So you think you might like to take the plunge into cloth diapering but don't know how many diapers to buy? Hopefully I can help! Feel free to comment if you have more questions or send me an email through the contact form :)
How Many Diapers to Buy?
Stashes come in all sizes. Some are small with only 12-24 diapers. Some are huge with literally hundreds of diapers. Some parents use only one brand or style, while others, like myself, have a little bit of everything.
To decide how many you need there are a few things to consider-
1) How many times a day will your child need changed?
Cloth diapers need changed roughly every 2-3 hours as a generalization, but a lot of it has to do with age. A newborn needs changed far more often than a toddler. When my youngest daughter was 1 month old, we changed her easily 15-20 times a day. Sometimes more and a majority of those diapers were poopy. Before my boys potty trained at 3 and 2 respectively, they were only going through about 6 diapers a day. An older baby would use somewhere in the middle.
2) How often do you want to do laundry?
I'll be honest, I'm lazy and I hate housework. I probably only do diaper laundry once a week...if that. At one point I had 3 in diapers, now I only have one so I have extra diapers to last longer. So if you want to wash laundry every other day you may need 50 diapers for a newborn or 20 for a toddler.
1) How many times a day will your child need changed?
Cloth diapers need changed roughly every 2-3 hours as a generalization, but a lot of it has to do with age. A newborn needs changed far more often than a toddler. When my youngest daughter was 1 month old, we changed her easily 15-20 times a day. Sometimes more and a majority of those diapers were poopy. Before my boys potty trained at 3 and 2 respectively, they were only going through about 6 diapers a day. An older baby would use somewhere in the middle.
2) How often do you want to do laundry?
I'll be honest, I'm lazy and I hate housework. I probably only do diaper laundry once a week...if that. At one point I had 3 in diapers, now I only have one so I have extra diapers to last longer. So if you want to wash laundry every other day you may need 50 diapers for a newborn or 20 for a toddler.
3) What kind of diapers are you using?
Like I mentioned in my last post, diaper covers don't need to be washed after every change. Just let them air dry between uses and rotate between a few. Now that my daughter is older, we typically only use 2-3 a day and I may use them for a couple days as long as they don't smell. As a newborn, 5-7 would have been a safe number considering all of the EBF poop. AIO, some styles of AI2, and pockets need to be changed every time. Even if you use covers, you'll still need enough absorbency to put inside for every change.
Like I mentioned in my last post, diaper covers don't need to be washed after every change. Just let them air dry between uses and rotate between a few. Now that my daughter is older, we typically only use 2-3 a day and I may use them for a couple days as long as they don't smell. As a newborn, 5-7 would have been a safe number considering all of the EBF poop. AIO, some styles of AI2, and pockets need to be changed every time. Even if you use covers, you'll still need enough absorbency to put inside for every change.
Conclusion!
From experience I would suggest having no less than 7-10 covers or 20 other style (AIO, AI2, pockets, etc) diaper for newborns. I cannot tell you how many times I've had one of my babies poop, take off their diaper, get them cleaned up, just to have them poop again before I even get the new diaper snapped on. For toddlers, I'd say 5 covers or 12 other style diaper day.
Remember, even if you're using covers, you still need enough inserts, flats, fitteds, prefolds or whatever you're using for each change. As baby gets old, more absorbency may be needed.
Remember, even if you're using covers, you still need enough inserts, flats, fitteds, prefolds or whatever you're using for each change. As baby gets old, more absorbency may be needed.