It would take over 10 million extra diapers a year to keep Baltimore babies dry and healthy.

According to a nationwide, county-by-county analysis by the National Diaper Bank Network and the Urban Institute, those diapers could close the gap between what low- and middle-income families already have and what they need.

Parents of nearly two-thirds of children under 4 in Baltimore can’t change their babies as often as they want to. That can lead to painful medical complications, like urinary tract infections and diaper rashes.

It can also mean that parents have to stay home from work or school because they don’t have enough diapers to leave their babies at child care. Postpartum moms may have to bypass on their own pads to buy diapers or skip meals to keep replenishing the essentials. According to the Urban Institute, the cost of diapers for just one child can climb to $100 a month. But the median family can only afford to pay $65.

“The cost of it is so exorbitant that it really is a difficult decision for families,” said Nadya Dutchin, executive director of ShareBaby. “It sometimes may be easier to stay home and put your child in an old T-shirt or a tea towel than it is to put them into a diaper.”

Federal help like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) doesn’t cover diapers. So families often rely on basic-needs banks, which purchase essentials at a lower cost and then give them out for free.

But fewer than half of Maryland counties have banks offering diapers, according to the analysis.

In Baltimore, ShareBaby works with over 70 community partners to give out essential baby supplies and gear to needy families. The nonprofit spends up to $55,000 every two months on hundreds of thousands of diapers, pull-ups and wipes.

But needs are rising: The cost of living is up, families can’t get state help with child care costs, and Maryland federal workers are temporarily or permanently out of a job. At the end of last month, ShareBaby had distributed 300,000 more diapers to over 4,000 more kids compared to last September, Dutchin said.

“Where people did not necessarily have to make a very difficult decision before,” Dutchin said, “they do now.”

Valarie Matthews has noticed the same trend. She’s executive director and co-founder of Cathrine’s Family and Youth Services in Park Heights. ShareBaby is one of the ways she gets supplies.

Once a month, families can get up to 50 diapers per baby — which would likely last parents of newborns less than a week. But Matthews has been letting families double their hauls lately, as long as she has the extra in stock.

“We are definitely expecting long lines and seeing a need for more baby essentials from families,” Matthews said. “We probably saw an increase of about 25%-30% through the months of July and August.”

Heather Sandstrom, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said their map shows it’s not just families living in poverty who can’t afford diapers. About half of American households with young kids struggle to pay for one of their baby’s most basic needs, typically coming up short by 50 diapers a month, she said. And it’s an issue that can drag for years before kids are fully potty-trained.

Statewide, it would take over 75 million diapers a year to close the diaper gap for families with children younger than 4 who are living below 300% of the federal poverty level. The need is especially high in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties; Prince George’s alone would need over 17 million diapers annually.

To close the growing diaper gap across the country, it would take nearly 4.8 billion diapers every year.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.