How important are Diaper Genies or other brands of this type of thing? thank you.

[threeapples]

thanks.

[boys2enough]

It really depends. Some people swear by them, some people just poo-pooed them. For example, when a male co-worker asked the other males in my office, their opinion was, Why would you want something like that? esp. when you are most likely to be the person that ends up doing the 'sausage' duty? i.e. taking the whole thing out and disposing it when the diaper genie is full... The conclusion was, you should just use grocery store plastic bags and dump the dirty diapers as they are produced out in the garage.

I bit my tongue at that moment. Didn't think it's worth it to argue with them. My thought was, EWE! That would definitely stink up the garage, esp. in the summer. Plus, there are people that do not have a garage!

I personally liked the diaper genie and thought it was one of the greatest baby products when my kids were still in diapers. I liked the convenience of disposing a dirty diaper right away as I was changing the kids. I was the one with the "sausage duty" and I didn't find it disgusting. Granted, it did not smell like heaven, but it didn't stink up the house either. The fact that they are all sealed up inside the plastic wrappers helps a lot.

To answer your question: it would be nice and helpful to have one, IMO. However, say, if someone is on a very very tight budget, no, it is not a necessity. I would rate it as "Very Very Nice to have."

Cheers, Lin

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[threeapples]

Thanks Lin. I have one on my registery so I will just keep it there and see if I get one. Though the Baby Bargains book recommends two other brands over the Diaper Genie II.

[boys2enough]

You are welcome. The boys have been out of the diapers for quite some time, so I cannot really tell you which one is better nowadays. The one we had was from 9+ years ago when DS1 was born! LOL. Some people dislike the Diaper Genie because the costs for the refills ($5 each?) do add up. You can always exchange it for something else I guess.

Didn't know you are expecting. Wish you a smooth and healthy one! :)

Cheers, Lin

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[SnuggleBuggles]

Not worth it at all, imo. If you are concerned with smells then when baby is older flush the solid waste. Flushing the solid waste makes a huge difference. Little one have bms that are trickier to flush but not impossible. Breastfed babies diapers usually don't have much of a smell but I have heard ff ones do.

For environmental reasons I have a real problem with diaper disposal systems that wrap up already hard (impossible?) to break down diapers and put them in plastic. Bad for landfills.

ETA- Just go with a trash can with a good lid. Be aware that all plastic (from the Genies or any plastic) will absorb odors and reek after a while.

Beth

[threeapples]

You know, I just have thought of the environmental considerations myself and decided this is just too much waste regardless of whether or not it cuts down on odours. I don't want to add to environmental issues just to make things slightly easier on myself. Thanks for the opinion, I took this off my registry.

[MamaMolly]

FWIW, I really like my Diaper Champ. My DH does 'litterbox' duty (I had cats for 15 years, DD for 8 mos, the lingo is hard to change :-) )

We like it that the Diaper Champ uses regular old bags, and no 'sausages' to deal with. He did have to school me on the proper way to put the bag in so it didn't stink, though. We had a few bad (stinky) weeks after DD started on solids until he figured out how to place the bags in order to block out nearly all odor.

HTH!

[s7714]

>Not worth it at all, imo. If you are concerned with smells
>then when baby is older flush the solid waste. Flushing the
>solid waste makes a huge difference. Little one have bms that
>are trickier to flush but not impossible. Breastfed babies
>diapers usually don't have much of a smell but I have heard ff
>ones do.

ITA. The only times my diaper pails have started smelling is when a BM diaper gets put in without the solid waste getting flushed first. And if one of the kids had one of those highly toxic numbers, it was taken straight out to the outside garbage can anyway!

I have a diaper champ, mainly because I wanted to make sure my DDs couldn't open the diaper container on their own (as they can with many regular garbage bins). That is really the only reason I can see why it might be a good idea to go with a tightly closed diaper pail vs. an ordinary trash can w/lid.

Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Limit Tester 6/05

Our bones may be brittle, but our spirit is unbreakable.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta www.oif.org

[mariza]

I just got a stainless steel stepcan to keep in DC's rooms and take it out to the regular trash every other day. Unless it's a really foul one, then it goes right out to the trash cans in the yard.

Mariza
Mommy to my "Thing 1" DD 1/05
and "Thing 2" DS 9/06

[DebbieJ]

DS was mostly cloth diapered. But when we were using sposies, we just used a regular garbage can that got emptied every day or so. We always flushed the solid waste (and if you read the instructions on most packages of sposies, that's what you're supposed to do!)

I saw no need for the specialty diaper pails.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org

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