Help needed, your opinion on a diaper pail and are the Bumbo seats worth it?

I am posting here because I am looking for help in choosing a diaper pail. I understand that the Diaper Genie is ok but you have to use their bags. With twins, are there any that are big enough? I keep hearing about the Diaper Dekkor and the Diaper Champ....should I get one for each level of the house?
ALSO, are the Bumbo seats worth it? It appears that they will only get to use them for about 3 months before they get too big...is it still worth it?

THANK YOU,
Ingrid

Due Aug with b/g twins

 

I have the Diaper Champ - LOVE IT! You don't have to stick your hand in a twist like the genie and it uses regular trash bags. I only have one in the girls room. If they have a poopy diaper during the day I just bring it upstairs and dump it - pee ones I just put in the kitchen trash since it gets emptied every other day or so.

Bumbo I am split on. We have 2 and the girls don't use them too much. I used to use them when I would go to put on baby in the car to keep the one inside in one place. You may want to get one and see if they like it before you get another. If you decide not to get a bumbo I would suggest getting 2 boppys. I used those a lot more when the girls were learning to sit on their own.

 

I think Diasper Pails are useless. Just take the diapers out to the trash

Now bumbos are pretty useful if you have preemies. I had a late sitter(didn't sit on her own till 8 months) so we got alot of use out of it!

 

we got 2 diaper champs and used them for the first few months and after that I just started dumping them in the trash....

Bumbo - my kids HATED it!!! you could always get one and see...or depending on where you are I'll sell you mine - it was only used twice!

 

We have a diaper Champ, but don't really use it. It is def. my pick over the Gennie, tho. Those bags get expensive.
We have the 2 bumbos, too. My boy barely used his because his thighs were WAY to big at 4m. My DD got more use out of them, tho. They both liked them.
Boppy's are a MUST, tho.

 

We have one diaper Champ in the kids bedroom and it was really useful the first few months when we changed at least 20 diapers a day (literally!!) with that amount of diapers, we had to empty it out every other day. Now that we change them less often, and we have figured out diapers CAN be thrown in a regular trash in teh kitchen, it takes a whole week to fill the pail even though they are in size 5 diapers. If you do throw diapers in regular trash you need to empty that out daily. If you have pets the smell will attract them.

A rule of thumb is that the pail should still only be used for pee diapers and poop diapers should be discarded immediately, the Champ is good for keeping smells out, but eventually it too starts to smell. I have washed mine out with bleach several times, which solves the problem, but who wants and additional chore.

As far as Bumbo, we only bought one and only used it maybe 3 times, my kids didn't fit in it passed 4 months, my vote is for boopy pillows. You will definately need and use 2 of those.

 

We loved the Diaper Champ. We used it until about 12 months. When solid food really came into the picture, the pail did not hide the smell enough. Now we just throw them in the trash. So to me yes, for 12 months we loved that pail.

We purchased 2 Bumbos at 5 months. They were good as a first feeding chair. However, at 7 months old DS could escape it in 5 seconds. DD could not but would just sit there so I just sold them both. Great re-sale value. I wish I would have known of the tray you can get for them since that would have been neat. For me, the Bumbo wasn't a lifesaver, but I know others have loved it.

 

We had a Diaper Genie and never really cared for it. I think we used it for about 2 months and then got rid of it. Really didn't seem to do too much for keeping the nursery from smelling like dirty diapers. I tie all the diapers up in bags (either plain one gallon food storage bags or the blue powder scent ones from the babt store) and throw the peepee one in the regular garbage (goes out every night) and the stinky ones go outside and are put in the garbage at the end of the day when it is taken out.

We never had bumbos for the girls so I can't help you there.

 

We used the bumbo for ugh maybe a month? They got them for Christmas and they were awesome while they fit and stayed in them. I used them for highchairs at other pepoles houses and occasionally until they learned to get out of them, we used them for timeout chairs. Now we dont and we're only a year... I would suggest if you want to try one, just get one and then see if you need the other rather than spending the money on both. The Bebe Pode from walmart i ahve heard great things about too and they're a heck of a lot cheaper...also the leg holes are bigger so if you have a chunky baby, that may be the way to go.

The diaper champ is what we have. We ended up bringing it downstiars b/c we never used it upstiars...now that we brought it down, i'm doing alot more diaper changing upstairs...go figure. You can use a trashcan though...believe it or not LOL. It's alot cheaper to get the diaper champ than buying bags every month if money is an issue to you. They do stink after awhile if you dont get them changed but then again, what daiper pail wouldnt?

Good Luck and FWIW- i would vote for two boppies too...we still use ours occasionally....They work great to prop beds too when you have sick babies.

Amanda

 

We did well with our Diaper Genie. I needed to be emptied nearly every day because of the size of the pail and the sheer number of daipers so there never was any problem with smell. It was in our living room. The bags are a roll that sits in the lid and they pull out a little bit every time you put in a diaper so there is no set size to the bag.

