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Why are diapers so expensive?

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Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#401

Post by senorjazz »

scandox wrote: post #214

To everyone talking about cloth nappies: you're insane. You do it for 3 years. Then do it for another 3 years. Then talk. They are a fecking nightmare to manage.

3 kids, all been in cloth / reusable nappies. We were not militant strict. Used dispoable for night due to extra absorption. But day time use, pretty much only reusable.

Anecdotal of course, but they all were toilet trained before other kids. Whether that is because it is more noticeable the nappy is wet and uncomfortable or other factors (wife was home all the time, kids in a nursery from a young age all day seemed to lag further behind). But I think the cloth nappies definitely played a part.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#402

Post by latortuga »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #395
eesmith wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people have a laundry room (or area) with washer, dryer, and utility sink. For example, see http://www.mlexecutiverealty.com/_account/images/listing/122... . Taking care of a baby requires specific education. You should not expect to know everything about the topic if you have not researched it. It is rude to express your confusion this way. As written it implies that the author did not express things well, when…

I don’t agree, it was terse but didn’t intend it to be rude, and there is some responsibility to use clear wording without obscure terms or jargon. Raised a child and never heard any of those terms before. Reminds me of many tech articles here where obscure acronyms are never explained. Also putting feces down the sink doesn’t sound like a great idea, though maybe it’s fine. No explanation given either way.

You don't put it down the sink, you rinse off the diaper into the toilet.

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Baby-Cloth-Diaper-Spraye...

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#403

Post by Feneric »

war1025 wrote: post #21
shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

We cloth diaper too (3 kids, a two and a half year old potty trained for about a year now, and 5 month old twins). Personally, I find disposable diapers to be way more disgusting than cloth. With cloth, you rinse it out and the majority of the gross stuff is down the drain. With disposables, you end up with a garbage can literally full of poop. Its like having a mini pit toilet in your house. We have also noticed, li…

Disposable diapers are actually a burden on society in many places even beyond the obvious problem of essentially putting sewage in the trash; https://www.nearta.com/Papers/GovernmentDiapers.pdf

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#404

Post by zbentley »

tw04 wrote: post #53
mattbee wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed the part of the article where they talked about never having enough cash to buy in bulk, instead buying at 2 or 3x the unit cost in 5s and 10s from the corner shop.

When bulk is $40, you're just making some really, really poor life decisions if you both have a kid, and can't find a way to save that much money in a 30 day window.

"Then you shouldn't have had a kid" is among the most useless, vacuously/pointlessly true at best (and cruelly stupid at worst) statements you can give to any parent, no matter their circumstance.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#405

Post by senorjazz »

Hermel wrote: post #12

Even 50 cent diapers are less expensive than the time it costs you to change them. So I don't think they qualify as "so expensive".

The environmental factor is also pretty huge. Store a weeks worth of disposables separate and the amount of landfill over the course nappy period of a baby is insane!

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#406

Post by latortuga »

dbatten wrote: post #298
shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

Serious question(s) from a father of 2 under 2... How do you get the cloth diapers clean? Like, really clean so they don't still smell after they've been cleaned? My wife and I were planning on cloth diapering. We bought some high-end cloth diaper and liners and started on our merry way. We found that no matter what we did, our little guy smelled like piss all the time. My wife was washing diapers 2 or 3 times in bet…

My wife is a member of a diaper science community on facebook group called fluff love. They have extensive information about how to get your diapers really clean, with targeted information for specific situations like water hardness, washing machine type, materials, etc. The folks there are very helpful and responsive to issues.

What we ended up doing was 1 "power wash" cycle, followed by a regular wash cycle each time, and just regular ol Tide detergent. Sorry for the tide ad.

Short answer: it's hard to say specifically, because it depends on a ton of factors.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#407

Post by kwhitefoot »

I'm pretty sure I never spent that much on any of my three sons. Here in Norway (you know, everyone's favourite "Oh my god it's so expensive" country) you can get one nappy/diaper/bleie for less than NOK 1, say about ten cents US. Even at 12 a day that's only USD 438. And 12 a day is ridiculous.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#408

Post by ropeadopepope »

avar wrote: post #357
rusk wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have to seriously question your assertion that poverty has been on the decline since the 50s .. I've seen the stats you present, but also stats to the contrary so the case is far from closed. What I do know is that the average industrial wage relative to the cost of living has been steadily declining with a marked plunge from the 80s onwards. I will concede that the 50s is a poor comparison, as much of the we…

Yes that may be wrong, however it would have to have gotten much worse for someone buying diapers to be worse off than 50 years ago, since their price in terms of purchasing power has plummeted in the meantime. I don't know about the average "industrial wage", but that sounds like a bad metric to focus on. Manufacturing in the US has dropped from around 25% during this time down into the single digits, so it's not as…

> If anything I'd expect the wage to have gone up

You'd think so, wouldn't you? The truth of the matter is most manufacturing companies are facing the same problem tech is right now: a "talent" shortage. The pay hasn't kept up with living costs in most areas. The days of buying a house and raising a family on an "industrial wage" are long gone. The pay is hardly enough to keep one person alive these days. As a result, nobody wants the jobs. The companies can't keep their assembly lines fully staffed, but they don't want to pay more either.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#409

Post by djrogers »

mirimir wrote: post #94
ILikeConemowk wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At which point did we, as a society, settle the philosophical conundrum that is taking an unborn life? Cells, fetus or baby? What is it? Since when? Why? How should it be done? I'm not religious at all but it seems to me that, at least tangentially, most religious believes are rooted in philosophical unknowns and feeling of uncertainty. Religious people then resort to their faith of choice as a way to find answers. T…

Yes, it's a cheap shot to just dismiss it all as religious and idiotic. Except in self-defense or war, societies generally aren't OK with killing people. But when do fetuses become people? Some cultures were OK with parents (or at least, fathers) killing children younger than eight years. Many have gone with birth as the cutoff. There is an argument that conception is the cutoff. But on the other hand, the relationsh…

> So arguably she can evict a fetus, whenever she wishes.

A mother 'evicting' a fetus at 24 weeks without the abortion would result in a very tiny, but likely healthy baby (at least in the US, where premature baby care is generally outstanding). Source - held one in my hands this fall when our friends adopted him.

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