Diaper disposal brings to mind one horrible thing: the smell. No matter how much you adore your baby and how fabulous you think they are, just like everyone else in the world, their poop smells. So in that quest to at least minimize the blech factor, here are some brilliant diaper disposal hacks that will save you on more than one occasion whether out in public, or at home where you may think you've got your diaper changing station streamlined to a T.
When my daughter was born, my mom's friend came over with a big box for me. I opened it and it was filled with empty plastic newspaper wrappers. I was baffled. She pointed out that they were fabulous single-use diaper disposal bags, perfect for those moments when you're at a friend's place — or anywhere in public — and you don't feel comfortable tossing a stinky diaper in their waste basket or can get to one immediately, or even when you're at home, because not everyone splurges on those expensive diaper pails. I could keep them in my diaper bag or on my changing table. I had never bought in to the diaper-trash-can-craze, which can not only be expensive, but also might require you to purchase specialized trash bags for it, and these don't come cheap. So this newspaper sleeve thing seemed like it might work.
The Real Diaper Association estimates that babies will use about 6,000 diapers in their first two years of life. Many children don't train until well after their second birthday and many families have more than one child. That's thousands and thousands of diapers you may need to deal with in your lifetime. Given that, here are some diaper disposing hacks that will save you in so many ways.
1Plastic Bags
With babies comes lots of grocery shopping. If you opt for plastic grocery bags, save them to use when you need to throw a stinky diaper out. If tied tightly enough, you don't have to make the trip outside to the garbage each time you change a diaper which will so many times a day.
If you opt for canvas bags when you do your grocery shopping and don't have access to plastic grocery bags, look around to see what else in your kitchen might work. Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks suggests using bread or hamburger roll bags to dispose the diapers. Carefully opened toilet paper packages or fresh produce bags also work. Basically anything that you can fit a diaper into and seal it with a simple tie is a perfect, practically free solution.
2Use Trash Bags In Your Diaper Genie
Some parents are not too thrilled about having to buy specific trash bags for the diaper pail that is no doubt a godsend — these plastic bags can be really expensive. Several parents, including Lydia Senn (above), suggest using regular garbage bags which she stocks up on at the dollar store. It requires a little maneuvering to fit the garbage bag into the Diaper Genie ring, but once you get the hang of it you'll save so much money.
3Vodka Disinfectant Spray
The plastic in diaper pails and other baby items can retain smells, with it being nearly impossible to get rid of them. Scratchy Mommy found that the best antidote for this was a combination of vodka and essential oils to make a vodka disinfectant spray. The vodka kills germs while the essential oils not only have a great smell, but have antimicrobial properties, too. Added bonus: there's nothing wrong with using the leftover vodka for a nice dirty martini for mom at the end of the day.
4Doggie Poop Bags
Poop is poop, whether it comes from your dog or your kid. Because so many towns have pooper scooper laws, there is a big market for dog poop bags. They are readily available and cheap. Working Mother suggests that you get a doggie poop bag dispenser that would normally attach to a leash and hook that to your diaper bag handle instead. You might get a few confused looks from other parents, but once they catch up to what you're onto, they'll kick themselves for not thinking of it too.
5Washcloth At The Bottom Of The Diaper Pail
If you use a diaper pail, sometimes a little bit of liquid may leak, causing a stench that will stay in the pail forever. Padded Tush Stats recommends combating that by placing a washcloth at the bottom of the diaper pail. This way, if anything leaks, it won't sit on the plastic of the pail, but on an easy-to-swap cloth. You also can consider putting some type of fragrant essential oil, like lemon, on the cloth to combat the odor.
6Newspaper Plastic Sleeves
It's possible that the simplest diaper disposal hack is delivered to your door every morning. The plastic sleeve that the paper arrives in is great to collect to use as a diaper disposing bag. Again, it doesn't cost you anything, and it's so satisfying knowing that you're not just throwing those bags away.
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