Munchkin® STEP™ Diaper Pail Powered by Arm & Hammer, #1 in Odor Control, Award-Winning, Includes 1 Snap, Seal & Toss™ Bag, 1 Starter Refill Ring, and 1 PUCK™ Baking Soda Cartridge

I'm not sure why there are so many bad reviews for this. I understand it's probably different than the model before and change is hard, but it's still a great diaper pail. Some of the reviews complain that the sealing mechanism at the top of the bag doesn't seal after there are a few diapers in the container. You don't have the bag adjusted right. With the refill ring, you have to knot the bottom of the bag and make sure that a couple inches of bag ABOVE the knot is touching the bottom of the pail. (SEE PHOTO.) Then the weight of the diapers is sitting on the bottom of the pail and not pulling down on the closing mechanism. It doesn't waste any bag, because you're still only cutting off whatever portion is full of diapers and then pulling the extra down to use next time. Some of the reviews complain about how this does not contain smell. Without fail, little one always poops in the first diaper after I've changed the bag in the pail. I still put the poopy diaper in the pail even though I know it's going to sit there for a while before it gets emptied again. There's never any smell. When I change the bag, I put the used portion into our kitchen trashcan (where it sometimes sits for a bit, too) and then the trash just smells like the Arm & Hammer smell of the bags - not dirty diapers. I love that both the bags and the disc help control the odor. If you buy a different brand refill ring, that might be part of the problem, too. Some of the reviews complain that you have to empty the thing a lot. Despite the fact that I don't have any problems with smell, I can imagine the probability of the used diaper smell escaping increases with every day you don't empty it. I'm glad it forces me to change the bag every couple days so I keep the smell from becoming a problem. Some of the reviews complain that you have to push the diaper through the sealing mechanism. Get over it. You're washing your hands after you change the baby anyway. Some of the reviews complain that you have to push the lid of the container down after you put the diaper in. This is how the pail closes the sealing mechanism. Pushing the lid down allows it to reseal with more force. I would rather have to push the lid down and get a good seal than not close the lid and risk dirty diaper smell. This is my first diaper pail, but I use the one at my friends' house when I babysit their kids. They have one of the old school ones where you put the diaper in this little cup thing and then pull the handle down/up to transfer the diaper to the pail. You still have to push something down (lever vs. lid) and the smell gets through on that one. (Although there's no Arm & Hammer associated with that, so maybe that's the difference too.) Overall, I think this is a really great diaper pail. It's really unobtrusive and it might cost a few dollars more than its competitors, but if I had to go back and buy a diaper pail again, I would still get this one.

This diaper pail has been amazing! My son (4 now) has had medical conditions since birth that have caused incredibly stinky diapers, so this pail has been a nose-saver for us. We went our son's first year without a diaper pail and that was a mistake. We have used it as directed and just in the last few months has it been starting to "leak" odor even when only one or two diapers is in it, which I attribute to the fact that one of my son's two parents has always overstuffed the pail, stressing the mechanism that keeps the bag twisted when the lid is shut. I have always changed the bag, so that's less likely to be the reason. Can't win 'em all. PROS: 1) Lid is flat which means you can add a child lock! And the button to release the inner door is under the lid, so the kid can't open the inner door if they can't get the lid open. 2) As is, it's easy to use one-handed. Push the lever with your foot and shove the diaper into the bag. 3) Odor control is awesome. The pail twists the bag closed and has a heavy-ish lid, and the stock bags are thick. We use off-brand bags and haven't had a problem with those either, though. CONS: 1) It's rather large if your nursery is small, but my experience with diaper pails is limited. 2) The scented pucks are RIDICULOUSLY expensive for what they are. Two pieces of advice to avoid odor leaks: 1) Leave the tail that the manufacturer suggests. It's not there to "waste" bag; it's there to keep the bag sitting on the floor of the pail when you add diapers. You do not want excess pressure pulling down on the mechanism that twists the bag closed, and having a bag that hangs instead of resting on the floor will add excess pressure. 2) DO NOT overfill the pail. If you can no longer add a diaper without force, it's full. Change the bag. Overstuffing will also stress the mechanism that twists the bag closed and prevent it from closing properly. You can take the pucks apart and add your own baking soda and fragrance if you want to not pay $5+ for a nice scent. I use cheesecloth as a bag and add baking soda and fragrance oil. I'm sure there are better ways, but I'm too lazy to do more. If you're concerned about bag cost even with off-brand bags, you can get a diaper pail and a trash can. Throw stinky diapers in the pail, and all other diapers in the trash can. Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the performance of this pail. I have no regrets when purchasing. The scented pucks are a nice touch as well, which we've used roughly 50% of the time. It definitely isn't a must to mask leaking odors, but it's really nice when you're changing a particularly stinky diaper.

