SANDPOINT — In the world of raising children, everything matters. That includes things that might cruise under the radar, such as how often their diapers get changed.

For the low-income families served by Mountain States Early Head Start, however, the cost of keeping wee ones in clean diapers can be onerous. Thanks to a collaborative effort between Early Head Start and the Idaho Diaper Bank, those families are provided with high-quality diapers at no cost.

According to Kimberly Seitz, director for Mountain States Head Start, which has centers in Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene, Rathdrum and Kellogg, the effect of such a seemingly small gesture can be life changing.

“When a child is in dirty diapers, it impacts the child and the parent,” she said. “It has a long-term consequence on the child’s development and readiness for school. The stress it causes for the parent can lead to lack of confidence about parenting and be detrimental to connection and nurture.”

The question arises, then: Why not just change the darn diaper and get on with things? For the approximately 150 North Idaho families enrolled in Early Head Start programs, it’s not that easy.

“For low-income families, a disproportionately large percentage of their income goes toward purchasing diapers,” said Seitz. “They can’t buy them with food stamps, so it becomes a big financial concern.”

The diaper program was parent-driven, the director pointed out, as parents came to the centers with questions about how to balance tight family budgets with the need for keeping babies and toddlers healthy.

In Idaho, 47 percent of families with children birth to age 3 meet the federal poverty guidelines. On average, infants use 10-12 diapers a day and toddlers need seven to eight, at a cost of about $90 per month, per child.

Through the diaper program, those families are provided with 50 diapers per month. While initial discussions touched on providing cloth diapers for sustainability and environmental reasons, the clients served often would have no way to launder them for future use, Seitz noted.

“We have a very high percentage — about 24 percent — of families who are homeless and, therefore, very mobile, so cloth diapers just don’t make sense,” she said. “We really are serving the families with the most needs in the community.”

The first large block of data on the correlation between infant and toddler health, financial hardship and the importance of diapering was made available when the Huggies Corporation conducted a study in the U.S. and Canada in 2010. More than 2,000 parents were surveyed and almost unanimously equated keeping their children in clean diapers with other basic needs such as food and shelter.

The issue, though, was how to balance finite income levels with the cost of diapers. According to the study’s findings, nearly half of respondents reported cutting back on other essentials, to include food, utilities and childcare in order to pay for diapers.

A vicious cycle comes into play as parents have to utilize childcare to accommodate their world schedules, but, once gain, run up against the diaper situation and its associated costs.

“In order for a child to be placed in childcare, they have to have a full day’s worth of diapers with them,” said Seitz. “If a family can’t afford that, the parent can’t go to work or go to school, so there’s a huge short-term financial impact there, as well.”

Across the U.S., the National Diaper Bank Network supports 300 community-based Diaper Banks that help collect and distribute diapers to families who need them. In 2017, the network provided more than 50 million free diapers — 20 million of them donated by Huggies — to nearly 300,000 children throughout the country.

In North Idaho, the program just got underway last month and response was strong from the onset.

“A little over half of the families we have registered received diapers that first month,” Seitz said, adding that she anticipates higher enrollment once word gets out to families who can benefit from the new Diaper Bank in North Idaho.

“This is being taken seriously,” the director said. “As awareness increases, parents are making the connection that there is a significant health impact.”

Beyond physical health, the program crosses over to touch on other aspects of raising healthy children. Mountain States Early Head Start provides free, comprehensive child development and family support services to pregnant women and children birth to age three that fosters the development and school readiness of children.

“Our focus has always been on infant mental health and attachment as part of preparing a child for school,” Seitz explained. “School-readiness is why Early Head Start exists. Everything we do is founded on that core philosophy.”

For more information on available service and programs, call the Sandpoint center at 208-263-2569 or visit online: www.msehs.org, where donations to support the diaper program can also be made by clicking the “donate now” button at the top of the home page.