I have a plain Safety 1st diaper pail now that I use for cloth diapers and it works very well. You can never smell anything.

 

We have a Diaper Champ. I like that it doesn't require special bags, because making an extra trip (they don't sell them at the grocery store) to get diaper bags is the last thing I need! I do recommend having one on each floor of the house, assuming you're going to have a changing station in each place.

We are still using it, even for toddler poops, and yes it does stink. But we wipe it all over with an antibacterial cloth every time we change the bag, and every once in a while we rinse it out with bleach water and set it outside to dry. That seems the smell to a manageable level.

We didn't like the Bumbo too much. We borrowed one from a friend and I was glad I hadn't spent the $$. I do know some people who love them. But I think they are best if you're going to be interacting with the babies while they're in it -- otherwise they get bored, because at the stage that they use them, they are still too young to really hang onto toys. The only way they really liked it was if we could put them in front of their floor gym, so the toys were dangling right in their faces. But I think they also got annoyed with being forced to sit upright when their torsos weren't really comfy with that yet. We used regular bouncy seats a lot more -- we used those until the babies were really crawling.

 

Personally, after 4 kids, I say don't waste time with a diaper pail unless you find one cheap at a garage sale - and then just a regular one. If you want to have a recepticle for the diapers, I would buy a regular trash can that has a flip lid and use that. We used the diaper pails with our first two, and have found that it actually easier for us to use the regular trash and take that out daily.

We never used the bumbo seat, so I have no input there other than my personal feeling that it is a waste of money. But, that is just me.

Congratulations on the twins. Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well and that you have a safe and healthy labor/delivery.

 

if you live in a single floor apt or house, i would say you can probably get away with just dumping them in regular garbage. but if you have the nursery upstairs, i would deffinately suggest getting one. we also had the diaper champ because i like the idea that i could use regular garbage bags which i would buy in bulk from sams club and could be used for the champ and our kitchen garbage can. we really had no prob with smell until several months after use. when it starts to smell wash it down and lysol it and you'll be good to go. regarding bumbos, my girls didn't take to them right away and never could really stand to be in them for more than 5-10 min. but it was a convenient way to feed them in the beginning when they started on solids and for taking to friends houses for that purpose. i was able to use them until they were about 7 months or so and then they started climbing out of them. HTH

 

I personally LOVE my diaper champs. My husband is very sensitive to smells and I would hate to open the trash several times a day to smell THAT. Also, I'm way too lazy to go outside to put the diaper in the trash outside. Also, we have one upstairs and one down, as with most things, b/c I try to decrease the no. of times I have to go up and down the stairs for things. As for the bumbo, we never had one, but my sister in law loves hers.

 

We had 2 diaper Genies--I never had a problem and they never stank. We had one in the boys room and one in the family room.

As for the Bumbos, I wouldn't waste your money. They were designed for children with disabilities, and there is no need for a 4 month old to be sitting upright. They should be rolling around on the floor, using the exersauser, or playgym. We fed the boys in their boucies until they were 6 months and then switched to their highchairs.

 

I had a diaper pail with my singleton and never used and I am trying my best to get use out of the bumbo but truthfully first they didn't have enough neck strength to hold up their head and then they were jumping out of it. Get it only if you can make it work with the tray.

 

We have a Diaper Champ and used it pretty faithfully the first 4 months, but once they started sleeping through the night most diaper changes occurred downstairs and the diaper pail is in their room. So it hasn't been used since. We just put stinky diapers in a plastic grocery bag and tie it up, put it int he regular garbage. We take it out at least once a day, if not more, and we have no stinky issue (covered garbage can). Wet diapers just go in the garbage, no extra grocery bag required.

We never got Bumbos - never saw the need.

 

We used the Diaper Genie. I liked it and it kept odors under control pretty well. We emptied it every 2-3 days. After two years of use it started to smell but with an occassional good cleaning of the inside it was fine. The baga last pretty long and they cost about $4.99.

I never bought Bumbo seats and my girls did fine without them. We used bouncy seats when they were real little. I just didn't see the point in spending more money on an additional seat. And, I agree with Sharon, they should be on the play mat and excersaucer and getting mobile.

 

The diaper pail to us was worthless. We just ended up putting them in plastic grocery bags as we changed them and someone took them to the trash outside.

Bumbo's only used them a few times for feeding at family events and to get them used to sitting up and being spoon fed. Not necessarily worth the investment of having.

 

I had a diaper genie when they first came out with my dd. HATED it! The smell was still there! So we got rid of it and just plain used Walmart (or any stores) bags, tied them up and threw them out as needed. Didn't even put them in the plastic waste cans, the plastic keeps that horrible smell of wet/dirty diapers.

As for the bumbos? I soooo wish they were out when my boys were born. I've bought them for the church nursery and I LOVE them. They are sooo awesome! They're just right for that stage where they want to sit up but can't do it by themselves, but want to look around. I used the booster seats for that stage, but these are soo much more stable.

