Diaper Pail Recommendations?

Updated on June 06, 2007
C.M. asks from Beloit, WI
27 answers

We currently use the Safety First Odorless Diaper Pail. That pail was okay at first for keeping in the smell, but lately, it hasn't been doing it's job. We have changed it's disk (that makes it fresh) and it doesn't seem to help. My son has been on solid foods for almost a year now so I don't think it's stronger smelling movements (or could it be?). Has anyone had luck with any of the other diaper pails out there? My son's room is right off the kitchen so we really need as close to odorless pail as we can get. We've also tried air fresheners, I have scrubbed the inside of the pail, left it outside to air out..... I think we just need a new pail. Any miracle pails ;)?

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So What Happened?

We bought a Diaper Champ. It works okay. Better than the Safety First. There is obviously still odor, more so when my son plays with the handle and leaves it partly open. We live in an upstairs apartment so disposing of the smelly ones every time just isn't pratical. I suppose it will work for now. Thanks everyone!

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R.W.

answers from St. Cloud on

I had no luck with diaper pails, so we put a garbage can in the garage and put poopy diapers in a pastic bag in the pail right away. Wet diapers I put in there at the end of the day. This way we only have a little smell in the garage.

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J.X.

answers from Minneapolis on

Ditch the diaper pail! Poopy diapers smell best when they are OUT of the house, like in the garbage can. If you really want to keep them inside for a time, you could try emptying them into the toilet first. The pee diapers seem to be alright in with the kitchen or bathroom trash for a while.

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M.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

Diaper Genie has been my favorite for both children. Yes, the diapers smell more when they start eating solids.

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S.L.

answers from Milwaukee on

i have two words for you baking soda,baking soda and more baking soda.... i have a diaper champ and love it to death but as with any diaper pail they begin to smell. my son is 14 months and i have a box of soda by his pail and if it starts to smell a little i open it up pour a little baking soda in and in about 10 min his room does not smell anymore ( his room is also right off the kitchen). I work at a baby store and to be really honest with you there is no such thing as a real odorless diaper pail, they all begin to smell after time. I've talked to a lot of moms and they all work great but you do need to find a way to control a smell after awhile, and unless you are just willing to toss the diapers outside after ever change this is a great little trick. good luck

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S.O.

answers from Seattle on

Hi,

Well I don't know if this will be good new to you or not, but I tried all those diaper pails and they never worked. What I found that works the best is just to put the nasty diaper in a plastic grocery bag like (Wal-mart) or something and chuck it into the garbage outside. That is the best thing that I found works. If you put it in the Plastic bag and tie it up real good it works better. I have three kids and it has worked for all of them. I bought a diaper pail for my last baby and tried it for her first few months and it was always smelling in her room, so I went back to the old plastic bag thing that worked so good for my two older ones. Plus it is cheaper to keep your old grocery bags instead of going to the store and buying those pail inserts. Hope I helped alittle.

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D.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

I have a 8 week old daughter and she has a diaper genie it has scented bags but i believe the thing works wonders. My house always smells fresh and never like a dirty diaper. I hope this helps you. Have a wonderful day

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S.H.

answers from Wausau on

I like the responses with the ziplocs or individual plastic bags. To empty fecal waste every 4-5 days sounds gross to me. I do home childcare so I have a plastic shopping bag size waste basket on a high shelf...uncovered even. Right next to it I have a fabric "sleeve" open on top and bottom. Stuff shopping bags down top and pull out from the bottom. If a poop diaper is really strong I might put it in a bag before it goes in trash, but a mild smelling poop will not stink up anything other than the garbage can which goes out every night or the next morn if I forget. If you fold the diaper around itself good enough and secure even stiny ones don't overpower the can that bad. Obviously, diapers for one child don't pile up as fast. I'd throw it in your regular trash as is. If his poop is that horrendous use the ziploc. Or if you have any Dollar Tree stores or similar, you could get thier scented diaper bags. They are little tiny plastic bags that smell like baby powder. Keep a box next to your garbage can.

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J.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

I gave up on the expensive diaper pails and now I just hang a walmart bag on the outside door and put the pee diapers in it and then when someone poops I tie it up and toss it out into the garage. My sweet husband takes them out to the garbage when he gets home. Every time my Mom and Mother in law come over they bring me all of their bags, but I had 3, now 2 in diapers :o) I have one of those bag holders and just hang it on the closet door next to the outside door. I also save any other bags like bread and such.
If you do decide to do the ziplock thing as mentioned before I would buy them at Sam's Club. Much cheaper :o)
J.

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J.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

Unfortunately, I have yet to find one that can handle bowel movements. I have found that if you keep a plastic shopping bag and put the diapers into the bag and then tie the bag, then put it in the pail and empty the pail daily the odor is minimal. It's a lot of work, but that is the only solution I've found. I'll keep my eye on this thread to see if anyone has any better solutions.

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K.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

We use a Diper Dekor. Works great we never have odor and it is easier to use then the diaper genie.

http://www.regallager.com/products

I think we bought ours at Babies R Us

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C.J.

answers from Appleton on

Hi C.,

I have an 18 month old and have used the Diaper Genie since day one and we love it!! Once in a while you might get a small whiff when you open it but that's only if your face is right there. I would recommend it.

C.

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M.M.

answers from Minneapolis on

We used the Diaper Champ for our first child and it seemed to work very well. With our second we just got into the habit of tossing them down the stairs and shuttling them to the garage. If you think about it, why would you want soiled diapers in your house anyway??!! And it just means one less thing to trip over in the room. Our third is on the way and we'll be doing the same thing - tossing them out right away.

Good Luck!

