Do we need a diaper pail or will an ordinary garbage can with lid do?

[ChrissyJames]

Do the various diaper pails do more to control odour than a stainless steel kitchen garbage with flip lid? Are they a necessity if you are in a condo and the changing area will be in the baby's room (I don't want my house to smell like diapers)? We will be using disposibles.

I am due Halloween, so I would LOVE a response before then! Thanks SOOOO much!

[nfowife]

Well, it depends. If you are exclusively BFing (no formula) and take out your trash daily, then it shouldn't be a problem until you decide to start solids. But eventually you will probably want to get something. DD is 6 months old and we just got her the safety first neat! system a few weeks ago. I like it because it doesn't smell and I don't have to bring dirty diapers downstairs after a changing. And we are starting solids any day now and I know the poop starts to smell once they get real food!

[mudder17]

No personal experience with disposables, but my friends do use a stainless steel (small) kitchen garbage with flip lid and grocery bag. They put the diaper in a plastic bag that they tie up and then throw that into the garbage pail. So they essentially double-bag all their diapers.

I'm guessing you might want somethng a bit more odor controlling, but there are a couple things you can do to help control the odor no matter what you get:

1) Dump all poop into the toilet. In fact, get yourself a minishower (like a hand-held bidet) and spray off the poop, even with a disposable.

2) Use a smaller pail and dump often.


Eileen

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[Canna]

We just use a regular trash can - not even with a lid. DD's diapers are really not smelly. She is still almost entirely exclusively breastfed. So far the few solids that she eats have not made her diapers much stinkier. We take them out every 2-3 days. You can always start out this way and get something later if it's a problem. And yes, the trash can is right in DD's room.

[RwnMayfair]

We didn't have one for the first few months after Taran was born, and there wasn't any problems with smell for us. We used disposibles for the first six months of his life, too. Now, that being said, he was breastfed, and I've heard that formula-fed baby poops smell more than breastfed baby poops. (I have no experience with formula though - I'm currently exclusively breastfeeding my daughter as well.) And I know we didn't empty the trashcan the diapers were being thrown into daily, either. It was more like every two to three days.

So if you're planning to breastfeed, I think you'd be fine with just a trashcan at first. Someone who's used formula would have to speak more on whether or not it would work if you're planning to formula-feed though. :)

-Melissa

Taran, November 20, 2003
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Elowen, August 20, 2005
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[hez]

We just had a flip top lid (like a kitchen trashcan) while Payton was excl. BF. Once solids started, we moved to a Diaper Champ, and once they *really* started we moved to taking the dipes straight out to the garage ;)