I've been using the Munchkin step diaper pail for about 6 months now, and I came back to write a review in the hope it helps some other new parent trying to figure out which diaper pail to buy. We were expecting twins almost two years ago and after much research, I bought an Ubbi diaper pail (as well as their brand of bags). Then a couple of weeks after the twins were born, I bought a second Ubbi for our main living area. For awhile, I liked that there was little or no smell when the sliding pail door was closed. In that sense, the Ubbi was a good diaper pail - it contains the smell of what's being kept in there well if you're just walking by. But brace yourself for the odor that will waft up when you open the sliding door to dispose of a diaper and even more so when you need to clean it and remove a bag. I cleaned the pails religiously with Lysol wipes, I hosed them off outside, I tried hanging charcoal sachets inside the pail ... nothing made much of a difference. Oh and also, using any kind of wet wipe or liquid spray to clean and maintain these causes a rust problem quickly because they're made of steel. And one more thing: yes, there's a "lock" to prevent your child from sliding the Ubbi disposal door open, but there's no lock to prevent them from pushing the whole lid up and getting to what's inside, so you'll soon find yourself applying a Munchkin strap or something like it to keep the whole pail closed up. If only I'd bought the Munchkin to begin with. I bought it in April 2019 to replace one of the two Ubbis that was rusting to the point of leaving marks on the floor, and I would have bought a second one if we hadn't been ready to consolidate to one diaper changing station. The Munchkin is SO much easier to clean and maintain, and there is virtually no smell when disposing of diapers. Even when opening the front door up to remove the bag, the smell is well-contained by the bag, locking system, and Arm&Hammer deodorizer. Also, because the bags themselves are smaller, you're forced to empty the pail more frequently than you would absolutely have to do with an Ubbi, which helps. I read reviews where people complained about having to close the top with your hand after opening it with the foot pedal, but really? That's nothing. You have to use your hand to push the diaper in, but that's no problem at all for me if the smell is contained, which it is. Cleaning is a breeze and nothing seems to get as dirty in the first place as it sometimes did with the Ubbi. I wish the long side door closed a little more securely - it does pop open a bit despite supposedly needing to be released with a button, but I've locked everything down with two Munchkin straps. I also wish the bottom of the can had more surface area so it was possible to attach floor pads/bumpers to protect the wooden floor from my twins who like to push the can around. And yes you need to buy their proprietary bags so there's some extra cost, but for me, with twins, it's been completely worth it. You'd never know there's a diaper pail in the room now.

I love it. It doesn’t stink up the house at all. It holds a reasonable amount: it is easy to use but as most diaper pails there is a little bit of squishing to get the diaper in but not a lot.