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T.A.

answers from Rochester on

I have just the Wal-Mart brand diaper pail which works fine for my 18 month old but I also buy the scented garbage bags to put in there. The only time the smell is really bad is when I am changing the bag but I can handle that. Then before I put in a new bag I spray some air freshner in the bottom of the bucket.
T.

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

when my girl poops, i try to empty it out in the toliet before i put the diaper in the pail and it seems to help with the smell. we empty the pail once every 4-5 days and it doesnt seem too bad.

J.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

I am currently going through the same situation, so I am glad you asked this question. I also have the Safety First Diaper Pail, and a month or two ago, it started smelling no matter what, even when the bag is freshly changed.

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T.G.

answers from Milwaukee on

Hi

I agree 100% w/ those diaper pails not working. We used one w/ our daughter and it worked fine when she was only on breast milk, but when she started baby food the smell was horrible. We also tried a small pail in her rm but that stunck horrible too. Now for my son, we just throw it in the regular trash and take it out more frequently. We empty the garbage pretty regularly so it's really not a noticable smell.

Good luck and let me know if there's a "magic" can out there;)

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K.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

We used a diaper genie but didn't like it - too complicated, too much plastic, and parts broke off.

We're using a combination of things now:

Diaper Champ with Borax sprinkled in the bottom upstairs. It's less messy than baking soda.

Throwing them in the kitchen trash downstairs - we had to get a flip-top metal can because of our trash-loving dog - that's a lot less hassle than a diaper pail.

g-diapers. I can't use these on my 3-year-old 'cause they're too small, but for the one year old we use g-diapers. You flush the liner down the toilet. That's reduced a lot of smell and a lot of trash.

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C.F.

answers from Milwaukee on

We used a diaper pail with the first one. We used to put one of those Renuzit stick-ups inside the pail. Now with our second if she gets poopies we just flush the poo right down the toilet or take the stinky diaper right outside in a plastic grocery bag bypassing the pail all together.

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H.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

9 years ago, I used the diaper genie. It did pretty well to mask odors, until you opened it to empty it...I recommend doing that OUTSIDE!!!

Until you do find the miracle pail, I recommend either putting baking soda OR the Arm & Hammer litter freshener for cat boxes in the bottom. That will help immensely. If you get the kitty litter stuff, it has a nice fragrance where the baking soda just smells like nothing.

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

We use the Diaper Genie, and I think that works great! Good luck! :)

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C.K.

answers from Madison on

We use the Diaper Champ for our 1-year-old and it doesn't require any air freshener or special bags. We never notice an odor (and my nose is ultra sensitive). I'm really surprised no one else mentioned this product, since I've seen a lot of previous postings about it in the past.

Also, I think that you are supposed to flush solid waste in the toilet whenever possible. It's better to send it where it gets treated with other human waste, rather than put it in landfills. Not to mention it means a less stinky house.

Although I don't do cloth diapering, I think I would if I were a SAHM, at least some of the time. I guess I can't throw stones for using disposables, but I will cast a pebble at those who recommend all the extra plastic bags used to wrap a single dirty diaper and throw it in the trash. That's even more excessive than single-use diapers.

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A.B.

answers from Madison on

Hi. Yes, I also agree with the last poster. My son is 18 mos. A few mos. ago I just ditched the diaper pail all together -- it was too nasty. Now, I just use a small garbage can next to where I change him in his room. I use the plastic grocery bags as liners, I put all of the used diapers in there, then once or twice a day (when he poops), tie up the bag and take it to the garbage outside. Way better than waiting a day or two and letting the diaper pail fill up -- as the old diapers get stinkier and grosser!

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T.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

Honestly, we have a Diaper Genie and it is terrible. Same situation, it worked great for our first son, but as he got older it was terrible. I ended up putting the garbage pail in our attached garage. That worked fine for a while, but the smell still kept inching its way inside. If you can keep it outside a door, that would work, no animal could get in there, otherwise, I just use my plastic bags from the grocery store and when he has a dirty diaper, I take it to the trash can immediately. That is the only thing I have heard of and tried that work. I did bleaching and stick-um freshners, but nothing helped, if anything, it made it smell worse. Sorry I can't give a good answer, but maybe that is an option for you.

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P.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

I don't recommend the Diaper Genie. We used that for a while, until the pail smelled so bad that I could't even open it up anymore. (and, I HATED the way the thing worked because it was designed for people to use 2 hands...and I never had 2 hands available.) As for the smell, I think that it's great for people that change it daily, but we didn't. We found that the only thing that really worked was putting the diaper right outside in the outside trashcan. We sometimes just threw them out in the garage until we went outside again. Then, on our next trip outside, we'd pick up the diapers and toss them in the garbage.

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D.B.

answers from Minneapolis on

We have been using the Diaper Genie for our son's diapers, and we love it. We currently have his changing table in a small bedroom that we are using as an office, which I spend a lot of time in accounting for how much we spend on diapers. :-) I have a very sensitive nose, and I really don't smell the Diaper Genie at all. Only when we open it to put a soiled diaper in it do we smell anything, and that is only for a brief moment in time. And yes, when you do empty it, hold your breath. But overall, I have been very happy with it.

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J.B.

answers from Minneapolis on

We love our Diaper Genie II and we get those small disks (like air fresheners) to put in the bottom. We haven't had to switch the disk in 6 months. It's really easy to change out the bad bag to a new one. My partner swears by it. The refillable bags are about $5.00 at any store. Hope this helps!

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B.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

A friend of mine gave me this recommentdation, and it worked great for us. We hated the diaper pails and started to buy Wal-mart or whatever kind of discount freezer bags. Just pop a dirty diaper in a zip lock and toss it. Once they are sealed up you can smell nothing, and just use a regular waste basket. Just make sure they are the freezer bags not just the regular ones. It might seem like it would cost a lot, but it was worth every penny. And my penny pinching husband NEVER complained about buying those zip locks!!

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