 

We never used either. We keep a waste basket next to the changing table and bring it out to the trash cans frequently.

As for the Bumbo seats, I never saw the need. With Liam at almost 5 months now, we keep him on the play mat, in the exersaucer, the bouncy seat or the swing. He will sit up when he is ready.

 

We started with the Diaper Champ, which worked ok, until my girls were able to pull themselves up on it, that’s when they got their fingers stuck and pinched. The Diaper Genie came next. It was not that big and it still smelled bad when you opened the lid to put another diaper in. We have been putting the diapers straight in the trash for some time now.
Our girls didn't like the Bumbo seat at all.
Hope that helps.
Julia

 

We have used the diaper champ since they came home from the hospital. We change it nightly and have just one in their room where we change them. I liked it cause you can use grocery bags (no need to purchase special bags!)

As for the bumbo, never bought one. Never saw a need to.

 

I didn't read all of the replies but add me to the list of "use a regular trashcan" (I like the metal Simple Human kind with a foot pedal) and "no" on the Bumbo seats (cute but a really short window of use for the $).

 

Well as you can see, every family is different, so I'm not sure how useful this thread is for your decision-making process, LOL!

As for us, we are still going strong with using a diaper pail. We got the Diaper Dekor to start (in an apt. w/ trash chute at the end of a long hallway, so not easy to just "run it outside to the trash"). I thought the Dekor did a pretty decent job of keeping the smell in unless it was getting super-full or hadn't been emptied for more than two days (with the kids in daycare we don't have to empty it all that often during the week), but the first one we had broke sometime around 9-12 months (the flaps under the lid stopped springing back closed after a while, so it was useless for keeping the smell in). We bought a second one, and it broke in exactly the same way after about the same amount of time, maybe 6-7 months for that one. We now have a Diaper Genie II (which uses special bags, but it's different from the sausage roll the original Diaper Genie had), and it does a fantastic job keeping the smell in. I've never smelled anything, not even the tiniest whiff, out of that thing. The one thing I don't like about it is that you really have to push your hand into it to get the diaper in, so sometimes that seems a little gross. Even now that we live in a house it is much easier to use the diaper pail than to take the poopy diapers out to the trash.

We did really like having the Bumbo chairs. I agree that 4-6 month old babies should be on the floor, on the playmat, rolling around, etc., but the reality is also that they get bored easily and when you have two, you often need more tools in your arsenal to keep them entertained, KWIM? So we used the Bumbos for maybe 15-20 minutes at a time 1-2 times a day and it really helped keep them less cranky. My experience is that they really enjoyed sitting up and looking around, playing with dangling toys, etc., for little spurts of time, but they did not enjoy sitting in it for very long. I used it as just one of many things, along with the playmat, bouncy seats, exersaucer, jumperoo, etc., to keep them busy and entertained. Because they are pretty expensive for the length of time you get to use them, I would try to find them used on craigslist or MOMs sale.

 

the diaper genie is not worth it. you have to spend $15 per month buying their refllls. my SIL has the diaper champ and it is supposed to take any bag, and it doesn't smell at all.

I got rid of the genie (the company also does NOT offer discounts or coupons for multiples). and now just put the diapers in a walmart bag and take it out every day. Have been doing that for about a year. the garbage stinks, but i don't care.

never had a bumbo seat. used my 1 boppy pillow for assisted seating.

 

I didn't read the responses, so I might be repititive.

I have the Diaper Genie II which is different than the regular diaper genie. It is GREAT. The only time you have a slight odor is when you take out the bag. I only need to empty it every 3 days or so, but it's only for one baby. There is no twisting or anything, just push it through a clamp. You can buy the bags in Walmart even for 5 bucks and it last you a while. I like it.

 

I had a Diaper Dekor. It got used a lot when I was on leave and used to change the boys upstairs as it was in their room.

Once I went back to work, DH did not use it once. It now serves as a garbage pail in the bird area.

We used the bumbos for just a few months and not that much. I do know some people who use theirs all the time. Maybe by the time the babies are born, you will get some hand me downs.

 

We got the Diaper Dekor as a shower gift and are still using it. I agree that it does really well with the odors unless it needs to be emptied. I keep it at the end of the hall, and any pull ups we changed towards that end of the house go into it. Any thing we change on the other side of the house goes straight into the trash. Dirty ones get tied into a plastic wal-mart bag, wet just go straght in.

I hate the fact that it takes special refill bags, but they last a long time in my opinion. In the 3 yrs we've had ours I've only had to by 2 3packs of refills at about $16 each. And supposedly you can use regular trash bags with it once your done with diapers. I think they just don't recomend doint that for diapers because it doesn't block the oder then.

We never had Bumbos, but I wish we had. Both my girls were late sitters ( started at 9 months). I always wondered if a Bumbo would have helped. But if you can find one used, I definitly would, cause they are pricey.