What Is the ‘17 Diapers’ Trend and Why Does It Matter?

While some shamed the mom who started it, others could completely relate.

GettyImages/Viktoria Toporkova

Raise an exhausted, likely unmanicured hand, if you let a few things go with self or home care after having a baby. Now, keep your hand up if you didn’t admit how much you were struggling to most people.

Enter a TikToker and new mom, who shares content using the handle @nursehannahbh. She bravely shows how she left dirty diapers scattered around her home while caring for her newborn. Now, her video has inspired many other postpartum moms to open up about their new, very imperfect realities.

Hannah’s video chronicles how she finally got around to picking up all the dirty diapers, with just how many had piled up being anyone’s guess. Originally, the mom of two says she thought the number was 15—but it was actually 17, with the used diapers having been left on the coffee table, and on the floor downstairs and upstairs, including around the newborn’s bassinet.

Critics quickly pounced on the creator, calling her out for not just throwing the diapers away as she went, and with one commenter snarking that as a parent of triplets, their house is still not littered with dirty diapers.

But most people found the share very relatable, and many commended Hannah for being so real.

“That’s 17 times your sweet babies were prioritized over your house. That’s 17 times your sweet babies were cleaned and felt comforted and loved,” one commenter praised her.

Defying haters, moms are now taking to TikTok to share their own "17 diapers" tales. Not all of them can specifically relate to leaving dirty diapers around the house, instead giving users a peek inside their own challenging postpartum experiences.

One 10-week postpartum poster, @hillaryhelennn, shared a TikTok in which, she says, for her, "17 diapers" symbolizes all the ways her self-care is falling short in the wake of welcoming a new life. “I forget to take out my contacts every single night from exhaustion,” she admits while wearing her infant. “I don’t have 17 diapers, but I cry in my car,” she also says, adding that this is where her husband and mom won’t see her upset.

Notably, the creator also points out that the “she deserved the purse” trend that involves people hiding gift cards in diaper boxes for moms at the store is a far cry from the shaming Hannah received when she shared her original post.

Another creator got even more real about her "17 diapers" story. In a tearful TikTok, a creator who goes by @kendallsmith.904, bravely shares that she has had dark thoughts postpartum, and called her doctor for help after not showering for 12 days. She urges others to normalize postpartum struggles instead of shaming a mom for her 17 dirty diapers.

While so many other "17 diapers" stories are being shared on TikTok, another video that stood out for me was a mom who shared an intimate look at how her doula bathed her postpartum because she had neglected herself.

The truth is, any new mom can recall a time—if not many times—when they had a "17 diapers" moment. Like many of the creators who responded to Hannah’s TikTok, I may not have left 17 dirty diapers around, but leaving the house with unwashed hair tucked under a hat on most days? Check. Forgetting to eat? Yup. Feeling so tired I once drove miles from my house and didn’t remember how I got there? Scary, but true.

I have been lucky enough not to have experienced severe postpartum depression, but as a mom of five, I know all too well how the days, weeks, and even years after having a baby aren’t easy. The pressure we feel to put on a happy face and appear like we have it all together may be the worst part.

So, I’m left with nothing but admiration for the mom who bravely allowed us into her world and showed us her reality of 17 diapers. If only more of this content would go viral—and we’d be exposed to far less perfectly-polished footage of moms with immaculately-coiffed hair and tutorial-worthy makeup. That only makes us feel like we have to live up to an impossible standard of perfection!