The First Year, Covered

Free diapers and baby gear in Missouri: diaper banks, county help and a free item board

HappyBottoms, the diaper bank for the Kansas City metro area, gives free diapers to families with a child under four who are experiencing financial need. The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank gives out diapers and period supplies in the St. Louis region. Both work through partner agencies: the diaper bank supplies the agency, and families pick the diapers up at the agency.

What SNAP and WIC cover

SNAP pays for food, plus seeds and plants that grow food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's list of what SNAP can't buy includes nonfood items such as paper products, household supplies and hygiene items. WIC covers formula and a set list of foods. Diapers aren't on either program's list, and HappyBottoms describes its work as covering the monthly shortfall in diapers for families who can't afford enough.

Since August 28, 2025, Missouri charges no state or local sales tax on diapers, for every buyer, in stores and on online orders delivered to a Missouri address.

HappyBottoms, Kansas City metro

To get diapers from HappyBottoms:

  1. Pick a distribution location from the list on the HappyBottoms Get Diapers page. It lists more than 40 partner agencies, and each one gives out diapers on its own schedule, weekly, every other week or monthly.
  2. Bring an ID for your child that shows their name and date of birth, such as a birth certificate, shot record or passport.
  3. Fill out the online pre-enrollment form if your location asks for it, which many do.

HappyBottoms itself doesn't require other paperwork to receive its diapers. A partner agency may ask for documents for its own services, and that's separate from the diapers.

St. Louis Area Diaper Bank

Its supplies go out through other nonprofits, healthcare providers and social service agencies in the region. Its Find Supplies page has a map of those partners and a downloadable list of its emergency partners in English and Spanish.

Other Missouri counties

Outside those two metro areas, places that give out diapers and baby supplies differ by county. Nexus Point Family Foundation built a county directory for Missouri that groups each county's places by need. Where a county has places that give out diapers, they're in a diapers and baby supplies section, with an address, phone number and hours for each one.

Cribs, strollers and clothes

Nexus Point Family Foundation also built the Family Barter System, a free county-by-county board where families give baby gear and clothes to other families nearby. If you have a bag of outgrown baby clothes or a stroller you're done with, you can post it there for a family in your county. Browsing is open, and posting or claiming takes a free account. When someone claims an item, the site emails the person who posted it, and the two families arrange the pickup through private messages on the site.

The board has safety rules for baby gear:

For a pickup, the guidelines suggest meeting during the day at a public safe exchange spot, such as a police department's monitored exchange area, and bringing a friend if you can.

Your next step

Open the Family Barter System, choose Missouri and your county, and check for the baby gear you need, or post something your baby has outgrown so a family near you can use it.

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