Need for diapers can have wide impact

What is diaper need?

It can be a tough concept to wrap our heads around, especially for those who have never worried about affording our children’s diapers. It can be easy to assume that getting diapers is a simple process: you go to the store and buy them, or maybe you even have them delivered to your house through a subscription service, and get an ample supply to stock your home and diaper bag.

But for a growing number of Connecticut families, affording diapers is a real and daily struggle. During typical times, one in three families in our state struggles to pay for diapers. These days, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc, particularly on low-income families, there is unprecedented diaper need.

At the Diaper Bank of Connecticut, we are expanding our work to focus on period supplies as well as incontinence products for youths and seniors. All of these are basic needs that individuals need throughout their lifespans. But the crux of our mission continues to be distributing diapers to infants and toddlers who need them.

Depending on their age, babies and toddlers usually use between six and 12 diapers a day, which can cost families more than $100 a month. Unlike incontinence supplies for youths and seniors, infant and toddler diapers are not currently covered by Medicaid. And safety-net programs like the Supplemental

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) don’t cover the cost either.

For some low-income families, even getting to diapers is difficult. Many lack transportation to travel to big-box or discount stores where diapers are more affordable. Some have no choice but to buy them at neighborhood convenience stores, which can double or triple the cost of a month’s supply. For parents already struggling to make ends meet, this is a burden they can’t bear.

What happens when parents can’t afford diapers? In some cases, infants and toddlers are left in dirty diapers much longer than they should be, or parents resort to reusing previously soiled diapers, which increases children’s risk of developing severe diaper rash and other ailments.

But the ripple effects of diaper need spread far beyond the serious physical implications. Parents who can’t afford diapers can’t access free or subsidized licensed day-care centers, since most of them don’t allow children to attend in cloth diapers. When caregivers can’t use day-care services, they often are forced to miss work or forego educational opportunities, making it even more difficult to break the cycle of poverty.

As families continue to grapple with job loss or reduced work hours during the pandemic, a growing number are under severe financial stress. Buying diapers sometimes must take a backseat to other necessities, like food or rent, in a limited household budget.

At the Diaper Bank, our work is increasingly crucial in getting basic needs to infants and toddlers. Through our strategic network of more than 50 community partners statewide, we are getting more diapers than ever into the hands of those who need them — but the need is great and more must be done.

It’s National Diaper Need Awareness Week (Sept. 21-27), and I urge you to consider taking action to help our neighbors. In the short term, you can support our annual “Rock Your Baby” celebration and fundraiser on Oct. 29 (more information at rockyourbaby2020.com) or host a virtual diaper drive to benefit The Diaper Bank of Connecticut. Those looking to make a longer-term impact can become “diaper champions,” advocating and raising awareness about this issue.

At a time when so many in our community are struggling, there are steps we can all take to help make diapers — a basic need — available to more families. No parent or caregiver should have to worry about how they will afford their next diaper purchase.

For information on how to help, visit thediaperbank.org.

Janet Stolfi Alfano is the executive director of The Diaper Bank of Connecticut. The North Haven-based nonprofit serves families throughout the state, distributing diapers and other basic needs through its network of more than 50 community partners.