Jonah JacobsNot only are diapers expensive, but they’re also a necessity. And unfortunately, you can’t receive them in used condition from somebody else.
Luckily, several organizations feel any parent’s diaper-related pain. They know that these necessities can be hard to pay for on a minimal income, which is why they offer diapers for free.
Are there other forms of free baby stuff out there? Sure, and some of the organizations we’ll list may offer items besides diapers. For the purpose of this article, though, let’s concentrate on these bare necessities.
Share the Love
If you feel alone while worrying about the high cost of diapers, you certainly aren’t.
To illustrate this fact, have a look at this interesting page on the Share the Love website. It’s loaded with statistics on the cost of diapers and how they affect single parents and low-income families.
For example, the average single mother making minimum wage at a full-time job spends six percent of her gross income on diapers.
How could she cut this cost? If she’s like eight percent of moms, she’ll try to do it by leaving a wet disposable diaper on longer than she should. Or she’ll try to clean the diaper and reuse it.
Thankfully, Share the Love addresses this colossal issue by offering free cloth diapers to mothers who need them.
Would receiving disposable diapers as free baby stuff be great news? Of course it would, but the fact that this organization offers free cloth diapers is even better news.
While disposable diapers don’t last, cloth diapers do. Just wash them, reuse them, and watch how they can help you keep more money in your pocket.
The Cloth Option
Getting some free cloth diapers from Share the Love would surely help your monthly budget. Add some more free ones from The Cloth Option, and you’ll really start stacking your savings.
The Cloth Option uses several partners and sponsors to provide free cloth diapers to qualifying families. If you are eligible, here’s what you could receive, depending on your baby’s needs:
- Newborn – 20 cloth diapers
- Infants – 15 cloth diapers
- Potty training toddlers – 10 cloth diapers
If those numbers don’t seem like much, remember that they are cloth, not disposable. In other words, you’ll have enough free diapers to keep your baby covered at all times, provided you wash them daily.
National Diaper Bank Network
A visit to the National Diaper Bank Network’s “Get Help” page offers up various solutions for free diapers.
First, you can check if the Network actively operates in your city. If so, they can work with you directly to get free baby stuff, including diapers.
Second, you can follow their suggestion of calling 211 to ask for basic baby needs. Think of 211 as 911, but for emergency help with social services.
Lastly, you can check in your area to see if any faith-based organizations or food pantries can help.
Mark Luigi Dacumos
