It may sound like you just need plain common sense to dispose of diapers, but believe it or not, there are newbie parents who don’t know what to do once they’re face-to-face with the soiled diapers.
Washing the baby’s bottoms to rid them of leftover waste is another delicate matter to discuss and learn about for the sake of the baby’s health, but what to do with dirty diapers after that needs more explanation than “throw them away.” Some parents would literally just throw diapers away, unmindful of where the diapers end up, but that’s being irresponsible.
Here are some dos and don’ts on how to handle and dispose of diapers:
- Roll them up securely. Make sure dirty baby diapers are well rolled up and sealed properly using their sealing sticky strips at the sides. Don’t merely crumple dirty diapers and put in a trash can with the waste exposed. This makes it easy prey to cockroaches or rodents that may spread the dirt and germs around and cause illnesses.
- Use an extra bag. If necessary (like when the sealing sticky strips are ruined), put the dirty baby diaper in an extra disposable bag after rolling it properly to prevent it from unraveling when handled by garbage collectors. It is important to keep soiled diapers rolled intact to prevent the spread of deadly microorganisms.
- Ensure a safe initial disposal. Never place a dirty diaper anywhere near the baby after changing them. Some people carelessly put soiled diapers close to the baby while putting in a fresh diaper, but babies are apt to extend their arms uncontrollably in any direction and may accidentally touch the dirty diaper. Once this happens, make sure to thoroughly wash the part that touched the poop. [INPOSTLB]
The proper way is to have a ready and dry disposable bag nearby where the soiled diaper can be secured at once. This prevents the baby from accidentally touching it.
- Keep the diapers away from food. Don’t put soiled diapers near any food item, especially the baby’s milk can and feeding bottles. This may sound like a common sense solution to the situation, but you’d be surprised how many people seem to commit the mistake of putting these two very different things close to each other. Sometimes, in all the confusion, the soiled diaper is even placed amid snacks, cups and small plates, pastries and feeding bottles and left there for good.
- Put the soiled diapers out of the room—and the house. Dirty diapers should be thrown in waste cans outside the baby’s room. Don’t collect dirty diapers in a trash can placed inside the same room as the baby and keep it there for a long time because this may cause infectious microorganism to spread and affect the baby’s health.
In fact, dirty diapers should immediately be disposed of in a trash can outside the house and made certain to be collected by garbage trucks on a regular basis.
