Besides community hosted diaper drives and individual donations of unused diapers, HappyBottoms acquires its diapers via Huggies through partnerships with the National Diaper Bank Network. We also purchase diapers at a reduced rate through vendors like JSL Partners. HappyBottoms saves 30 to 50% off of the prices you would spend in a retail store.

HappyBottoms collaborates with 52 local social service agencies at 63 locations and 4 area hospitals to ensure that our diapers make it onto the bottoms of babies in greatest need. Our distribution agencies work directly with families to qualify babies to receive either 50 disposable diapers or 30 training pants per month. We use an agency model to give families access to other services they may need and help ease the effects of poverty. Our Bundles of Joy program works with 4 hospital locations to provide newborns and their mothers a one-time distribution of 75 diapers, along with information about our ongoing diaper distribution.

Cloth diapers, while environmentally and economically friendly in the long term, require an initial investment of money and time that many low-income families cannot afford. Over 70% of our parents live on less than $20,000 a year, so owning a washing machine isn’t an option.

To use cloth diapers, a family must either hire a diaper service or have reliable access to laundry facilities. Soiled diapers are not allowed on public transportation which creates a barrier for parents trying to use a laundromat. As it is, roughly 75% of laundromats prohibit the washing of cloth diapers for sanitary reasons and the 25% who do, require parents to run a load of bleach afterward, another cost that HappyBottoms parents cannot afford.

Through our diaper purchasing partnerships, we are able to stretch your charity dollar further and get more diapers on more babies.  Your $20 supplies $40 worth of diapers. 

We are just as baffled as you are! Our network of diaper banks across the country hope that one day this problem will be remedied! Want to help make a change and raise awareness? Write or email your elected officials today!

Families qualify for HappyBottoms based on their child’s age, where they live, and the family’s income level. HappyBottoms serves children less than four years old who live in  Jackson, Clay, Platte, or Cass Counties in Missouri, or Wyandotte or Johnson Counties in Kansas and families must demonstrate financial need.

Age-appropriate potty training helps families close the diaper need cycle and eliminate diaper expense, and we think it’s important to help families navigate this challenging stage.  Our Potty Training Education Program provides readiness screening, video curriculum, and potty training kit, including potty seat, stepstool, educational booklet, board book and sticker chart.

HappyBottoms’ philosophy is for our diapers to be a hand-up, not a hand-out. According to the Huggies Every Little Bottom study from 2010, for families in need, they’re usually short 10 to 12 diapers every week. By providing 50 disposable diapers a month, we fill the diaper gap. Additionally, we leverage the hand-up to get families into agencies that can address other needs like clothing, food, job skills, education, financial assistance, etc. HappyBottoms is one piece of the poverty puzzle, a piece that can make or break a family’s budget as they try to break the poverty cycle.

We leverage diaper distribution by getting families into agencies that can address other needs like clothing, food, job skills, education, financial assistance, healthcare, and child care. HappyBottoms is one piece of the poverty puzzle, a piece that can make or break a family’s budget as they try to escape the poverty cycle. We partner with hospitals in our Bundles of Joy program to reach low-income families as early as possible, giving them access to the other critical services they need.

You will need the following to sign up to receive diaper assistance from HappyBottoms:

ID for your child that contains their name and date of birth (for example Medicaid card, shot record, passport, birth certificate)

Applications are approved Mondays and Wednesdays. After that, if approved, you should receive an email with instructions about next steps.

HappyBottoms gives each child 50 diapers (Size Newborn through Size 6) or 30 training pants (2/3T, 3/4T, 4/5T) per month.

Your child can get diapers until they turn 4 years old.

Unfortunately, no.  Each child can get a maximum of 50 diapers or 30 training pants per month from a single agency each month.

Yes, if you have a legitimate reason, you can transfer agencies.  Please let your current agency know and they will help you with the transfer.

Children in foster care may qualify for the HappyBottoms program according to the same guidelines used for all families (see above).  

The Bundles of Joy program is a program geared towards getting HappyBottoms diapers to newborns in need. Diapers are distributed to qualifying moms at participating hospitals. Moms receive one set of diapers at the hospital and then are able to continue receiving diapers through any enrolling HappyBottoms agency. If you are interested in this program, please talk to your hospital social worker.

At this time, HappyBottoms only provides diapers to children under the age of four. The diapers we provide are standard baby diapers or pull-ups in the normally offered sizes. So if you have a special kiddo under the age of four who needs help getting diapers or pull ups, we would love to help. If your child is older than four and needs diapers, we would suggest talking with your doctor about getting diapers covered through Medicaid.

HappyBottoms only provides baby diapers and pull-ups to children under the age of four. If you or a loved one is struggling to obtain adult diapers, we would suggest speaking with your doctor about getting diapers covered through Medicare or Medicaid.

The HappyBottoms mission is to provide diapers to low income families in Kansas City and raise awareness about diaper need, therefore we only distribute diapers.