diaper genie vs. diaper champ

Has anyone tried the diaper champ pail by baby trend? It looks as good as Diaper Genie, but can use any plastic bag. We're wondering if it's true. Everyone we know who has Diaper Genie absolutely loves it, but not buying their special bags would be nice.

we're also considering switching to cloth when our as-yet-unborn baby gets a little older, so is it worth it to buy a fancy diaper pail?
Thanks!

I LOVE my Diaper Champ. It is much easier to use than the Diaper Genie, and no special refills. My best friend had both the Genie and the Champ, and preferred the Champ.

--Laurie

Same here...we have the genie upstairs and the champ downstairs and the champ is so much easier. The genie's weird...you have to shove a diaper halfway through the pail and then twist...a lot to do with a squirming baby on the changing table. And the refills aren't cheap. Go with the champ.

[Melanie]

We have th champ & like it. I recall reading somewhere (amazon? babycenter?) a reviewer saying they used it for cloth, as well.

Mommy to Jonah

Is a special pail really necessary? We're moving 4-6 weeks after baby is born (any day now!!) and would prefer not to invest in a special pail only to store it. Of course, this is our first so maybe we have no idea what we're talking about.

Any suggestions for a more "homegrown" option, or should we just go ahead and buy the "champ"?

Paula

[kathsmom]

Hi, Paula!

Congratulations on your soon to arrive baby!

I had the diaper genie with my DD (6 years old). I had a problem with the room still smelling of diapers with the diaper genie. Plus, when you opened the bottom to take out the "chain" of dirty diapers, I almost needed a gas mask! Things may have changed since we bought ours (about 4 years ago).

My brother and his wife bought a diaper genie with their first child and had to get rid of it, because the plastic it is made of smelled so bad from the diapers and they could not get rid of the odor. So, they bought another, newer one for their 2nd child. Same thing happened with the plastic smelling bad. They just throw the pee-pee diapers in the regular garbage can and use the blue plastic diaper disposal bags (like little garbage bags - I am sure you can get them at BRU, Target,etc.) for the poopy diapers.

I am going to just do what my brother does - throw them in the regular garbage can! If that gets too bad, we may invest in the diaper champ - but I will not get another diaper genie!

Good luck with your move and take care!
Toni - mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and baby boy on the way (9/30/02)

[Rachels]

We have the diaper champ and are really happy with it. As far as not wanting to buy a special pail before you move, you probably can get by without it for those early newborn diapers (especially if you're planning to breastfeed-- less smelly). You might want to get some Glad storage bags, the tie kind and not the ziploc kind. Those are good for disposing of smelly diapers. They're what I use when I'm away from home. You just tie them up and toss them in the regular trash.

Another vote for the Diaper Champ!!!

Dh and I LOVE it...it is sooo easy to use and no refills. We also have the Fisher Price Diaper Pail...and I think the Champ edges it out by just a little bit.... the Champ is a bit easier to use than the FP one.

We had friends over last week that have TWO diaper genies...they were soooo impressed with our Champ :-)!

Christine

[AugBaby]

I'd recommend holding off and not buying a special pail. We were given a Diaper Genie as a shower gift and didn't open it until dd was 9 months old. We used a regular trash can in her bedroom with regular plastic liners at the beginning. Since we were changing diapers ALL the time in those early days, we did empty it every day. At about 2 months we started throwing the diapers into our kitchen garbage with no offending smell in the kitchen. That being said, she is breastfed. We introduced solids at 6 months and were still okay with the smell. At 9 months we couldn't open the Genie fast enough.

We empty it once a week and have had no problems with smell or operating it. However, we don't use it for her wet diapers - figure we'll save money on refills. I know that they now make toddler refills which are meant for when the baby begins solids. We weren't sure about the Genie vs. the Champ either. We haven't tried a Champ, but we liked the idea of having the Genie special bags as an extra barrier against the smell.

I have to admit I'm shocked at the number of people who love their diaper champ. My only exposure to it is in the nursing/changing room at BRU. Boy, does that room stink!!! Obviously, the diaper champ does not keep up with the smell under that kind of use. I started nursing in the car because the odor in there was always so bad. I guess it performs better under normal home use!

If you think you might use cloth, I wouldn't get any diaper pail. Their diapers aren't that smelly in the beginning.