Study: Lack of diapers linked to depression

[laundry_queen]

72. Thank you. Jesus.

Some people have no imagination.

I have a friend who was poor and used cheap flannel squares and plastic pants with her kids - same as what I was diapered in as a baby. She said total investment was $22 ($20 for 2 packs of 12 flannel squares, $2 for 2 pairs of plastic pants). Probably more now, that was 20 years ago. But she had no money for a Laundromat and her apartment didn't have laundry facilities, so she washed the diapers in the bathtub by hand and she would hang them to dry on the balcony (inside on the shower curtain rod in the winter). She breastfed, so her baby wasn't hungry. She said it's doable, but so difficult and time consuming. She was lucky she was a stay at home mom, had a husband with a job, and that her husband was a very attentive father and they shared diaper-washing duties. But it's important to remember - she had enough money to eat and buy detergent. Laundry detergent is NOT cheap. With 24 diapers you are doing at least a load of diapers every other day, especially with flat flannel diapers probably more than that since you have to double up at nights and outings.

It's also important to note that a lot of charities and food bank-type places don't give out cloth diapers - but many places DO give out disposables - for free. Cloth diapers require a larger upfront cost than a pack of disposables as well - that upfront cost puts them out of reach for some people. I cloth diapered 2 out of my 4 kids full time (and the other 2 had cloth part time) and the upfront cost for the cheap pre-folds was $100 with good covers and multiple sizes of pre-folds. Plain flannel squares just simply did not hold my kids' pee, not absorbent enough. I also sewed some diapers with fabric I already had which kept costs down. Most poor people don't have fabric and sewing machines hanging around, nor do they have access to specialty baby stores that sell cloth diapers (I haven't seen cloth diapers in chain stores for 10 years now.) The issue is complex. (I mean other than MORE MONEY would likely solve the issue.)