Asking for diapers--strange thing happened to me

[Deleted]

I was a graduation party this weekend-which was in a park. We were sitting around chatting with the people we knew and an older woman came over and asked if she could get a diaper from me because her daughter forgot her diaper bag. I said "sure, no problem, I've been there" and I gave her a diaper and a couple of wipes. About 1 1/2 hrs later, the same woman came back and asked for another diaper. I gave it to her but I was 3 hours from home, and luckily I had thrown a couple extra diapers in the car, but what if I hadn't. Why wouldn't someone run to the store and get some diapers or run home (I don't know where these people were from)? I'm also assuming that since they had no diapers, they didn't have food or milk for this kid.
Flybaby was waiving at the kid later and the mom got up and walked over to us with her child. My H asked how old the child was and she said 9 months old-so I knew there was limited food at the party for the child but I never saw her feeding the child either. She never once said thank you for the diaper-though her mom did. Then I felt bad for judging as it seemed like she had some mental issues (or she was drunk-there was no alcohol at the party).
I would probably ask someone if I could borrow a diaper if I was in a bind, but I would try to go somewhere to get some more. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them or have you ever asked someone (a stranger) if they had one?

[ECB]

I don't think I understand how not having diapers w/ them means they also don't have food or drink either? It's VERY easy to run out of the house forgetting ONE thing. I understand that you didn't seem them feed the child - but I doubt you were watching them intently the entire time.

In a pinch, yes, I would ask a stranger for a diaper and wouldn't mind if someone asked me for one.

BUT, to what you said, I would have then gone to the store and bought some. I would not have gone back to the same people later and asked for another one! That's odd.

[drloretta]

Ditto ECB, but it depends on the situation. For example, we were in BFE all day on Saturday, so going to the store would have involved a hike and liberal use of the GPS, and going home was not an option (we were hoteling it). And it took us a while, but we have been stuck somewhere without a diaper.

We were stuck at Christmas Mass with no diaper and a poopy toddler. We gutted it out until the end, but I ended up getting some spares and putting them in the lower church in case we (or someone else) ever needed one in a pinch. And I'd have no problem sharing mine or asking for one.

[satama]

I agree that not having diapers does not mean they forgot food and everything else too. Maybe the baby is breastfeeding. Maybe they do BLW and the baby did eat the party food. Or maybe you just did not see when they few the baby or they fed the child before coming out.

That said, I would never ask the same stranger to borrow a diaper twice. Once is ok Imo, twice is being a bit of a jerk. I think after the first one you have to run to a store or find someone else to mooch from at least!

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2012 8:38:47 GMT -5 ECB said:

I don't think I understand how not having diapers w/ them means they also don't have food or drink either? It's VERY easy to run out of the house forgetting ONE thing. I understand that you didn't seem them feed the child - but I doubt you were watching them intently the entire time.

You're right--I wasn't watching them, but I did notice that she didn't have any other bag-not even a purse with her. I would have offered her some baby food if she had needed it.

[anna7602]

It IS weird that she asked you twice, but re: food, like pp said, maybe she was BFing the child. I was stuck on a train once for several hours unexpectedly (something happened on the track). I ran out of snacks for DD, the cafe cart ran out of food and I was able to just nurse DD for the rest of the time. It wasn't ideal, but it was no big deal for her to go without "real" food for that long time period. And she was older than 9 months. At 9 months, I'd think you would need to carry around even less food.

[GailGoldie]

I find it odd that you noticed if she had a bag or not... i have never watched someone enough to know about their bags, etc. As for the 2nd diaper- eh, not a biggie... we all forget things. And a 9mo could easily be only on breast milk.... so again, odd that you were scoping out her food, or lack of, etc.

[zeewifeandmama]

Yeah, I have given strangers diapers and wipes when asked....no biggie to me. The second diaper might have been her mom's idea to ask for another one from you rather than go to the store...who knows. In any case, at 9 months my daughter would have been nursing more than eating solid food. She didnt willingly eat solid food regularly until she was nearly 12 months.

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2012 10:26:35 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

I find it odd that you noticed if she had a bag or not... i have never watched someone enough to know about their bags, etc. As for the 2nd diaper- eh, not a biggie... we all forget things. And a 9mo could easily be only on breast milk.... so again, odd that you were scoping out her food, or lack of, etc.

It was a small park pavillion--so she wasn't that far away from me.
I was mostly wondering what I should have done if I hadn't put extra diapers in the car and only had the 6-7 I normally stock my diaper bag with. Would most people have given her the diapers and then stopped for more at the store yourself? Or would you have said "I'm sorry, I only have 2 left and I have a 3 hr drive yet."
I don't know how they got there either, but I could have offered to drive her to the store too. I wasn't trying to be rude--just thought it was odd.

And to make me sound even more ignorant--it never occurred to me that she was breastfeeding because she was noticeably pregnant as well. I didn't know people still BF while pregnant.

[hannamarin]

We went out once and I forgot to restock the diaper bag. I always have sooo many diapers in there. When I noticed we only had 2-3 left, I sent my h to the store.
Kinda weird. Maybe they didnt plan to stay and the mother figured they could stay longer if they asked you. However,I dontevem go to the corner without a diaper.

[Willis Jackson]

Yes, you can breastfeed while pregnant.

[faith194]

If I didn't have enough to share, I would have said so. I also believe that just because she didn't have diapers, doesn't mean the child was eating or BFing.

[statlerwaldorf]

I've never had to, but I'm an overpacker. I had someone ask for one at the Cheesecake Factory once. She offered to pay me $1 for it, but I said not to worry about it. It looked like a newborn and she probably just underestimated how many she would need. DD was a little older at the time, so that little baby had to be swimming in the size 4 diaper I gave her.