Diapers for U.S. Babies in Need

Help a baby experiencing diaper-need remain clean, dry, and healthy.

Diaper-need is the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep a baby clean, dry, and healthy. While one in three American families struggle with diaper need, no government assistance program—including food stamps and Women, Infants and Children (WIC)—provides funding for diapers, a basic necessity for all babies. There are currently 5.6 million infants and toddlers living in low-income families, and many cannot afford a daily supply of clean diapers. Diaper-need impacts the physical, mental, and economic well-being of babies and their families.

The National Diaper Bank Network and its network of more than 230 member diaper banks help address diaper-need by collecting, storing, and distributing free diapers to families experiencing financial hardship. Diapers are a key link in the chain of opportunity that can connect people living in poverty to education, jobs, and eventual self-sufficiency. For example, without a daily supply of diapers, a mom cannot put her infant in a childcare program, which prevents her from going to work or school. To people living on the edge, every link in the chain is important, especially small things like diapers.

You can help. Just $9 provides diapers for one baby with diaper-need for a week.

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The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) is committed to: raising awareness of diaper need, a hidden consequence of poverty; ensuring that babies living in poor families have enough diapers to remain clean, dry and healthy; and building the capacity of local diaper banks to serve families throughout the country by creating a national network of community-based diaper banks able to distribute diapers to babies in need.

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Update from the Field
September 2017

This grant helped get critical supplies to several diaper banks and played a critical role in continued operations of these community programs. With this grant NDBN was able to distribute diapers to 18 families. Government assistance programs do not cover the costs of diapers, so for some families, receiving diapers from the diaper bank is essential to them being able to fulfill their baby’s needs. Families experiencing diaper need have reported:

having to choose between buying diapers or paying for gas to get to work

leaving babies in wet diapers longer to extend their supply

cleaning out and reusing soiled diapers

Situations like these affect not just the baby’s health, but can also affect the emotional well-being and financial stability of the family. NDBN and our member diaper banks work to eliminate instances of these situations. Diaper banks operate like food banks. They distribute diapers (and in some cases, other basic essentials) to qualifying families free of charge. NDBN distributed millions of diapers in this shipment, which will support thousands of families in several communities.