What to look for in a diaper pail?

[jeninejessica]

We've been working on our diaper stash, and now I'm starting to think about diaper pails to add to my registry. I think we're going to do the dry pail method, at least to start with until it gives us any problems. 

We have a small house, and baby will pretty much always be changed on the main level (we're currently renovating the basement level), which is only 750sq feet. I'm going back and forth between putting a small pail in the bathroom, and then a larger one in the laundry room downstairs... or just putting one larger pail in the baby's room (and trying to somehow camouflage it.)

DH said he thought a stainless steel or the like would be better, but I thought I'd mostly seen plastic. 

Also, do I need a pail liner with the plastic? Obviously with non-plastic I would use one. 

Any suggestions for brands, etc would be wonderful. I'm assuming we'll probably end up picking it up at walmart or the like. 

[Mattee Petersen]

We just use a plain-old plastic trash can that we had lying around. I have never used a liner with it. It's just in our bathroom where we spray off the diapers. On wash days I just spray it out with the diaper sprayer & Put a dryer sheet in the bottom to keep it a little fresher.

[Ola_]

We also use a plastic white trash can that we had sitting around the house.  There are many more options for those, especially if you want a nice looking one.  I use a pail liner bag and love the fact that I don't have to wash the can itself every time.  I just set it out in the sun once in a (long) while just to air out.  I toss the liner in the wash with the diapers, no extra work.

[jeninejessica]

That's kind of what I'm thinking Ola. And then trying to come up with some idea to make the can blend into the baby's room a bit more. I'm sure I can find some design tactic out there. If not, I guess I'll just hide it in the bathroom. Our bathroom is just pretty small, so I'm trying to be cautious with size. 

[chel]

Currently I use 2 trashcan I already had. With dd1 I used a cat litter container (no longer have cats).

I separate poop diapers from wet ones as I do a prewash with bleach for poop ones.

As for where. I keep mine in the laundry room. It's right across from the main bath. I also store the diapers in the laundry room. I want a sink and toilet very close to where I change dd.

[briannas auntie]

Even though I don't have a child yet, I have a diaper pail for when I am babysitting my neice, Brianna. Its also used as the bathroom trash can.  I espeically like the Safety 1st diaper pail that has a foot pedal that lifts the lid up.  This way, everything is hands-free. It has a compartment for a deodorizer disk, and is very easy to clean.  Best of all, it uses standard trash bags.

It can also be used with a reuseable liner for cloth diapers, according to what I read online.  I have seen this pail sold at Target and Toys R Us for under $20.00.

Jessie

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by jeninejessica 

That's kind of what I'm thinking Ola. And then trying to come up with some idea to make the can blend into the baby's room a bit more. I'm sure I can find some design tactic out there. If not, I guess I'll just hide it in the bathroom. Our bathroom is just pretty small, so I'm trying to be cautious with size. 

Well then I should probably add that you don't want to get a can that's too small.  We actually have a couple of unused trash cans (in our new kitchen the garbage is in one of those pull out drawers) and they are different sizes.  We do diaper laundry every other night and when I use the 8 gallon can by the end of the second day I'm squishing the diapers in there and pushing down so they will fit.  The 13 gallon can fits them all and we have a little room to spare by wash time.  We use fitteds/covers and a few pockets in case that makes a difference and DD uses 10-12 diapers per 24 hr period.

DH's aunt has a neat garbage can, it's stainless steel with a black lid and it has a removable insert that the garbage bag hooks on.  Presumably then you wouldn't need to carry the whole can to the laundry, just the inner can.  It's motion sensored too, which would be neat as long as you don't have pets or curious toddlers.  Not sure what the volume is though.

If you end up with the edge of the pail liner showing on the outside of the can there's a brand that uses pretty fabric just around the edge so it looks nicer - I think it's Leslie's Boutique bags.

[jeninejessica]

Thanks! That gives me lots of fun stuff to look up over the next few days! DH laughs at me, but it makes me feel productive while we're just waiting... 

[Monkey pants]

I use a Motherease pail. I got it as a gift and realy like it.  I was planning on just using a trash can but I like this one a lot. It has a charcoal disk in it so your room is not stinky. 

[ZakareyasMama]

I had the same question before I had DS. I ended up using a bag instead of a can. Currently I'm using an old tote bag that has a zipper. It hangs on the bedroom door, right next to the changing table. (DS is still EBF) For laundry I just unzip the bag and push everything into the machine and toss the bag too.

Now that DS wears larger prefolds, I'm hoping to get a bigger bag.

(I LOVE these: http://www.planetwiseinc.com/Planet_Wise_Wet_Bags_39_cat.html)

My main reason for not getting a can was space. I really didn't want anything else in the bedroom and I didn't want to leave DS on the table to put the diaper in the bathroom.

I don't know how my routine might change once he starts solids, but I have read many good reviews on those bags for preventing stink.

[jeninejessica]

Oooooh! I really like that idea. I never really thought of doing just a bag, no pail. Only the other way around. 

And you don't have problems with it soaking through at all, or odor, since it's so contained?

That would solve the space problem, as well as looking pretty. I could hang it on the closet or bedroom door, and probably no one would ever even realize what it was. 

[ZakareyasMama]

Well like I said he's still EBF so I'm expecting to have to make some changes once we start solids... right now, though, there is no stink. I sometimes add a little baking soda in the bag, but recently we ran out and I haven't noticed a difference. As long as you have a bag that's waterproof (like the Planet Wise ones) there's no leak through either. Bummis also makes cute bags, but I'm not sure if they have big ones. I have the sort of medium sized one for going out and downstairs diaper changes and it works great. 

[herent]

I second the hanging wetbag.  I have a Large PlanetWise hanging wetbag and no odor or leaking they work great.  A friend of mine sold them and she told me they have heat sealed seams so they won't leak like other wetbags.

[chel]

I tried to hang a bag off a door handle, but it made the handle loose. Do you guys just Hang off a hook?

[ZakareyasMama]

What do you mean? Like so the door was easily pushed open? Ours hangs on the outer knob of the bedroom door, which is always open... only one babe and he's not independently mobile ... yet :) Maybe you could get one of those over-the-door hooks, but that may be too high.

[jeninejessica]

I think she means it was too much weight on the handle, which then loosened so it was almost falling off? Maybe I'm wrong though. 

Ours should be good, it's pretty sturdy. I think we will probably hang it from the closet door though, so it's a bit more out of the way. 

[chel]

Sorry I wasn't clear. Yes, made the door handle loose from the weight of the diapers.

My child was still an infant and it was on a little used door knob. We only lived in that place for a couple of months. When we moved, it was fairly noticeable how loose it became.

[herent]

My changing table has little spindles that come up to the top on each corner so I was able to hang my bag there, I never hung it on a door handle but I definately could see the weight loosening a door handle over time.  You could get whats called a robe hook at a hardware store and hang it on the wall, just make sure it's screwed into a stud in the wall behind the drywall board, you could make it any height you wanted and it would be nice and sturdy.

[thtr4me]

We have a stainless steel trash can from a local hardware store (happened to have an empty one in the garage so there was nothing to buy), and then I made 2 cotton canvas liners.  The liners double as a means to get dirty diapers to the washer, gets washed with the diapers, and then serves as a laundry bag to bring clean diapers back.  I really like the stainless steel, as it does not hold onto odors like plastic can.  And with the liner keeping soiled items from directly touching the can itself, I rarely need to clean out the can.