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Why are diapers so expensive?

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Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#491

Post by alistairSH »

giarc wrote: post #484
alistairSH wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hvidgaard got it. The problem is the reliance on day-care providers, who have little incentive to stick to a potty-training regimen. Kids can be trained much earlier than today's average, but with today's time-crunched parents, it's hard.

Why would a daycare provider have little incentive to stick to the regimen? In my experience, daycare providers are usually the ones to push parents on potty training. Changing diapers means 1 staff is caring for 1 child. Once a child can go to the bathroom on their own, they have more time to spend with the other children. Additionally they have less waste, less need for storage of diapers and wipes.

I really don't know. My comment is just based on the experiences of friends and family. Parents too busy at home, and little or no support at day care. As mentioned in some sibling comments, today's "super diapers" might not help, as they might be too absorbent.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#492

Post by [deleted] »

daeken wrote: post #299
watmough wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a huge relief to get the children weaned, and off the giant vats of Similac ... I feel that was probably even more expensive than the diapers.

Oh man, diapers pale in comparison to formula costs. My daughter gets changed ~8 times per day, but she eats up to 36oz of formula. That's about $1.76 in diapers and up to $6.79 worth of formula. Add in DI water (since we make it from powder) and the obscene cost of bottles, and it gets even worse.

[deleted]

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#493

Post by balls187 »

pnathan wrote: post #476
balls187 wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see absolutely zero reason why the 0-3 y/o in poverty shouldn't qualify for free diapers from the local welfare offices I'll give you one reason: a large chunk of the voting population/tax base doesn't want to pay for it. > no questions asked. I understand your sentiment, but as soon as that sort of policy is implemented, unscrupulous individuals will abuse the system.

> unscrupulous individuals will abuse the system. Welfare fraud isn't that prevalent, and adequate checks on gratuitous abuse are not exactly difficult to implement. For the people who would rather see newborns have health issues than pay taxes, I frankly find their morals odious and their foresight lacking.

The point being there are checks. "No questions asked" implied no checks.

> For the people who would rather see newborns have health issues than pay taxes, I frankly find their morals odious and their foresight lacking.

The article referenced a black, un-wed, young mother stuggling to pay for diapers. That portrayal of poor minorities is what the anti-welfare state sees when fighting for less taxes. The money isn't going to people who are struggling like they might be; the money is going to minorities who aren't willing to work hard.

Said more plainly, the health and wellbeing of black and brown babies are worth less to (some|many) Americans than white ones.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#494

Post by gumby »

dpark wrote: post #313
daeken wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man, diapers pale in comparison to formula costs. My daughter gets changed ~8 times per day, but she eats up to 36oz of formula. That's about $1.76 in diapers and up to $6.79 worth of formula. Add in DI water (since we make it from powder) and the obscene cost of bottles, and it gets even worse.

What's wrong with tap water? Formula still costs a lot, obviously, but you generally don't need special water for mixing formula unless your kid has an immune disorder or you live somewhere with unsafe tap water.

In fact our Palo Alto pediatrician asked immediately if we use bottled water and said we should use tap water because of flouride and minerals that might not be in the water service water.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#495

Post by SamBam »

xienze wrote: post #354
sd1642 wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the color of your skin matters. African American babies are cheaper to adopt but stay in the system longer because they are harder to place in adoptive homes.

Not really relevant to solving the problem of getting rid of the baby. Any parent who's OK with aborting that baby probably doesn't have any issue with how long the baby stays in the system.

Totally relevant. The original statement was (paraphrased) "Someone might have gotten pregnant even if they can't afford kids," to which someone replied "Put it to adoption."

First, this seems incredibly heartless -- poor people should just give their kids up to adoption -- and second, it only makes "logical" sense if you assume that adoption is a better outcome for the kids than growing up poor. But if, as stated, some kids are going to end up in "they system" for years or decades, instead of magically getting adopted into some rich family, then putting them up for adoption may well end up much worse.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#496

Post by gumby »

daeken wrote: post #299
watmough wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a huge relief to get the children weaned, and off the giant vats of Similac ... I feel that was probably even more expensive than the diapers.

