Diaper need is the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep an infant or child clean, dry, and healthy.

If you are in need of diapers, wipes, or hygiene products for your child, please visit our “Get Help” page and make an appointment so we can work individually with you to get the items you need.

You might be surprised. Infants require up to 12 diapers per day and toddlers up to 8 per day.

Diapers can cost anywhere from $70 – $100 per month per baby or toddler. Without transportation, buying diapers at a local convenience store rather than a “big box” store can significantly increase the monthly cost of diapers.

You are not alone. In fact, 1 in 3 American families reports experiencing diaper need.

Unfortunately, no. Government assistance programs like SNAP (i.e. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children) do NOT cover diapers. In fact, there is no state or federal child safety-net program that allocates dollars specifically for the purchase of diapers.

Most child care centers, even free and subsidized facilities require parents to provide a day’s supply of disposable diapers for their child. So child care centers are not a source for diapers.

Most immediately, there are health impacts. An inadequate supply of diapers forces many parents to leave their child in soiled diapers longer than is appropriate. This frequently leads to diaper rash, and may cause staph and/or urinary tract infections.

There are also economic impacts. Most child care facilities require parents to provide diapers for their child. When parents run out of diapers, they are forced to withdraw their child from child care. Nationally, 57% of parents experiencing diaper need that depend wholly on child care facilities said they missed an average of 4 days of school or work in the past month because they couldn’t purchase diapers. Without proper child care, parents cannot work to support their families or cannot attend school that will help them provide a firmer economic base for their family.

There are also potential long term impacts with a range of negative outcomes in children, including problems with behavior, cognitive ability, language development, school adjustment, and overall well-being.

Some parents have stated that they feel a sense of hopelessness, experience mental and emotional anguish, and sometimes feel like they are a bad parent. The choice between spending your last $10 on food or gas to get to and from work, or diapers for your toddler is a very real decision that many of our families face.

These are not just single mothers or fathers. These are hard working individuals, trying to do the best they can. Diaper need doesn’t just happen solely because someone is unwilling to work, uneducated about budgeting, or other stereotypes that follow our clients around….diaper need occurs when unexpected illness, layoffs, deaths, or reduction in hours happen. Diaper need occurs when a foster family receives little ones with less than 24 hours notice or a grandparent is suddenly raising a grandchild due to a parent’s addiction.

Life happens, and when it does, Covered With Love is here to help keep your newborn, infant, or toddler clean, dry, and healthy.

Diaper banks often hear from well-meaning community members the suggestion that families with diaper need should use cloth diapers. Using cloth diapers is often not an option for so many of these families living on the hard economic edge.

Many do not have a washer or dryer in their homes to clean diapers and most laundromats will NOT allow diapers to be washed in their machines. Additionally, many families in crisis rely on public transit, so getting cloth diapers to a facility to wash them is daunting. Families in crisis may also have no water in their homes to wash cloth diapers. Sadly, families in crisis may be experiencing homelessness.

Sadly, 34% of families surveyed had already cut back on basics such as food, utilities, or child care in order to purchase diapers for their child. The choice between spending your last $10 on food or gas to get you to and from work, or diapers for your toddler is a very real decision that many families face.

16% of children in Indiana under age 18 are infants or toddlers.

Child poverty is a very real issue for our community. The Indiana rate for child poverty is 17.9% (as of 2018) and ranked 29th in the country. Terre Haute has a 36.9% child poverty rate (as of 2017).

The Illinois rate for child poverty is 16.8% (as of 2018) and ranked 27th in the country.

22% of all children under 5  years of age in the United States live in poverty.

20% of families in Indiana live in families earning less than the federal poverty level (i.e. $25,750 for a family of four). 27% of families in Indiana live in families earning less than twice the federal poverty level.

There are over 5.2 million children in the United States aged 3 or younger that live in poverty or low income families.

15% of SNAP recipients in Indiana are under age 5 while the United States rate for SNAP recipients is 13%.

24% of WIC recipients in Indiana are infants while the United States rate for WIC recipients is 23%.

65% of mothers in the workforce in Indiana have infants while 63% of mothers in the workforce nationally have infants.

Of course we can. Please use the “Contact” page to send us an email message and we will reply as quickly as possible or you can call us during our business hours.