn into one's psyche.

Just saying - it would have made my parent's life so much easier and given them both so much more time to improve our standard of living in the 1960's if they had access to disposable diapers when my brother was born.
Dealing with cloth diaper is an imposition on time. And from experience, in dirt poor families without reliable washing and drying facilities where they live, coordinating around that time loss can be a major hurdle to the prosperity of the family instead of just an inconvenience, as it is to more working class families with access to washers and dryers.

Haele

[Marthe48]

8. Maybe having a free laundromat is an idea

Having a few free machines at homeless shelters, or in low-income housing would be such a help. I would prefer to see less reliance on disposable diapers, but I understand that reality will dictate what's best. Women used to use cloth during their periods and reused the rags each month. Sometimes disposable is a better choice.

I was lousy at securing diapers on a baby, and it was a family joke that my relatives could tell when I put a diaper on a toddler. Most times, in spite of my best effort, the diaper would soon be drooping to their knees, and then off. :/ Rousseau allowed his toddlers to roam without clothes or diapers, but back to nature was part of his philosophy.

We had our children in the early 70s, one income, sometimes, none. We lived in a house in the country with no indoor plumbing. There was a well and a bucket. I think we were fulfilling a fantasy of living off the grid. When I got pregnant again, I didn't think we could maintain the hygiene of 2 babies, so we moved to town. I remember taking the diapers to the laundromat, and my sister let me use her washer and dryer a few times. While the kids were both in diapers, we went through 13 dozen a week. My Mom and my Mother-in-law taught me their tricks of keeping the diapers from stinking and staying white in spite of their use. We used disposable diapers if we visited my Dad or other people. Our niece was born 2 months after our younger daughter. My sister-in-law used disposables entirely. For all of us in those years, it was a time of transition and choices.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. A Likely Unpopular Reaction

Effective birth control has been available & reasonably affordable for about 60 years.
If you can't afford diapers, don't have kids.
For abandoned parents, I have sympathy. They may have had a financial wherewithal snatched away. But, I fear too many people have kids without considering the costs & responsibilities. I'd suggest that it wouldn't be so prevalent an issue otherwise.
Flame away. I'm unlikely to change my opinion.

[Elessar Zappa]

11. I understand your position but there's various reasons for this.

In most cultures around the world, the amount of children in a household is inversely proportional to income and means. It’s not just a matter of irresponsibility, there’s a myriad of sociological reasons for this.That’s why WIC, SNAP and child tax credits are so necessary, it’s because large families (very often impoverished racial minorities) are the ones who qualify for such programs.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. I Have No Objection To Welfare Programs

None at all. 100% for them.
This is a completely different issue, to me, than SNAP.

[nini]

10. Well this thread's replies wreak of privilege

I used cloth diapers for my son and I was able to because I has access to a washer and dryer.

While I agree people should use them if they could it is not reasonable to expect people in situations you can not even imagine cannot. Being homeless, unemployed or underemployed, caring for other family members, trying to pay insane rents etc etc etc. make it difficult to afford all of life’s necessities.

Instead of judging, consider diapers isn’t their only challenge and donate to the organizations helping them out from your golden throne. I should say I’m shocked to see these type comments here but not really. Being poor still has the stigma of being lazy or dumb apparently.

[EllieBC]

12. I was shocked too

but there was a thread recently about lead in applesauce pouches, and it was the same type of replies. Calling parents lazy for giving their kids premade applesauce pouches.

Sometimes people don’t sound that much different from older conservatives. “We walked to school uphill both ways after being beaten in the woodshed and we liked it.”

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. lol this fuckin thead

[dalton99a]

15. Why Are Diaper Prices Up 184 Percent? Two Corporations Are Preying On Parents

https://perfectunion.us/diaper-prices-up-inflation-collusion/

Why Are Diaper Prices Up 184 Percent? Two Corporations Are Preying On Parents
Diaper prices are skyrocketing. The dominant brands have engaged in decades of collusion.
June 14 2022
By Eric Gardner

In 2022, industry analysts estimate that Americans will purchase about 20 billion disposable diapers. That equates to about $7.2 billion each year. Unfortunately for consumers, two companies — Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Kimberly-Clark — account for 70-80 percent of the market. Despite their different colors and logos, Huggies, Pampers, Pull-Ups, Luvs, All Good and GoodNites are all sold by two companies. Store brands fight over the remaining sales.

While the American market for diapers is vast, it’s not growing. The U.S. birthrate has steadily declined since the mid-2010s, and fewer babies means less parents buying diapers. Thus, any growth in the disposable diaper market must come through price increases or taking market share from a competing brand or company.

In January 2018, that’s exactly what P&G management tried to do. Faced with struggling sales, the company announced price cuts across its entire portfolio, including industry-leading diaper brands Luvs and Pampers. P&G cut prices even though the cost of making each diaper was as high as ever. Parallel to the price cut, the index that tracked the prices of wood pulp, a leading material in disposable diapers, hit the highest level since the Federal Reserve began tracking it in 1926.

The reaction from Wall Street was one of concern. “Your…pricing not keeping up with inflation seems to be kind of the trend now,” a Wall Street analyst told executives shortly after the announcement. “What’s driving that?” he asked. “I mean, is it the retailers especially in the U.S. really pushing back? Is that the consumer saying, ‘Gosh these are commoditized’?”

...