Diapers can take a big bite out of the family budget, and now a new survey of low-income moms finds that many struggle to afford enough diapers to regularly change their babies.
The study, which is published online July 29 and in the August print issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that one in 12 low-income moms stretches diaper supplies by leaving little ones in them after theyāve been soiled, a practice that can lead to skin and urinary tract infections.
āThere are cases sometimes where moms are taking off a diaper, scooping out whatās in it and putting it back on a child, weāve heard about that,ā said study author Megan Smith, a Yale psychiatrist who directs the New Haven Mental Health Outreach for Mothers Partnership.
āObviously, then, children are going to show more signs of irritation, discomfort, crying and then this in turn would make the mother feel less adequate about her parenting abilities, (and) impact her depressive symptoms and her stress levels,ā Smith said.
For a woman whoās working full-time at a minimum wage job, the cost of an adequate supply of diapers, which researchers estimate to be around $18 a week, or $936 per year per child, may eat up as much as 6 percent of her gross pay.
Government assistance programs like food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) help families afford some grocery and food items, but they donāt cover diapers.
For the study, Smith and her team surveyed nearly 900 low-income pregnant women and mothers in the New Haven area. Women were eligible for the study if they were over age 18 and could speak English or Spanish.
Along with questions about mental health, health care use and basic needs like food and housing, researchers asked, āIf you have children in diapers, do you ever feel that you do not have enough diapers to change them as often as you would like?ā
If they had trouble getting diapers, researchers asked whether theyād ever borrowed money from family or friends to afford diapers, gotten diapers from an agency, or stretched diapers by not changing them when they were dirty.
About 30 percent of women who had children in diapers reported that they didnāt always have enough. Of those, 10 percent relied on donations of diapers or money from family and friends, 10 percent sought diapers from an agency or diaper bank, and 3 percent turned to other sources, like a church, for help.
Both age and race were significant predictors of diaper need. Grandmothers raising grandchildren were more likely than younger mothers to report trouble affording diapers. And Hispanic mothers were about twice as likely as Black moms to admit they struggled with a short supply.
Smith says when many people hear about this problem, they wonder why low-income moms donāt just switch to washable cloth diapers. For many, cloth diapers simply arenāt a feasible solution.
āThe problem is that most of the families weāre talking about donāt have washing machines in their homes. And when they do go to Laundromats, most facilities wonāt let you use their facilities for cloth diapers because their temperatures donāt get high enough or they just donāt want them,ā she explained.
Because diaper need appears to contribute to significant stress, Smith urged doctors to step up.
āPediatricians should start asking families about this,ā she said, adding that thereās a little-known network of nonprofit diaper banks around the country that may be able to help.
An expert who is not involved in the research called the study āfascinating and eye-openingā and said the research should spur immediate public health action to provide relief.
āGovernmental programs that offer assistance to pregnant women and children may need to readdress the methodologies currently in place in evaluating āneedā for poverty-stricken mothers in an attempt to prevent these adverse outcomes resulting from diaper need,ā said Dr. Kecia Gaither, director of the maternal and fetal medicine program at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Gaither said she recommends that low-income women seek prenatal care early in their pregnancy. Doing that usually gets vulnerable families connected to a social worker who can help solve practical issues.