Oh man, diapers pale in comparison to formula costs. My daughter gets changed ~8 times per day, but she eats up to 36oz of formula. That's about $1.76 in diapers and up to $6.79 worth of formula. Add in DI water (since we make it from powder) and the obscene cost of bottles, and it gets even worse.

I hope you mean RO or some other purifying process. I wouldn't drink DI water.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#497

Post by exolymph »

xienze wrote: post #354
sd1642 wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the color of your skin matters. African American babies are cheaper to adopt but stay in the system longer because they are harder to place in adoptive homes.

Not really relevant to solving the problem of getting rid of the baby. Any parent who's OK with aborting that baby probably doesn't have any issue with how long the baby stays in the system.

What a fetus comprehends is different from what a toddler comprehends. Many people assume (whether correctly or incorrectly) that a fetus has the level of consciousness of an animal, or perhaps even less than a companion species like dogs.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#498

Post by kolpa »

brianwawok wrote: post #352
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With my first child I decided pretty quickly I'd had enough of changing pooey nappies once we began with solid food; so we started at c.6 months with potty training. All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ IIRC. At that age they can't usually sit up, you hold them on first thing in the morning, and any time you're changing them. Worked quite well. I added in audio cues after reading some Elimination Commu…

> All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ That is absurd. I wonder if the diaper companies wrote them? We did something like 18 months which is far less impressive than yours but was not rocket science or anything. Maybe cheap diapers helped, as they don't feel as dry?

Ask your friends and neighbors. Did they also potty train at 18months?

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#499

Post by dsfyu404ed »

alistairSH wrote: post #457
xienze wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I think about UBI I worry about responsible spending and wonder if just subsidizing common items food, clothing (diapers) and household goods wouldn't be a smarter solution overall. Irresponsible spending is precisely what will happen with UBI. When you cut a check not earmarked for a specific purpose (food, rent, clothing, etc.) you will inevitably end up with people mismanaging their money and coming back fo…

There is abuse of earmarked assistance. UBI isn't unique in that regard. Trading food stamps (or food purchased with them) for drugs. Etc. The drug addict is going to get drugs one way or another; we may as well reduce the friction (and use the savings to pay for rehab). Regardless, most of the poor are just trying to get by and not prone to abusing whatever assistance is available.

Right but each step required to convert a food stamp dollar to something you arne't supposed to buy with foods stamps adds friction and inefficacy.

By handing out food stamps that can be used for X you make X the default for that thing and require user to go out of their way to use the food stamp money for something else.

If people are using food stamps to buy food to sell to a bodega at 50% value and then using that to buy beer you've effectively doubles the price of beer (or diapers) for people buying it with food stamps.

It's mind-boggling that a bunch of tech people who are well versed in the various tricks employed to get users to do things don't understand this.

It's not like anyone who's on welfare/ebt/food stamps doesn't know exactly how to convert those dollars to cash if they want to. It's just not an efficient use of those dollars compared to buying what you're expected.

Replacing all those with UBI just removed the extra steps and cost penalty for using welfare/ebt/food stamps on things you're not supposed to.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#500

Post by kolpa »

Someone1234 wrote: post #343
snovv_crash wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then how do Asian kids do it by age 1?

I assume you're referring to China, since "Asia" is a big and diverse place. The Chinese use elimination training, or "potty on demand." You place the kid over the potty, make a specific sound they associate with going potty (you created the association previously) and they go. You then repeat this enough times in a day to eliminate the need for diapers. I don't think elimination training is potty training. In potty…

It's elimination communication, not elimination training :) The concept, as you explain, is that the caregiver is alert to cues that a poop is coming, and moves the child to the potty.
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