We've been using this diaper pail for over a year now and still like it. A bag holds about a week's worth of diapers (about 24) that we go through at home (for reference, our child is 16 months old and is at daycare M-F 8-5, so not all of the diapers go into this pail). When he was younger and going through more diapers, we changed the bag twice a week. It contains the smell really well despite all the #2 diapers in there! When you open the lid, the top of the bag untwists then you shove the diaper down past the twist part. The twist is tight enough that it contains a majority of the old diaper smells in the pail so you don't have to inhale days old poo when you throw in a new one. Make sure the diaper is wrapped up nicely or else you might leave baby poo on the twist when you push it down. I've replaced the Arm & Hammer baking soda puck maybe 3 times in 16 months. Life hack, skip the puck and put some laundry scent booster beads in a mesh bag or rubberbanded in a dryer sheet and put that in the bottom of the pail. One thing to note, ours came with the "Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail Refill Rings" but I found them difficult to replace and the bags would break easier. We switched to the "Munchkin Arm and Hammer Diaper Pail Snap, Seal and Toss Refill Bags" and like them much more! They're similar in price the the Refill Rings, but the Snap Seal & Toss bags are easier to install and remove when full. Regardless of which bag you go with, if you overstuff the bag it can be hard to remove and the sleeve is more likely to break. Overall, I'd 100% purchase it again.

I’ve used litter genie in the past but it’s small, wobbly, tips over, stinks, and if you have multiple cats it fill too quickly. So I thought perhaps a diaper sized disposal would work and this is PERFECT for kitty litter! I bought decent quality durable litter bags to scoop & dump clumps into, tie the bag, step on the foot pedal, push the bag down, close the lid. ZERO STINK!!! And I have kittens who stink up the house with one poo… and they poo ALLLLLL DAY LONG. This diaper pail is game changing. I can have litter boxes on multiple floors and not running in and out of our 4 story house all day long to dispose of litter bags. The biggest surprise of all is how this contains all stink. The pail bag needs to be tossed once every 5 days and during the bag change (slice off the top of the bag with built in razor and tie it off) I cannot smell anything at all. Could be partly because I’m using a quality no-stink litter bag to dump the clumps into before I put it in the litter pail. I wouldn’t use old grocery bags, they may tear and probably not contain the stink nearly as well.

Does this device magically eliminate all odors as if your infant is a stink free sparkly unicorn? No. Does it smell like the bowels of hell have been unleashed upon your vulnerable nostrils when you open it? Yes. Being a realistic adult I think this diaper pail does a darn good job. It stores human waste without stinking up the whole room. That makes it a winner in my book. Changing the bag is easy, we do it before it gets too full because this helps keep the smell down and I really don't enjoy wrestling a 50 lbs bag of soiled diapers while my eyes water and I attempt not to pass out. I'm too cheap to buy the stupid little fancy bags for the other brands, I love that this can use regular trash bags. Pros: No smell when closed. No Kardashian priced trash bags. Easy to open and close. Has a lock because apparently babies grow up and want to dig into poop? Cons: Poop is always going to smell terrible. Have to bend over to open it with your hands (I don't mind but maybe you're 6'6" with back problems and not 5' like myself. Also, my first one came with a giant dent (maybe happened during shipping) so if you are getting it pre-baby maybe open it ahead of time. Seller processed the return quickly and I was able to get a new one delivered without damage.

I love this trash can. I was a little surprised at first that the pedal only works to open it, and then you have to shut it with your hand. But since you’re changing a diaper you should be washing your hands after anyway, so touching the trash can isn’t such a big deal. When you shut the lid, it causes the bag to twist and close off so that odors don’t escape. And the odor blocking insert on the lid helps neutralize odors too. Even when my daughter started making smellier poops with the introduction of solids, this trash still did a great jobs of not letting odors out. The trash can itself came with a long tube bag which you tie off at the bottom after every time you change it. It’s pretty convenient, but we later switched to one-bag replacements because those are a better value. Both work fine. One thing I will point out though, is that you should definitely not try to overfill the bag to the point that you have to force the lid closed. It messes up the rotation mechanism. After one year of doing that, the rotating feature stopped working. Which is actually pretty amazing that it held up to one year of abuse. Now we got a new one and don’t overfill it. Pretty sure it will last until my daughter is potty trained.